The California Conservation Easement Database (CCED) contains lands protected under conservation easements. It is a parallel data set to the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), which covers protected areas owned in fee. The first version of the CCED database was released in April 2014, the latest update is from June 2025.

CCED is maintained and published by GreenInfo Network (www.greeninfo.org). GreenInfo Network publishes CCED twice annually.

CCED is a GIS database defining easements and deed-based restrictions on private land. These restrictions limit land uses to those compatible with maintaining it as open space. Lands under easement may be actively farmed, grazed, forested, or held as nature reserves. Easements are typically held on private lands with no public access.CCED represents California in the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED), a national inventory of lands conserved as easements. NCED is managed by a consortium of non-governmental organizations including: Ducks Unlimited, the Trust for Public Land, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation Biology Institute, and NatureServe.CCED includes easements held by:Land trusts and nonprofit organizationsLocal jurisdictions (city and county)State and national governmental agenciesCCED does not include or address:Information on private land owners (name, address, etc)Temporary easements (less than 10 years)Which portions of a property are subject to the easementSource: https://www.calands.org/cced/

The California Conservation Easement Database (CCED) contains lands protected under conservation easements. It is a parallel data set to the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), which covers protected areas owned in fee. The first version of the CCED database was released in April 2014, the latest update is from December 2024. CCED is maintained and published by GreenInfo Network (www.greeninfo.org). GreenInfo Network publishes CCED twice annually.

Data is from file=CCED_2019_Release_20191212_wmCCED is a GIS database defining easements and deed-based restrictions on private land. These restrictions limit land uses to those compatible with maintaining it as open space. Lands under easement may be actively farmed, grazed, forested, or held as nature reserves. Easements are typically held on private lands with no public access.CCED represents California in the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED), a national inventory of lands conserved as easements. NCED is managed by a consortium of non-governmental organizations including: Ducks Unlimited, the Trust for Public Land, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation Biology Institute, and NatureServe. CCED Includes Easements Held By:Land trusts and nonprofit organizationsLocal jurisdictions (city and county)State and national governmental agenciesCCED DocumentationUser Manual – Download the CCED User ManualEasement Data Policy – Read The ReportCCED Does Not Include or Address:Information on private land owners (name, address, etc)Temporary easements (less than 10 years)Which portions of a property are subject to the easement

CCED represents California in the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED), a national inventory of lands conserved as easements. NCED is managed by a consortium of non-governmental organizations including: Ducks Unlimited, the Trust for Public Land, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation Biology Institute, and NatureServe.Easement data is currently collected from agencies and organizations with little to no modifications or corrections. The records in the database are meant to reflect the generalized easement location and size. The accuracy of each easement boundary varies greatly.The database structure of CCED is a mirror of the NCED schema. This allows for more seamless integration of the California data into the national database.CCED Includes Easements Held By:Land trusts and nonprofit organizationsLocal jurisdictions (city and county)State and national governmental agencies

The California Conservation Easement Database (CCED) contains data about conservation easement lands. Lands are under easement with governments, non-profits and private entities. Easement types include conservation, agricultural, forest, and home owner association protected areas. Utility, right-of-way, and other maintenance easements are not included. Data includes all known easements in California. Easements are typically defined by the entire parcel, though easements typically only cover a portion of the parcel. Data is known to be incomplete and include errors. Data has been compiled from existing datasets and thus accuracy varies greatly between areas.

California Nature Conserved Areas Explorer The Conserved Areas Explorer is a web application enabling users to investigate a synthesis of the best available data representing lands and coastal waters of California that are durably protected and managed to support functional ecosystems, both intact and restored, and the species that rely on them. Understanding the spatial distribution and extent of these durably protected and managed areas is a vital aspect of tracking and achieving the “30x30” goal of conserving 30% of California's lands and waters by 2030.Terrestrial and Freshwater Data• The California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), developed and managed by GreenInfo Network, is the most comprehensive collection of data on open space in California. CPAD data consists of Holdings, a single parcel or group of parcels, such that the spatial features of CPAD correspond to ownership boundaries. • The California Conservation Easement Database (CCED), also managed by GreenInfo Network, aggregates data on lands with easements. Conservation Easements are legally recorded interests in land in which a landholder sells or relinquishes certain development rights to their land in perpetuity. Easements are often used to ensure that lands remain as open space, either as working farm or ranch lands, or areas for biodiversity protection. Easement restrictions typically remain with the land through changes in ownership. • The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), hosted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), is developed in coordination with multiple federal, state, and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners. PAD-US, through the Gap Analysis Project (GAP), uses a numerical coding system in which GAP codes 1 and 2 correspond to management strategies with explicit emphasis on protection and enhancement of biodiversity. PAD-US is not specifically aligned to parcel boundaries and as such, boundaries represented within it may not align with other data sources. • Numerous datasets representing designated boundaries for entities such as National Parks , and Monuments, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wilderness Areas, and others, were downloaded from publicly available sources, typically hosted by the managing agency.Methodology1. CPAD and CCED represent the most accurate location and ownership information for parcels in California which contribute to the preservation of open space and cultural and biological resources.2. Superunits are collections of parcels (Holdings) within CPAD which share a name, manager, and access policy. Most Superunits are also managed with a generally consistent strategy for biodiversity conservation. Examples of Superunits include Yosemite National Park, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. 3. Some Superunits, such as those owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, or National Park Service , are intersected by one or more designations, each of which may have a distinct management emphasis with regards to biodiversity. Examples of such designations are Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, or National Monuments.4. CPAD Superunits were intersected with all designation boundary files to create the operative spatial units for conservation analysis, henceforth 'Conservation Units,' which make up the Conserved Areas Map Layer. Each easement was functionally considered to be a Superunit. 5. Each Conservation Unit was intersected with the PAD-US dataset in order to determine the management emphasis with respect to biodiversity, i.e., the GAP code. Because PAD-US is national in scope and not specifically parcel aligned with California assessors' surveys, a direct spatial extraction of GAP codes from PAD-US would leave tens of thousands of GAP code data slivers within the Conserved Areas Map. Consequently, a generalizing approach was adopted, such that any Conservation Unit with greater than 80% areal overlap with a single GAP code was uniformly assigned that code. Additionally, the total area of GAP codes 1 and 2 were summed for the remaining uncoded Conservation Units. If this sum was greater than 80% of the unit area, the Conservation Unit was coded as GAP 2. 6. Subsequent to this stage of analysis, certain Conservation Units remained uncoded, either due to the lack of a single GAP code (or combined GAP codes 1&2) overlapping 80% of the area, or because the area was not sufficiently represented in the PAD-US dataset. 7. These uncoded Conservation Units were then broken down into their constituent, finer resolution Holdings, which were then analyzed according to the above workflow. 8. Areas remaining uncoded following the two-step process of coding at the Superunit and Holding levels were assigned a GAP code of 4. This is consistent with the definition of GAP Code 4: areas unknown to have a biodiversity management focus. 9. Greater than 90% of all areas in the Conserved Areas Explorer were GAP coded at the level of Superunits intersected by designation boundaries, the coarsest unit of analysis. By adopting this coarser analytical unit, the Conserved Areas Explorer maintains a greater level of user responsiveness, avoiding the need to maintain and display hundreds of thousands of additional parcel records, which in most cases would only reflect the management scenario and GAP status of the umbrella Superunit and other spatially coincident designations.Marine Data • The Conserved Areas Explorer displays the network of 124 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along coastal waters and the shoreline of California. There are several categories of MPAs, some permitting varying levels of commercial and recreational fishing and waterfowl hunting, while roughly half of all MPAs do not permit any harvest. These data include all of California's marine protected areas (MPAs) as defined January 1, 2019. This dataset reflects the Department of Fish and Wildlife's best representation of marine protected areas based upon current California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 632: Natural Resources, Division 1: FGC- DFG. This dataset is not intended for navigational use or defining legal boundaries.Tracking Conserved AreasThe total acreage of conserved areas will increase as California works towards its 30x30 goal. Some changes will be due to shifts in legal protection designations or management status of specific lands and waters. However, shifts may also result from new data representing improvements in our understanding of existing biodiversity conservation efforts. The California Nature Conserved Areas Explorer is expected to generate a great deal of excitement regarding the state's trajectory towards achieving the 30x30 goal. We also expect it to spark discussion about how to shape that trajectory, and how to strategize and optimize outcomes. We encourage landowners, managers, and stakeholders to zoom into the locations they understand best and share their expertise with us to improve the data representing the status of conservation efforts at these sites. The Conserved Areas Explorer presents a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our existing data infrastructure and the channels of communication between land stewards and data curators, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and improving the quality of data. CPAD, CCED, and PAD-US are built from the ground up. These terrestrial data sources are derived from available parcel information and submissions from those who own and manage the land. So better data starts with you. Do boundary lines require updating? Is the GAP code inconsistent with a Holding’s conservation status? If land under your care can be better represented in the Conserved Areas Explorer, please use this link to initiate a review. The results of these reviews will inform updates to the California Protected Areas Database, California Conservation Easement Database, and PAD-US as appropriate for incorporation into future updates to CA Nature and tracking progress to 30x30.

This dataset was prepared by Monterey County Housing and Community Development using multiple data sources, including the California Conservation Easement Database (CCED) and local land trusts within Monterey County. Data sources are included in the data attribute table.

The Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved Areas map layer was developed by the CA Nature working group, providing a statewide perspective on areas managed for the protection or enhancement of biodiversity. Understanding the spatial distribution and extent of these durably protected and managed areas is a vital aspect of tracking and achieving the “30x30” goal of conserving 30% of California's lands and waters by 2030.Terrestrial and Freshwater Data• The California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), developed and managed by GreenInfo Network, is the most comprehensive collection of data on open space in California. CPAD data consists of Holdings, a single parcel or small group of parcels, such that the spatial features of CPAD correspond to ownership boundaries. • The California Conservation Easement Database (CCED), managed by GreenInfo Network, aggregates data on lands with easements. Conservation Easements are legally recorded interests in land in which a landholder sells or relinquishes certain development rights to their land in perpetuity. Easements are often used to ensure that lands remain as open space, either as working farm or ranch lands, or areas for biodiversity protection. Easement restrictions typically remain with the land through changes in ownership. • The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), hosted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), is developed in coordination with multiple federal, state, and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners. PAD-US, through the Gap Analysis Project (GAP), uses a numerical coding system in which GAP codes 1 and 2 correspond to management strategies with explicit emphasis on protection and enhancement of biodiversity. PAD-US is not specifically aligned to parcel boundaries and as such, boundaries represented within it may not align with other data sources. • Numerous datasets representing designated boundaries for entities such as National Parks and Monuments, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wilderness Areas, and others, were downloaded from publicly available sources, typically hosted by the managing agency.Methodology1. CPAD and CCED represent the most accurate location and ownership information for parcels in California which contribute to the preservation of open space and cultural and biological resources.2. Superunits are collections of parcels (Holdings) within CPAD which share a name, manager, and access policy. Most Superunits are also managed with a generally consistent strategy for biodiversity conservation. Examples of Superunits include Yosemite National Park, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. 3. Some Superunits, such as those owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, or National Park Service , are intersected by one or more designations, each of which may have a distinct management emphasis with regards to biodiversity. Examples of such designations are Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, or National Monuments.4. CPAD Superunits and CCED easements were intersected with all designation boundary files to create the operative spatial units for conservation analysis, henceforth 'Conservation Units,' which make up the Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved Areas map layer. Each easement was functionally considered to be a Superunit. 5. Each Conservation Unit was intersected with the PAD-US dataset in order to determine the management emphasis with respect to biodiversity, i.e., the GAP code. Because PAD-US is national in scope and not specifically parcel aligned with California assessors' surveys, a direct spatial extraction of GAP codes from PAD-US would leave tens of thousands of GAP code data slivers within the 30x30 Conserved Areas map. Consequently, a generalizing approach was adopted, such that any Conservation Unit with greater than 80% areal overlap with a single GAP code was uniformly assigned that code. Additionally, the total area of GAP codes 1 and 2 were summed for the remaining uncoded Conservation Units. If this sum was greater than 80% of the unit area, the Conservation Unit was coded as GAP 2. 6. Subsequent to this stage of analysis, certain Conservation Units remained uncoded, either due to the lack of a single GAP code (or combined GAP codes 1&2) overlapping 80% of the area, or because the area was not sufficiently represented in the PAD-US dataset. 7. These uncoded Conservation Units were then broken down into their constituent, finer resolution Holdings, which were then analyzed according to the above workflow. 8. Areas remaining uncoded following the two-step process of coding at the Superunit and then Holding levels were assigned a GAP code of 4. This is consistent with the definition of GAP Code 4: areas unknown to have a biodiversity management focus. 9. Greater than 90% of all areas in the Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved Areas map layer were GAP coded at the level of CPAD Superunits intersected by designation boundaries, the coarsest land units of analysis. By adopting these coarser analytical units, the Terrestrial 30X30 Conserved Areas map layer avoids hundreds of thousands of spatial slivers that result from intersecting designations with smaller, more numerous parcel records. In most cases, individual parcels reflect the management scenario and GAP status of the umbrella Superunit and other spatially coincident designations.Tracking Conserved AreasThe total acreage of conserved areas will increase as California works towards its 30x30 goal. Some changes will be due to shifts in legal protection designations or management status of specific lands and waters. However, shifts may also result from new data representing improvements in our understanding of existing biodiversity conservation efforts. The California Nature Project is expected to generate a great deal of excitement regarding the state's trajectory towards achieving the 30x30 goal. We also expect it to spark discussion about how to shape that trajectory, and how to strategize and optimize outcomes. We encourage landowners, managers, and stakeholders to investigate how their lands are represented in the Terrestrial 30X30 Conserved Areas Map Layer. This can be accomplished by using the Conserved Areas Explorer web application, developed by the CA Nature working group. Users can zoom into the locations they understand best and share their expertise with us to improve the data representing the status of conservation efforts at these sites. The Conserved Areas Explorer presents a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our existing data infrastructure and the channels of communication between land stewards and data curators, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and improving the quality of data. CPAD, CCED, and PAD-US are built from the ground up. Data is derived from available parcel information and submissions from those who own and manage the land. So better data starts with you. Do boundary lines require updating? Is the GAP code inconsistent with a Holding’s conservation status? If land under your care can be better represented in the Terrestrial 30X30 Conserved Areas map layer, please use this link to initiate a review. The results of these reviews will inform updates to the California Protected Areas Database, California Conservation Easement Database, and PAD-US as appropriate for incorporation into future updates to CA Nature and tracking progress to 30x30.

The datasets that are included in the composite layer making up the protected area layer are given below: Dataset Example Designations Citation or hyperlink PAD-US (CBI Edition) National Parks, GAP Status 1 and 2, State Parks, Open Spaces, Natural Areas “PAD-US (CBI Edition) Version 2.1b, California”. Conservation Biology Institute. 2016. https://databasin.org/datasets/64538491f43e42ba83e26b849f2cad28. Conservation Easements California Conservation Easement Database (CCED), 2022a. 2022. www.CALands.org. Accessed December 2022. Inventoried Roadless Areas “Inventoried Roadless Areas.” US Forest Service. Dec 12, 2022. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/roadless/2001roadlessrule/maps/?cid=stelprdb5382437 BLM National Landscape Conservation System Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, National Monuments, National Conservation Lands, Conservation Lands of the California Desert, Scenic Rivers https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-wilderness-areas https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-wilderness-study-areas https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-national-monuments-nca-forest-reserves-other-poly/ Greater Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Areas (BLM) For solar technology: BLM_Managm IN (‘PHMA’, ‘GHMA’, ‘OHMA’) For wind technology: BLMP_Managm = ‘PHMA’ “Nevada and Northeastern California Greater Sage-Grouse Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment.” US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office. 2015. https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/lup/103343/143707/176908/NVCA_Approved_RMP_Amendment.pdf Other BLM Protected Areas Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), Recreation Areas (SRMA, ERMA, OHV Designated Areas), including Vinagre Wash Special Recreation Management Area, National Scenic Areas, including Alabama Hills National Scenic Area https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-off-highway-vehicle-designations https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-areas-of-critical-environmental-concern https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-az-area-of-critical-environmental-concern-polygon [Big Marias ACEC and Beale Slough Riparian and Cultural ACEC] BLM, personal communication, November 2, 2022. Mono Basin NFSA https://pcta.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=cf1495f8e09940989995c06f9e290f6b#overview Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved Areas Gap Status 1 and 2 CA Nature. 30x30 Conserved Areas, Terrestrial. 2021. https://www.californianature.ca.gov/datasets/CAnature::30x30-conserved-areas-terrestrial/ Accessed September 2022. CPAD Open Spaces and Parks under city or county level California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), 2022b. 2022. https://www.calands.org/cpad/. Accessed February 22, 2023. USFS Special Interest Management Areas https://data-usfs.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/usfs::special-interest-management-areas-feature-layer/about Proposed Protected Area Molok Luyuk Extension (Berryessa Mtn NM Expansion) CalWild, personal communication, January 19, 2023. This layer is featured in the CEC 2023 Land-Use Screens for Electric System Planning data viewer.For more information about this layer and its use in electric system planning, please refer to the Land Use Screens Staff Report in the CEC Energy Planning Library. Change Log: Version 1.1 (January 22, 2024 10:40 AM) Layer revised to allow for gaps to remain when combining all components of the protected area layer.

The Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved Areas map layer was developed by the CA Nature working group, providing a statewide perspective on areas managed for the protection or enhancement of biodiversity. Understanding the spatial distribution and extent of these durably protected and managed areas is a vital aspect of tracking and achieving the “30x30” goal of conserving 30% of California's lands and waters by 2030.

Terrestrial and Freshwater Data
• The California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), developed and managed by GreenInfo Network, is the most comprehensive collection of data on open space in California. CPAD data consists of Holdings, a single parcel or small group of parcels which comprise the spatial features of CPAD, generally corresponding to ownership boundaries.

• The California Conservation Easement Database (CCED), managed by GreenInfo Network, aggregates data on lands with easements. Conservation Easements are legally recorded interests in land in which a landholder sells or relinquishes certain development rights to their land in perpetuity.
Easements are often used to ensure that lands remain as open space, either as working farm or ranch lands, or areas for biodiversity protection. Easement restrictions typically remain with the land through changes in ownership.

•The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), hosted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), is developed in coordination with multiple federal, state, and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners. PAD-US, through the Gap Analysis Project (GAP), uses a numerical coding system in which GAP codes 1 and 2 correspond to management strategies with explicit emphasis on protection and enhancement of biodiversity. PAD-US is not specifically aligned to parcel boundaries and as such,
boundaries represented within it may not align with other data sources.

• Numerous datasets representing designated boundaries for entities such as
National Parks and Monuments, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wilderness Areas,
and others, were downloaded from publicly available sources, typically
hosted by the managing agency.

Methodology
1.CPAD and CCED represent the most accurate location and ownership information for
parcels in California which contribute to the preservation of open space
and cultural and biological resources.

2. Superunits are collections of parcels (Holdings) within CPAD which share a name,
manager, and access policy. Most Superunits are also managed with a
generally consistent strategy for biodiversity conservation. Examples of
Superunits include Yosemite National Park, Giant Sequoia National
Monument, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

3. Some Superunits, such as those owned and managed by the Bureau of Land
Management, U.S. Forest Service, or National Park Service , are
intersected by one or more designations, each of which may have a
distinct management emphasis with regards to biodiversity. Examples of
such designations are Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, or
National Monuments.

4. CPAD Superunits and CCED easements were
intersected with all designation boundary files to create the operative
spatial units for conservation analysis, henceforth 'Conservation
Units,' which make up the Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved Areas map layer. Each easement was functionally considered to be a Superunit.

5. Each Conservation Unit was intersected with the PAD-US dataset in order to
determine the management emphasis with respect to biodiversity, i.e.,
the GAP code. Because PAD-US is national in scope and not specifically
parcel aligned with California assessors' surveys, a direct spatial
extraction of GAP codes from PAD-US would leave tens of thousands of GAP
code data slivers within the 30x30 Conserved Areas map. Consequently, a generalizing approach was adopted, such that any Conservation Unit with greater than 80% areal overlap with a single
GAP code was uniformly assigned that code. Additionally, the total area
of GAP codes 1 and 2 were summed for the remaining uncoded Conservation
Units. If this sum was greater than 80% of the unit area, the Conservation Unit was coded as GAP 2.

6.Subsequent to this stage of analysis, certain Conservation Units remained uncoded,
either due to the lack of a single GAP code (or combined GAP codes 1&2) overlapping 80% of the area, or because the area was not sufficiently represented in the PAD-US dataset.

7.These uncoded Conservation Units were then broken down into their
constituent, finer resolution Holdings, which were then analyzed
according to the above workflow.

8. Areas remaining uncoded following the two-step process of coding at the Superunit and
then Holding levels were assigned a GAP code of 4. This is consistent
with the definition of GAP Code 4: areas unknown to have a biodiversity
management focus.

9. Greater than 90% of all areas in the Terrestrial 30x30 Conserved
Areas map layer were GAP coded at the level of CPAD Superunits intersected by designation boundaries, the coarsest land units of analysis. By adopting these coarser analytical units, the Terrestrial 30X30 Conserved Areas map layer avoids hundreds of thousands of spatial slivers that result from intersecting designations with smaller, more numerous parcel records. In most cases, individual parcels reflect the management scenario and GAP status of the umbrella Superunit and other spatially coincident designations.

10. PAD-US is a principal data source for understanding the spatial distribution of GAP coded lands, but it is national in scope, and may not always be the most current source of data with respect to California holdings. GreenInfo Network, which develops and maintains the CPAD and CCED datasets, has taken a lead role in establishing communication with land stewards across California in order to make GAP attribution of these lands as current and accurate as possible. The tabular attribution of these datasets is analyzed in addition to PAD-US in order to understand whether a holding may be considered conserved.

Tracking Conserved Areas
The total acreage of conserved areas will increase as California works towards its 30x30 goal. Some changes will be due to shifts in legal protection designations or management status of specific lands and waters. However, shifts may also result from new data representing
improvements in our understanding of existing biodiversity conservation
efforts. The California Nature Project is expected to generate a great deal of excitement regarding the state's trajectory towards achieving the 30x30 goal. We also expect it to spark discussion about how to shape that trajectory, and how to strategize and optimize outcomes. We encourage landowners, managers, and stakeholders to investigate how their lands are represented in the Terrestrial 30X30 Conserved Areas Map Layer. This can be accomplished by using the Conserved Areas Explorer web application, developed by the CA Nature working group. Users can zoom into the locations they understand best and share their expertise with us to improve the data representing the status of conservation efforts at these sites. The Conserved Areas Explorer presents a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our existing data infrastructure and the channels of communication between land stewards and data curators, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and improving the quality of data.

CPAD, CCED, and PAD-US are built from the ground up. Data is derived from available parcel information and submissions from those who own and manage the land. So better data starts with you. Do boundary lines require updating? Is the GAP code inconsistent with a Holding’s conservation status? If land under your care can be better represented in the Terrestrial 30X30 Conserved Areas map layer, please use this link to initiate a review.The results of these reviews will inform updates to the California Protected Areas Database, California Conservation Easement Database, and PAD-US as appropriate for incorporation into future updates to CA Nature and tracking progress to 30x30.

Secured Areas Data Definitions and Sources The secured areas dataset shows public and private lands that are permanently secured against conversion to development through fee ownership, easements, or permanent conservation restrictions. Each parcel is classified by its GAP status: a classification developed by the US Fish and Wildlife service to reflect the intent of the landowner or easement holder. GAP 1 and 2 are commonly thought of as “protected” land, while GAP 3 are “multiple-use”.GAP Status Definitions Citation: Crist, P.J., B. Thompson, T. C. Edwards, C. G. Homer, S. D. Bassett. 1998. Mapping and Categorizing Land Stewardship. A Handbook for Conducting Gap Analysis.GAP 1 = Permanently Secured for Nature and Natural ProcessesAn area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover and a mandated management plan in operation to maintain a natural state within which disturbance events (of natural type, frequency, intensity, and legacy) are allowed to proceed without interference or are mimicked through management.GAP 2 = Permanently Secured for Nature with Management An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover and a mandated management plan in operation to maintain a primarily natural state, but which may receive uses or management practices that degrade the quality of existing natural communities, including suppression of natural disturbance. GAP 3 = Permanently Secured for Multiple Uses including extraction and recreation An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover for the majority of the area, but subject to extractive uses of either a broad, low-intensity type (e.g., logging) or localized intense type (e.g., mining). It also confers protection to federally listed endangered and threatened species throughout the area.The Dataset is compiled from a mix of federal, regional and state data sources: NationalProtected Areas Database of the U.S.. (PAD-US 2.1, 2, and 1). U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gap Analysis Project (GAP)National Conservation Easement Database (NCED). Ducks Unlimited and Trust for Public Land.TNC Lands. The Nature Conservancy. Boundaries of TNC owned and managed land. Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2020, Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CARTS).Regional Eastern U.S. Secured Areas. The Nature Conservancy (TNC), State Chapter GIS compilations and contributions covering 22 Eastern US states and Eastern Canada.Conservation And Recreation Lands (CARL) in the Great Lakes Atlantic Region. Ducks Unlimited.StateCalifornia Protected Lands Database (CPAD) California Conservation Easement Database (CCED)Illinois Protected Natural Lands,(I-view) Prairie State Conservation Coalition Indiana Managed Lands. Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources.Public Lands for Conservation and Recreation in IOWA.Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources: State Managed Public Lands

Public and protected lands of Sonoma County for use in identifying individual parks, public and private conservation easements, mitigation banks, public lands, and easements. Originally adapted from California Protected Areas Database (CPAD). Last modified May 2025 per the 2024b release of the California Conservation Easement Database (CCED), California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), and including the latest Ag + Open Space acquisitions. *These GIS data are for representational purposes only and are not intended to depict definitive property boundaries or feature locations. The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District permanently protects the diverse agricultural, natural resource, and scenic open space lands of Sonoma County for future generations. Visit us at www.sonomaopenspace.org.

The geospatial data reflected in the protected area layer mostly pertain to natural and wilderness areas where development of utility-scale renewable energy is prohibited and were heavily based on RETI 1.0 blackout areas.1 The protected area layer is distinguished for solar PV technology by the BLM greater sage grouse habitat management area which provides separate exclusion areas for the different technology types. Tables 1 and 2 below lists the data sources and precise selection query for each dataset, if applicable, that make up the protected area layer.Table 1: Datasets used in the Protected Area Layer Dataset Example Designations Citation or hyperlink PAD-US (CBI Edition) National Parks, GAP Status 1 and 2, State Parks, Open Spaces, Natural Areas “PAD-US (CBI Edition) Version 2.1b, California”. Conservation Biology Institute. 2016. https://databasin.org/datasets/64538491f43e42ba83e26b849f2cad28. Conservation Easements California Conservation Easement Database (CCED), 2022a. 2022. www.CALands.org. Accessed December 2022. Inventoried Roadless Areas “Inventoried Roadless Areas.” US Forest Service. Dec 12, 2022. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/roadless/2001roadlessrule/maps/?cid=stelprdb5382437 BLM National Landscape Conservation System Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, National Monuments, National Conservation Lands, Conservation Lands of the California Desert, Scenic Rivers https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-wilderness-areas https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-wilderness-study-areas https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-national-monuments-nca-forest-reserves-other-poly/ Greater Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Areas (BLM) For solar technology: BLM_Managm IN (‘PHMA’, ‘GHMA’, ‘OHMA’) For wind technology: BLMP_Managm = ‘PHMA’ “Nevada and Northeastern California Greater Sage-Grouse Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment.” US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office. 2015. https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/lup/103343/143707/176908/NVCA_Approved_RMP_Amendment.pdf Other BLM Protected Areas Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), Recreation Areas (SRMA, ERMA, OHV Designated Areas), including Vinagre Wash Special Recreation Management Area, National Scenic Areas, including Alabama Hills National Scenic Area https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-off-highway-vehicle-designations

The datasets that are included in the composite layer making up the protected area layer are given below: DatasetExample DesignationsCitation or hyperlinkPAD-US (CBI Edition)National Parks, GAP Status 1 and 2, State Parks, Open Spaces, Natural Areas“PAD-US (CBI Edition) Version 2.1b, California”. Conservation Biology Institute. 2016. https://databasin.org/datasets/64538491f43e42ba83e26b849f2cad28.Conservation EasementsCalifornia Conservation Easement Database (CCED), 2022a. 2022. www.CALands.org. Accessed December 2022. Inventoried Roadless Areas“Inventoried Roadless Areas.” US Forest Service. Dec 12, 2022. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/roadless/2001roadlessrule/maps/?cid=stelprdb5382437BLM National Landscape Conservation SystemWilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, National Monuments, National Conservation Lands, Conservation Lands of the California Desert, Scenic Rivershttps://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-wilderness-areashttps://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-wilderness-study-areashttps://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-national-monuments-nca-forest-reserves-other-poly/Greater Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Areas (BLM)For solar technology: BLM_Managm IN (‘PHMA’, ‘GHMA’, ‘OHMA’)For wind technology: BLMP_Managm = ‘PHMA’“Nevada and Northeastern California Greater Sage-Grouse Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment.” US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office. 2015. https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/lup/103343/143707/176908/NVCA_Approved_RMP_Amendment.pdf Other BLM Protected AreasAreas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), Recreation Areas (SRMA, ERMA, OHV Designated Areas), including Vinagre Wash Special Recreation Management Area, National Scenic Areas, including Alabama Hills National Scenic Areahttps://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/BLM-EGIS::blm-ca-off-highway-vehicle-designations

We developed a comprehensive layer of “conservation management status”for the study area, largely based on assigned conservation status from the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD, 2016b). We categorized lands into four classes of conservation management: Highly Conserved lands, Conserved lands, Non-conservation Public lands, and Non-Conservation Private lands (Table 2.3). However, we also augmented the CPAD data with additional data sources for other types of conservation lands:Wilderness areas: We used data from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM https://www.blm.gov/ca/gis/) and other sources (http://www.wilderness.net/nwps/geography) and categorized all BLM Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and Wilderness areas as Highly Conserved; Conservation easements: We used data from the California Conservation Easement Database (http://www.calands.org/cced) and assigned conservation easements to the Highly Conserved category; andMilitary lands: We used data from the U.S. BLM Land Status data (v10; https://www.blm.gov/ca/gis/). Military installations with greater than 50% natural land cover were characterized as Conserved; installations with less than 50% natural land cover were characterized as non-conservation Public lands.

The California Protected Areas Database (CPAD) inventories open space lands that have been protectedfor open space uses through fee ownerships. A separate database – the California ConservationEasement Database (CCED)* – tracks lands protected through conservation easements (more below).CPAD is not a database of all public lands – for example, it does not include public buildings, water treatmentsites, or other non-open space public land.CPAD is suitable for a wide range of planning, assessment, analysis, and display purposes. CPAD shouldnot be used as the basis for official regulatory, legal, or other such governmental actions without moredetailed review of current official land records in the area of focus.The lands in CPAD are defined by their owning and managing agencies at the Holdings and Units levels. At theSuper Units level (a version of the release meant primarily for recreation applications, and for generalcartography), CPAD lands are defined simply by name, managing agency, and public access.Access to CPAD GIS data is through the California Natural Resources Agency’s open data portal – a downloadlink and more information about CPAD is at www.CALands.org. CPAD is released in shapefile format. The statesite also hosts map services with CPAD data displayed by Access Type, Agency Classification, and AgencyLevel. This is a great resource for web developers interested in displaying CPAD data already classified anddesigned by GreenInfo’s team of cartographers.

The California Protected Areas Database (CPAD) contains data on lands owned in fee by governments, non-profits and some private entities that are protected for open space purposes. Data includes all such areas in California, from small urban parks to large national parks and forests, mostly aligned to assessor parcel boundaries. Data is collected by Holdings (parcels) which are aggregated to Units (commonly named areas within counties) and Super Units (commonly named areas generally). The SNC clipped these data to the Tahoe Central Sierra Initiative boundary for use in our analyses and mapping applications. August 4, 2017Download data and get more information at www.CALands.orgAn update to the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD) has just been published by GreenInfo Network (www.GreenInfo.org). CPAD is the statewide GIS database of all of California’s protected areas, from the smallest urban parks to the largest national parks and wilderness areas.CPAD only contains data about lands that are protected for open space purposes and owned in fee by agencies and organizations. A total of 49 million acres of protected land are now inventoried in CPAD (just under half of California’s total land area) – this total is made up of over 62,000 separate holdings or parcels, that are grouped into 14,700 “parks” or preserves, and are owned by 1,100 governmental agencies, non-profits, and other organizations. For lands conserved with easements, see www.CALands.org to learn more about the California Conservation Easement Database (CCED).