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North Carolina is creating a state resources information system using an 
interactive graphics system recently installed. The USGS land use maps and 
data will be incorporated in that information system. Early applications of 
this system will concentrate on coastal zone problems. 
Louisiana was one of the first States to be completely mapped. The State 
Planning Office promptly used the maps and data, along with Landsat images, 
to determine the area of various types of land inundated by spring floods in 
April, 1975. 
A computerized analysis completed four days after a Landsat pass showed that 
146,000 ha of Louisiana were flooded at the highest stages of the Mississippi, 
Red, Ouachita, Black, and Atchafalaya Rivers. By comparing the land use and 
land cover maps with floodtime Landsat images, State officials determined 
that floodwaters covered approximately 3,200 ha of upland forests, and 279,200 
ha of forested wetlands. These totals were then broken down by Parish and 
the maps and data forwarded to the Governor to be used in a State application 
for disaster relief funds. This effort marked the first time that land use 
and land cover maps and near real-time Landsat data were used to give a State 
Governor prompt, detailed information on the location, total area, and county 
(or parish) breakdown of land use and land cover affected by flooding or other 
extensive natural disaster. 
The State of Florida provides a good example of how other existing resource 
data can be added to the USGS land use and land cover maps and digital data. 
Existing soil association information is being digitized and added to the land 
use and land cover data base. This permits interpretations of the limitations 
or potentials of each soil association for current or future land use. 
The Florida Division of Forestry has produced a forest resource atlas for the 
State, based upon the land use and land cover maps. Forest potentials for 
timber, forage, wildlife, and recreation have been interpreted and digitized, 
allowing forest resource potential tabulations and plots for any area compiled 
on the associated maps (counties, watersheds, land ownership areas, etc.). 
In addition to the Federal and State land ownership information supplied by 
USGS, Florida has inventoried all county, city, and special district land in 
public ownership. This type of information greatly extends the utility of 
the data base. 
In adding these data to the land use and land cover data base, Florida has 
adapted the USGS input and editing software to existing hardware in the State. 
In addition, the Florida Information Systems Office is developing other computer 
software tailored for their hardware and in response to State agency needs. 
One particular application of the land use and land cover maps in Florida has 
always impressed me because of its ingenuity. Shortly after draft review 
copies of the land use and land cover maps were delivered to the Southwest 
Florida Regional Planning Council, they were inspected by personnel of the 
regional office of the Florida Division of Forestry. Within a short time, 
those foresters had used the maps to develop two products related to their 
wildfire control activities. The first was a map assessment of wildfire poten- 
tial based on fire fuels likely to be available in each Level 1I category; the 
second was a fire-fighting 'battle-plan' based on the distribution of such