For the land use analysis, the study corridor was expanded to include a much larger area of influence to better understand the region's built environment and development patterns impacting the US 27 corridor. The area of influence includes the entire study corridor and extends east of US 27 and west to US 17, which includes portions of Hardee and Desoto County, as shown in Figure 8. Existing land uses were identified using the 2017 Florida Land Use Cover and Classification System (FLUCCS) codes developed by the Southwest and South Florida Water Management Districts. The major land use identified was agriculture (54%), primarily cropland, pastureland, and tree crops. Almost 20% of the area of influence lands are wetlands, which includes wetland hardwood forests and vegetated non-forested wetlands. Twelve percent is urban, with over half of that being residential low and medium density. Rangeland (6%), upland forests (5%), water (3%) and transportation, communications, and utilities (>1%) make up the remaining land uses.
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