  A pervasive trend in economic development is the shift from agricultural to
manufacturing and finally to service economies. Because the type of employment
associated with each sector influences natural resource use this global trend
may manifest itself in predictable land use transitions. We relate these to
changes in urban, agricultural, and natural lands. We find that the economic
transition is common in most counties and across counties. Agricultural land
expands to natural areas but is eventually replaced by urban. Relating sectors
to land cover, we see a strong relationship between increases in service
employment and the growth of urban areas. However, we find that both large
agricultural areas and large natural areas also occur with high service
employment. Finally, we test if the 100th Meridian is associated with
predictable relationships between land cover and economic sectors and find
strong results that suggest different development patterns in the East and
West.
