2007 vs. 2015
The maps below illustrate the land use in Madison, NJ in the years 2007 and 2015. Madison, NJ is composed predominantly of urban land use. With that being said, it is important to track the growth of urban land use and its impact on the agricultural, forest, water, wetland, and barren land. In doing so, one can assess the maintenance of a healthy and sustainable environment. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) highlights that “the use of the updated 2015 LU/LC in land use analyses will provide a means of monitoring “the health of the citizens and ecosystems of New Jersey” through the use of diverse applications. In addition, lack of trees and a surplus of urban land is also linked to poor water quality, air quality, and other health concerns. In order to preserve these forest and agricultural lands that Madison is historically known for, organizations like Friends of the Forest advocate for forest preservation.
2007 Land Use Map
The Madison “Land Use/Land Cover of New Jersey 2007 Update (Generalized)” was created by the NJDEP to allow for access to monitoring land use. When compared to the 2015 map below, there are not many large changes made. Some changes made, however, can be seen in the increase in barren land, shown in a light tan, in the north part of the Madison Borough. In addition, a decrease of this barren land can be viewed in the west part of the borough in 2015. Despite these minute changes, the amount of land covered by forest, water, and wetlands has been maintained throughout this eight year time frame.
[zoom in to view land use on the map]
2015 Madison Land Use
The “Land Use/Land Cover of New Jersey 2015” map was created in 2019 with updates in 2021 by the NJDEP. This map shows six different attributes and their respective area in acres. They are urban (pink), forest (dark green), water (dark blue), wetlands (light blue), barren land (light tan), and agriculture (light green). This map shows different attributes and their respective areas in acres. Urban land use, has the largest area of 4,199.4 acres. Water, has the smallest area of 9.3 acres. Forest, wetlands, barren land, and agriculture also small values of land coverage in the Madison Borough as shown on both maps. As shown in the map, in 2015 there is the presence of barren land in the northern part of the Madison Borough, while in 2007 there is no barren land present in this area and it is considered urban at this time. This change from urban to barren indicates the loss of vegetation and lack of resources.
Understanding changes in land use can help one understand overall trends in allocation of businesses and efforts in environmental protection. Maintenance of agricultural land, water sources, wetlands, and forests are especially important in assessing the overall health of the land. In addition, air quality, sources of harm to ecosystems that have the potential to be overrun by urban land use are especially important. Efforts in restoration and protection of these environments, such as that done by the Sustainable Madison, can be further supported by trends viewed in increasing urban space and declining forests.
About the Data Sources
Both sources were created by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The NJDEP is a government organization created in 1970 to devise ways to protect “New Jersey’s air, water, and health of its residents”. The 2007 map was created in 2019 and updated in 2021. The 2007 map was created using information comparing 2002 data and 2007 data.
To download a one-page poster slide for this summary on Madison Borough land use, click here.
