Many different types of riparian areas can be found throughout the seven-State Midwest Region. The ecological and social importance of riparian areas as landscape elements is undisputed (e.g., see Verry et al. 2000); however, there is great uncertainty about the cumulative importance of riparian areas in many landscapes and regions. This is a consequence of inadequate inventory data on the extent, type, and land use/land cover of riparian resources. The seven-State Midwest Region of the continental United States is no exception (figure 1). This region is one of the most water-rich areas in the continental United States, yet we are not aware of any general accounting of amount, type, or land use of riparian resources here. Because of the lack of regional data on riparian resources, it is difficult to determine the degree to which different types of riparian areas receive protection, the extent of change in riparian land use/land cover over time, and the social and economic benefits derived from different types of riparian land use. At issue is the availability and adequacy of riparian resource information used to make policy and management decisions in the region.