Refers to the quality of the land which buffers the stream from human development. The riparian zone runs from the edge of the water to some artificial structure (roads, fences, housing, etc.), and the quality of the riparian zone includes the nature of the floodplain vegetation.
The most predominant land cover or use(s) in the area outside of the riparian zone or in the zone more than 100 feet from stream.
Natural or managed forest, woodland, or swamp.
Shrubs include small trees and shrubs. Most shrublands are managed. Old fields are agricultural fields or pastureland which have been abandoned and which have begun to revert to their natural state.
Residential areas include suburban developments characterized by lawns and landscape planting. Parks include city or town parks or similar areas (e.g. golf courses, cemeteries, etc.). New fields are agricultural fields which have been abandoned but which have not yet begun to revert to their natural state.
Conservation tillage is a form of active agriculture in which fields are not plowed, but are rather treated with herbicides to kill previous years' growth and replanted with minimal disruption of the soil. Fenced Pasture includes pastureland in which the animals are kept from the river by a fence.
This category includes urban and industrial development without lawns or landscape planting, where all materials which are deposited on the ground can be expected to end up in the stream.
This category includes mines, construction sites, and other locations in which the surface has been disrupted greatly and left in a form in which significant erosion is very likely.