Lost Open Space in Colorado
1982-2017
0 sq. mi.
25 sq. mi.
50 sq. mi.
80 sq. mi.
110 sq. mi.
140 sq. mi.
Colorado lost 1,206 square miles
of open space
Loss related to population 1
Loss related to consumption 2
1. "Population" refers to increase in population.
2. "Consumption" refers to increase in developed land consumption per capita (per person).
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The cause of the loss of 1,206 square miles of open space between 1982-2017 was overwhelmingly a result of a single phenomenon:
Loss of Open Space in Colorado (1982-2017)
Sources of Colorado’s Population Growth
During the 1982-2017 period, Members of Congress more than doubled the national population growth that is driven by immigration policies. Besides the direct effect in Colorado, immigration policies appear to have created acute population pressures in some metropolitan areas across the country which may be driving residents to flee. California is the No. 1 state source of Colorado’s population growth.
Lost Open Space (square miles) from Population and Consumption growth
(1982-2017)
Click and drag to move the bar chart left or right.
Two Decades of NumbersUSA Studies on Population Growth and Urban Sprawl
- 2000 – Sprawl in California: A report on quantifying the role of the state’s population boom
- 2000 – Overpopulation = Sprawl in Florida: A report quantifying the impact of Florida’s population boom on sprawl
- 2001 – Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities: A report on the nearly equal roles played by population growth and land use choices in the loss of farmland and natural habitat to urbanization
- 2003 – Outsmarting Smart Growth: Population Growth, Immigration, and the Problem of Sprawl
- 2003 – Sprawl in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
- 2004 – Sprawl in Minnesota
- 2014 – Vanishing Open Spaces: Population Growth and Sprawl in America
- 2015 – Vanishing Open Spaces in Florida: Population Growth and Sprawl in the Sunshine State
- 2017 – Paving the Piedmont: Weighing Sprawl Factors in the Emerging Piedmont Megalopolis
- 2017 – Population Growth and Sprawl in Texas: How an Exploding Population Consumes Natural Habitat and Agricultural Land in the Lone Star State
- 2020 – Population Growth & Sprawl in Oregon: Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and National Resources Inventory Data on Loss of Open Space in the Beaver State
- 2021 – Population Growth and the Diminishing Natural State of Arizona: Analysis of National Resources Inventory & U.S. Census Data on Development and Habitat Loss in a Thirsty Grand Canyon State
- 2022 – From Sea to
ShiningSprawling Sea: Quantifying the Loss of Open Space in America - 2022 – Disappearing Colorado How population growth, sprawl, and density are devouring open space and Colorado’s quality of life
- 2023 – Population Growth and Sprawl in Texas How an Exploding Population Consumes Natural Habitat and Agricultural Land in the Lone Star State