The purpose of this paper is not to provide a comprehensive national review of land use and related rural-urban interface issues. Analyses of this type can be found in Sorenson, Greene, and Straus (1997), Vesterby, Heimlich, and Krupa (1994), and Heimlich and Brooks (1989). The intent here is to identify the major national patterns in land use change, underlying forces of change, emerging conflicts and policy issues, and public policy approaches and tools. Our primary contribution is to set the stage for a discussion of educational needs and begin to establish an agenda, specific topics, and questions for public issues education.