This dataset was updated April, 2024.

This ownership dataset was generated primarily from CPAD data, which already tracks the majority of ownership information in California. CPAD is utilized without any snapping or clipping to FRA/SRA/LRA. CPAD has some important data gaps, so additional data sources are used to supplement the CPAD data. Currently this includes the most currently available data from BIA, DOD, and FWS. Additional sources may be added in subsequent versions. Decision rules were developed to identify priority layers in areas of overlap.

Starting in 2022, the ownership dataset was compiled using a new methodology. Previous versions attempted to match federal ownership boundaries to the FRA footprint, and used a manual process for checking and tracking Federal ownership changes within the FRA, with CPAD ownership information only being used for SRA and LRA lands. The manual portion of that process was proving difficult to maintain, and the new method (described below) was developed in order to decrease the manual workload, and increase accountability by using an automated process by which any final ownership designation could be traced back to a specific dataset.

The current process for compiling the data sources includes:

* Clipping input datasets to the California boundary

* Filtering the FWS data on the Primary Interest field to exclude lands that are managed by but not owned by FWS (ex: Leases, Easements, etc)

* Supplementing the BIA Pacific Region Surface Trust lands data with the Western Region portion of the LAR dataset which extends into California.

* Filtering the BIA data on the Trust Status field to exclude areas that represent mineral rights only.

* Filtering the CPAD data on the Ownership Level field to exclude areas that are Privately owned (ex: HOAs)

* In the case of overlap, sources were prioritized as follows: FWS > BIA > CPAD > DOD

* As an exception to the above, DOD lands on FRA which overlapped with CPAD lands that were incorrectly coded as non-Federal were treated as an override, such that the DOD designation could win out over CPAD.

In addition to this ownership dataset, a supplemental _source dataset is available which designates the source that was used to determine the ownership in this dataset.

Data Sources:

* GreenInfo Network's California Protected Areas Database (CPAD2023a). https://www.calands.org/cpad/; https://www.calands.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CPAD-2023a-Database-Manual.pdf

* US Fish and Wildlife Service FWSInterest dataset (updated December, 2023). https://gis-fws.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/9c49bd03b8dc4b9188a8c84062792cff_0/explore

* Department of Defense Military Bases dataset (updated September 2023) https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/military-bases

* Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pacific Region, Surface Trust and Pacific Region Office (PRO) land boundaries data (2023) via John Mosley John.Mosley@bia.gov

* Bureau of Indian Affairs, Land Area Representations (LAR) and BIA Regions datasets (updated Oct 2019) https://biamaps.doi.gov/bogs/datadownload.html

Data Gaps & Changes:

Known gaps include several BOR, ACE and Navy lands which were not included in CPAD nor the DOD MIRTA dataset. Our hope for future versions is to refine the process by pulling in additional data sources to fill in some of those data gaps. Additionally, any feedback received about missing or inaccurate data can be taken back to the appropriate source data where appropriate, so fixes can occur in the source data, instead of just in this dataset.

24_1: Input datasets this year included numerous changes since the previous version, particularly the CPAD and DOD inputs. Of particular note was the re-addition of Camp Pendleton to the DOD input dataset, which is reflected in this version of the ownership

This dataset is intended to provide a statewide depiction of land ownership in California. It includes lands owned by each federal agency, state agency, local government entities, conservation organizations, and special districts. It does not include lands that are in private ownership. Ownership is derived from CAL FIRE's State Responsibility Area (SRA) dataset and GreenInfo Network's California Protected Areas Database (CPAD). CAL FIRE tracks lands owned by federal agencies as part of our efforts to maintain fire protection responsibility boundaries, captured as part of our State Responsibility Areas (SRA) dataset. This effort draws on data provided by various federal agencies including USDA Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Since SRA lands are matched to county parcel data where appropriate, often federal land boundaries are also adjusted to match parcels, and may not always exactly match the source federal data. Federal lands from the SRA dataset are combined with ownership data for non-federal lands from CPAD, in order to capture lands owned by various state and local agencies, special districts, and conservation organizations. Data from CPAD are imported directly and not adjusted to match parcels or other features. However, CPAD features may be trimmed if they overlap federal lands from the SRA dataset. This service represents the latest release of the dataset by FRAP, and is updated annually. As of November 2018, it represents ownership18_2.

Ownership is a commonly used base layer used in a wide range of business functions and these data are intended to provide a depiction of the land ownership within the CLM project area. ownership22_1 - California Multi-Source Land Ownership, includes lands owned by each federal agency (including USFS) state agency, local government entities, conservation organizations, and special districts. It does not include lands of private ownership.

The CDFW Owned and Operated Lands and Conservation Easements dataset is a subset of the CDFW Lands dataset. It contains lands owned (fee title), some operated (wildlife areas, ecological reserves, and public/fishing access properties that are leases/agreements with other agencies that may be publicly accessible) and conservation easements held by CDFW. CDFW Owned and Operated Lands and Conservation Easements replaces the prior dataset, DFG Owned and Operated Lands, which included only fee title lands and some operated lands (wildlife areas, ecological reserves, and public/fishing access properties that are leases/agreements with other agencies and that may be publicly accessible). This is a generalized version dataset that has a shorter attribute table than the original and also has been dissolved based on the fields included. Please note that some lands may not be accessible due to the protection of resources and habitat. It is recommended that users contact the appropriate regional office for access information and consult regulations for CDFW lands in Sections 550, 550.1, 551, 552, 630 and 702. The CDFW Lands dataset is a digitized geographical inventory of selected lands owned and/or administered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Properties such as ecological reserves, wildlife areas, undesignated lands containing biological resource values, public and fishing access lands, and CDFW fish hatcheries are among those lands included in this inventory. Types of properties owned or administered by CDFW which may not be included in this dataset are parcels less than 1 acre in size, such as fishing piers, fish spawning grounds, fish barriers, and other minor parcels. Physical boundaries of individual parcels are determined by the descriptions contained in legal documents and assessor parcel maps relating to that parcel. The approximate parcel boundaries are drawn onto U.S. Geological Survey 7.5'-series topographic maps, then digitized and attributed before being added to the dataset. In some cases, assessor parcel or best available datasets are used to digitize the boundary. Using parcel data to adjust the boundaries is a work in progress and will be incorporated in the future. Township, range, and section lines were based on the U.S. Geological Survey 7.5' series topographic maps (1:24,000 - scale). In some areas, the boundaries will not align with the Bureau of Land Management's Public Lands Survey System (PLSS). See the "SOURCE" field for data used to digitize boundary.

The CDFW Owned and Operated Lands and Conservation Easements dataset is a subset of the CDFW Lands dataset. It contains lands owned (fee title), some operated (wildlife areas, ecological reserves, and public/fishing access properties that are leases/agreements with other agencies that may be publicly accessible) and conservation easements held by CDFW. CDFW Owned and Operated Lands and Conservation Easements replaces the prior dataset, DFG Owned and Operated Lands, which included only fee title lands and some operated lands (wildlife areas, ecological reserves, and public/fishing access properties that are leases/agreements with other agencies and that may be publicly accessible). This is a generalized version dataset that has a shorter attribute table than the original and also has been dissolved based on the fields included. Please note that some lands may not be accessible due to the protection of resources and habitat. It is recommended that users contact the appropriate regional office for access information and consult regulations for CDFW lands in Sections 550, 550.1, 551, 552, 630 and 702. The CDFW Lands dataset is a digitized geographical inventory of selected lands owned and/or administered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Properties such as ecological reserves, wildlife areas, undesignated lands containing biological resource values, public and fishing access lands, and CDFW fish hatcheries are among those lands included in this inventory. Types of properties owned or administered by CDFW which may not be included in this dataset are parcels less than 1 acre in size, such as fishing piers, fish spawning grounds, fish barriers, and other minor parcels. Physical boundaries of individual parcels are determined by the descriptions contained in legal documents and assessor parcel maps relating to that parcel. The approximate parcel boundaries are drawn onto U.S. Geological Survey 7.5'-series topographic maps, then digitized and attributed before being added to the dataset. In some cases, assessor parcel or best available datasets are used to digitize the boundary. Using parcel data to adjust the boundaries is a work in progress and will be incorporated in the future. Township, range, and section lines were based on the U.S. Geological Survey 7.5' series topographic maps (1:24,000 - scale). In some areas, the boundaries will not align with the Bureau of Land Management's Public Lands Survey System (PLSS). See the "SOURCE" field for data used to digitize boundary.This dataset is intended to provide information on the location of lands owned and/or administered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and for general conservation planning within the state. This dataset is not intended for navigational use. Users should contact the CDFW, Wildlife Branch, Lands Program or CDFW Regional offices for access information to a particular property. These datasets do not provide legal determination of parcel acreages or boundaries. Legal parcel acreages are based on County Assessor records. Users should contact the Wildlife Branch, Lands Program for this information and related data. When labeling or displaying properties on any map, use the provided field named "MAPLABEL" or use a generic label such as "conservation lands", "restricted lands", or some other similiar generalized label. All conservation easements are closed to public access.This dataset is not a surveyed product and is not a legal record of original survey measurements. They are representations or reproductions of information using various sources, scales, and precision of boundary data. As such, the data do not carry legal authority to determine a boundary, the location of fixed works nor is it suitable for navigational purposes. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife shall not be held liable for any use or misuse of the data. Users are responsible for ensuring the appropriate use of the data . It is strongly recommended that users acquire this dataset directly from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and not indirectly through other sources which may have outdated or misinterpreted information.

This ownership dataset utilizes a methodology that results in a federal ownership extent that matches the Federal Responsibility Areas (FRA) footprint from CAL FIRE's State Responsibility Areas for Fire Protection (SRA) data. FRA lands are snapped to county parcel data, thus federal ownership areas will also be snapped. Since SRA Fees were first implemented in 2011, CAL FIRE has devoted significant resources to improve the quality of SRA data. This includes comparing SRA data to data from other federal, state, and local agencies, an annual comparison to county assessor roll files, and a formal SRA review process that includes input from CAL FIRE Units. As a result, FRA lands provide a solid basis as the footprint for federal lands in California (except in the southeastern desert area). The methodology for federal lands involves: 1) snapping federal data sources to parcels; 2) clipping to the FRA footprint; 3) overlaying the federal data sources and using a hierarchy when sources overlap to resolve coding issues (BIA, UFW, NPS, USF, BLM, DOD, ACE, BOR); 4) utilizing an automated process to merge “unknown” FRA slivers with appropriate adjacent ownerships;5) a manual review of FRA areas not assigned a federal agency by this process. Non-Federal ownership information was obtained from the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), was clipped to the non-FRA area, and an automated process was used to fill in some sliver-gaps that occurred between the federal and non-federal data. Southeastern Desert Area: CAL FIRE does not devote the same level of resources for maintaining SRA data in this region of the state, since we have no fire protection responsibility. This includes almost all of Imperial County, and the desert portions of Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. In these areas, we used federal protection areas from the current version of the Direct Protection Areas (DPA) dataset. Due to the fact that there were draw-issues with the previous version of ownership, this version does NOT fill in the areas that are not assigned to one of the owner groups (it does not cover all lands in the state). Also unlike previous versions of the dataset, this version only defines ownership down to the agency level - it does not contain more specific property information (for example, which National Forest). The option for a more detailed future release remains, however, and due to the use of automated tools, could always be created without much additional effort.This dataset includes a representation to symbolize based on the Own_Group field using the standard color scheme utilized on DPA maps.For more details about data inputs, see the Lineage section of the metadata. For detailed notes on previous versions, see the Supplemental Information section of the metadata.This ownership dataset is derived from CAL FIRE's SRA dataset, and GreenInfo Network's California Protected Areas Database. CAL FIRE tracks lands owned by federal agencies as part of our efforts to maintain fire protection responsibility boundaries, captured as part of our State Responsiblity Areas (SRA) dataset. This effort draws on data provided by various federal agencies including USDA Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Inidan Affairs. Since SRA lands are matched to county parcel data where appropriate, often federal land boundaries are also adjusted to match parcels, and may not always exactly match the source federal data. Federal lands from the SRA dataset are combined with ownership data for non-federal lands from CPAD, in order to capture lands owned by various state and local agencies, special districts, and conservation organizations. Data from CPAD are imported directly and not adjusted to match parcels or other features. However, CPAD features may be trimmed if they overlap federal lands from the SRA dataset. Areas without an ownership feature are ASSUMED to be private (but not included in the dataset as such). This service represents the latest release of the dataset by FRAP, and is updated twice a year when new versions are released.

United States Federal land that falls within California classified by its active Federal surface managing agency.

The SMA implementation is comprised of one feature dataset, with several polygon feature classes, rather than a single feature class. SurfaceManagementAgency: The Surface Management Agency (SMA) Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset depicts Federal land for the United States and classifies this land by its active Federal surface managing agency. A Federal SMA agency refers to a Federal agency with administrative jurisdiction over the surface of Federal lands. Jurisdiction over the land is defined when the land is either: Withdrawn by some administrative or legislative action, or Acquired or Exchanged by a Federal Agency. The GIS data contained in this dataset represents the polygon features that show the boundaries for Surface Management Agency and the surface extent of each Federal agency's surface administrative jurisdiction. SMA data depicts current withdrawn areas for a particular agency and (when appropriate) includes land that was acquired or exchanged and is located outside of a withdrawal area for that agency. The SMA data do not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain land ownership attribute details. This layer is also updated whenever BLM is notified that Lands have been acquired by other Federal Agencies. For additional information regarding an acquisition search the Bureau's LR2000 system: The LND_SurfaceEstate data is edited and maintained in a single polygon feature class. Whenever possible, BLM lands are constructed from the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), also available to the public (PublicLandSurvey.gdb). Alignment of BLM data with the PLSS is a continual process, as the accuracy and density of PLSS data continues to improve and develop. Issues of misalignment with the PLSS are more common with non-BLM management areas. These discrepancies are being addressed at the BLM California State office based on U.S. Department of Interior priorities throughout the State of California

This layer can be used for watershed analysis and planning in the Russian River region of California.

This polygon shapefile depicts land ownership and management within the Russian River basin in California: distinguishing local, state, and federal jurisdictions from private lands and delineating areas managed for the long-term maintenance of natural ecological processes and biodiversity. This layer therefore contains attributes both for ownership and for the level of biodiversity protection.

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 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.

CAL FIRE has a legal responsibility to provide fire protection on all State Responsibility Area (SRA) lands, which are defined based on land ownership, population density and land use. For example, CAL FIRE does not have responsibility for densely populated areas, incorporated cities, agricultural lands, or lands administered by the federal government. The SRA dataset provides areas of legal responsibility for fire protection, including State Responsibility Areas (SRA), Federal Responsibility Areas (FRA), and Local Responsibility Areas (LRA). SRA designations undergo a thorough 5 year review cycle, as well as annual updates for incorporations/annexations, error fixes, and ownership changes (automatic changes that do not require Board of Forestry approval). This service represents the latest official version, and is updated when new versions are released. As of November 15th, 2024, this represents SRA 25_1. Changes from SRA24_1 include those resulting from acquisitions and disposals of federal lands transmitted through the yearly California Wildfire Coordinating Group (CWCG) Direct Protection Area (DPA) agreement process, from city annexations and de-annexations, from changes in county parcel boundaries, as well as corrections to any data errors discovered during the editing process.

A 1:100,000 polygon features class representing public, conservation and trust land ownership in the state of California. Developed for the California Resources Agency's Legacy Project, this dataset depicts ownership features as submitted by major public, trust, and non-profit groups in the state. PCTL05_2 is an update to the Legacy Project's PCTL05_1, PCTL04_1 and PCTL03_1 geographic datasets, which were built upon a prior effort by the USBR to map public lands.

Statewide Property Inventory started in 1989 per legislation 11011.15, to begin a pro-active approach to managing the State’s Real Property assets in a computerized format. Having the information in an electronic format makes it available to top level decision-makers considering options for the best use of these assets. The Statewide Property Inventory is mandated to capture detailed information on the following: land owned and leased by the state, structures owned and leased by the state, property the state leases to the private sector. Statewide Property Inventory was established in 1988 by legislative mandate. Leases were added in 2004 by executive order. Data is updated annually by the agencies. Point of Contact: Any questions should be referred to the SPIWeb@dgs.ca.gov

This data was created to depict state-owned School Lands that are under the jurisdiction of the California State Lands Commission. This data covers the entire State of California. Attention is directed to the “Description (Abstract)” section of this metadata for further discussion of the state-owned lands included in this data.The California State Lands Commission (CSLC) was created by the California Legislature in 1938 and given the authority and responsibility to manage certain public lands within the state. The public lands under the Commission’s jurisdiction are of two distinct types—sovereign lands acquired upon California’s admission into the Union in 1850; and certain federally granted lands including school lands, and swamp and overflowed lands. For purposes of this GIS data, sovereign lands are considered to be further divided into two general categories—fixed-boundary sovereign lands and ambulatory-boundary sovereign lands. The following lands are included in this data:School lands: These are what remain of the nearly 5.5 million acres throughout the state originally granted to California by Congress in 1853 to benefit public education. NOT INCLUDED IN THIS DATA: Ambulatory-boundary state sovereign lands, which include the beds of California’s naturally navigable rivers, streams and lakes. Swamp and overflowed lands: These are what remain of federal lands granted to California by Congress in 1850 to encourage reclamation and development of agricultural lands. Fixed-boundary sovereign lands: These are sovereign, public trust lands having fixed boundaries as the result of land exchanges, boundary line agreements or court orders. ALSO NOT INCLUDED IN THIS DATA: Ownership details within the U.S. Government meanders of Owens Lake.THIS DATA SUPERSEDES all previously published GIS information with respect to the above described state-owned lands under the jurisdiction of the CSLC.

The USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation's inventory of protected areas, including public open space and voluntarily provided, private protected areas, identified as an A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset in the Cadastral Theme (http://www.fgdc.gov/ngda-reports/NGDA_Datasets.html). PAD-US is an ongoing project with several published versions of a spatial database of areas dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity, and other natural, recreational or cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. The geodatabase maps and describes public open space and other protected areas. Most areas are public lands owned in fee; however, long-term easements, leases, and agreements or administrative designations documented in agency management plans may be included. The PAD-US database strives to be a complete “best available” inventory of protected areas (lands and waters) including data provided by managing agencies and organizations. The dataset is built in collaboration with several partners and data providers (http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/stewards/). See Supplemental Information Section of this metadata record for more information on partnerships and links to major partner organizations. As this dataset is a compilation of many data sets; data completeness, accuracy, and scale may vary. Federal and state data are generally complete, while local government and private protected area coverage is about 50% complete, and depends on data management capacity in the state. For completeness estimates by state: http://www.protectedlands.net/partners. As the federal and state data are reasonably complete; focus is shifting to completing the inventory of local gov and voluntarily provided, private protected areas. The PAD-US geodatabase contains over twenty-five attributes and four feature classes to support data management, queries, web mapping services and analyses: Marine Protected Areas (MPA), Fee, Easements and Combined. The data contained in the MPA Feature class are provided directly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas Center (MPA, http://marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov ) tracking the National Marine Protected Areas System. The Easements feature class contains data provided directly from the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED, http://conservationeasement.us ) The MPA and Easement feature classes contain some attributes unique to the sole source databases tracking them (e.g. Easement Holder Name from NCED, Protection Level from NOAA MPA Inventory). The "Combined" feature class integrates all fee, easement and MPA features as the best available national inventory of protected areas in the standard PAD-US framework. In addition to geographic boundaries, PAD-US describes the protection mechanism category (e.g. fee, easement, designation, other), owner and managing agency, designation type, unit name, area, public access and state name in a suite of standardized fields. An informative set of references (i.e. Aggregator Source, GIS Source, GIS Source Date) and "local" or source data fields provide a transparent link between standardized PAD-US fields and information from authoritative data sources. The areas in PAD-US are also assigned conservation measures that assess management intent to permanently protect biological diversity: the nationally relevant "GAP Status Code" and global "IUCN Category" standard. A wealth of attributes facilitates a wide variety of data analyses and creates a context for data to be used at local, regional, state, national and international scales. More information about specific updates and changes to this PAD-US version can be found in the Data Quality Information section of this metadata record as well as on the PAD-US website, http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/data/history/.) Due to the completeness and complexity of these data, it is highly recommended to review the Supplemental Information Section of the metadata record as well as the Data Use Constraints, to better understand data partnerships as well as see tips and ideas of appropriate uses of the data and how to parse out the data that you are looking for. For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/. To find more data resources as well as view example analysis performed using PAD-US data visit, http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/resources/. The PAD-US dataset and data standard are compiled and maintained by the USGS Gap Analysis Program, http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/ . For more information about data standards and how the data are aggregated please review the “Standards and Methods Manual for PAD-US,” http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/data/standards/ .

The SMA implementation is comprised of one feature dataset, with several polygon feature classes, rather than a single feature class. SurfaceManagementAgency: The Surface Management Agency (SMA) Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset depicts Federal land for the United States and classifies this land by its active Federal surface managing agency. A Federal SMA agency refers to a Federal agency with administrative jurisdiction over the surface of Federal lands. Jurisdiction over the land is defined when the land is either: Withdrawn by some administrative or legislative action, or Acquired or Exchanged by a Federal Agency. The GIS data contained in this dataset represents the polygon features that show the boundaries for Surface Management Agency and the surface extent of each Federal agencyâs surface administrative jurisdiction. SMA data depicts current withdrawn areas for a particular agency and (when appropriate) includes land that was acquired or exchanged and is located outside of a withdrawal area for that agency. The SMA data do not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain land ownership attribute details. This layer is also updated whenever BLM is notified that Lands have been acquired by other Federal Agencies. For addtional information regarding an acquistion search the Bureaus LR2000 system:The LND_SurfaceEstate data is edited and maintained in a single polygon feature class. Whenever possible, BLM lands are constructed from the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), also available to the public (PublicLandSurvey.gdb). Alignment of BLM data with the PLSS is a continual process, as the accuracy and density of PLSS data continues to improve and develop. Issues of misalignment with the PLSS are more common with non-BLM management areas. These discrepancies are being addressed at the BLM California State office based on U.S. Department of Interior priorities throughout the State of California.

In several cities in the United States, land prices made up over ********** of the value of those properties in 2023. For example, the average price of land for development in Los Angeles constituted ** percent of the value of the property erected in that soil. The ***** cities with the highest land price in the U.S. were in California.

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.