The USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation's inventory of protected areas, including public land and voluntarily provided private protected areas, identified as an A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset in the Cadastre Theme ( https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-cadastre/ ). The PAD-US is an ongoing project with several published versions of a spatial database including areas dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity, and other natural (including extraction), recreational, or cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. The database was originally designed to support biodiversity assessments; however, its scope expanded in recent years to include all open space public and nonprofit lands and waters. Most are public lands owned in fee (the owner of the property has full and irrevocable ownership of the land); however, permanent and long-term easements, leases, agreements, Congressional (e.g. 'Wilderness Area'), Executive (e.g. 'National Monument'), and administrative designations (e.g. 'Area of Critical Environmental Concern') documented in agency management plans are also included. The PAD-US strives to be a complete inventory of U.S. public land and other protected areas, compiling “best available” data provided by managing agencies and organizations. The PAD-US geodatabase maps and describes areas using thirty-six attributes and five separate feature classes representing the U.S. protected areas network: Fee (ownership parcels), Designation, Easement, Marine, Proclamation and Other Planning Boundaries. An additional Combined feature class includes the full PAD-US inventory to support data management, queries, web mapping services, and analyses. The Feature Class (FeatClass) field in the Combined layer allows users to extract data types as needed. A Federal Data Reference file geodatabase lookup table (PADUS3_0Combined_Federal_Data_References) facilitates the extraction of authoritative federal data provided or recommended by managing agencies from the Combined PAD-US inventory. This PAD-US Version 3.0 dataset includes a variety of updates from the previous Version 2.1 dataset (USGS, 2020, https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT ), achieving goals to: 1) Annually update and improve spatial data representing the federal estate for PAD-US applications; 2) Update state and local lands data as state data-steward and PAD-US Team resources allow; and 3) Automate data translation efforts to increase PAD-US update efficiency. The following list summarizes the integration of "best available" spatial data to ensure public lands and other protected areas from all jurisdictions are represented in the PAD-US (other data were transferred from PAD-US 2.1). Federal updates - The USGS remains committed to updating federal fee owned lands data and major designation changes in annual PAD-US updates, where authoritative data provided directly by managing agencies are available or alternative data sources are recommended. The following is a list of updates or revisions associated with the federal estate: 1) Major update of the Federal estate (fee ownership parcels, easement interest, and management designations where available), including authoritative data from 8 agencies: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau), Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The federal theme in PAD-US is developed in close collaboration with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Federal Lands Working Group (FLWG, https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-govunits/federal-lands-workgroup/ ). 2) Improved the representation (boundaries and attributes) of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, in collaboration with agency data-stewards, in response to feedback from the PAD-US Team and stakeholders. 3) Added a Federal Data Reference file geodatabase lookup table (PADUS3_0Combined_Federal_Data_References) to the PAD-US 3.0 geodatabase to facilitate the extraction (by Data Provider, Dataset Name, and/or Aggregator Source) of authoritative data provided directly (or recommended) by federal managing agencies from the full PAD-US inventory. A summary of the number of records (Frequency) and calculated GIS Acres (vs Documented Acres) associated with features provided by each Aggregator Source is included; however, the number of records may vary from source data as the "State Name" standard is applied to national files. The Feature Class (FeatClass) field in the table and geodatabase describe the data type to highlight overlapping features in the full inventory (e.g. Designation features often overlap Fee features) and to assist users in building queries for applications as needed. 4) Scripted the translation of the Department of Defense, Census Bureau, and Natural Resource Conservation Service source data into the PAD-US format to increase update efficiency. 5) Revised conservation measures (GAP Status Code, IUCN Category) to more accurately represent protected and conserved areas. For example, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Waterfowl Production Area Wetland Easements changed from GAP Status Code 2 to 4 as spatial data currently represents the complete parcel (about 10.54 million acres primarily in North Dakota and South Dakota). Only aliquot parts of these parcels are documented under wetland easement (1.64 million acres). These acreages are provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are referenced in the PAD-US geodatabase Easement feature class 'Comments' field. State updates - The USGS is committed to building capacity in the state data-steward network and the PAD-US Team to increase the frequency of state land updates, as resources allow. The USGS supported efforts to significantly increase state inventory completeness with the integration of local parks data in the PAD-US 2.1, and developed a state-to-PAD-US data translation script during PAD-US 3.0 development to pilot in future updates. Additional efforts are in progress to support the technical and organizational strategies needed to increase the frequency of state updates. The PAD-US 3.0 included major updates to the following three states: 1) California - added or updated state, regional, local, and nonprofit lands data from the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), managed by GreenInfo Network, and integrated conservation and recreation measure changes following review coordinated by the data-steward with state managing agencies. Developed a data translation Python script (see Process Step 2 Source Data Documentation) in collaboration with the data-steward to increase the accuracy and efficiency of future PAD-US updates from CPAD. 2) Virginia - added or updated state, local, and nonprofit protected areas data (and removed legacy data) from the Virginia Conservation Lands Database, provided by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Natural Heritage Program, and integrated conservation and recreation measure changes following review by the data-steward. 3) West Virginia - added or updated state, local, and nonprofit protected areas data provided by the West Virginia University, GIS Technical Center. For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://www.usgs.gov/gapanalysis/PAD-US/. For more information about data aggregation please review the PAD-US Data Manual available at https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/pad-us-data-manual . A version history of PAD-US updates is summarized below (See https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/pad-us-data-history for more information): 1) First posted - April 2009 (Version 1.0 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 2) Revised - May 2010 (Version 1.1 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 3) Revised - April 2011 (Version 1.2 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 4) Revised - November 2012 (Version 1.3) https://doi.org/10.5066/F79Z92XD 5) Revised - May 2016 (Version 1.4) https://doi.org/10.5066/F7G73BSZ 6) Revised - September 2018 (Version 2.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P955KPLE 7) Revised - September 2020 (Version 2.1) https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT 8) Revised - January 2022 (Version 3.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Q9LQ4B Comparing protected area trends between PAD-US versions is not recommended without consultation with USGS as many changes reflect improvements to agency and organization GIS systems, or conservation and recreation measure classification, rather than actual changes in protected area acquisition on the ground.

In the United States, the federal government manages lands in significant parts of the country. These lands include 193 million acres managed by the US Forest Service in the nation's 154 National Forests and 20 National Grasslands, Bureau of Land Management lands that cover 247 million acres in Alaska and the Western United States, 150 million acres managed for wildlife conservation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 84 million acres of National Parks and other lands managed by the National Park Service and over 30 million acres managed by the Department of Defense. The Bureau of Reclamation manages a much smaller land base than the other agencies included in this layer but plays a critical role in managing the country's water resources. The agencies included in this layer are: Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Defense, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service. The layer also includes National Monuments and Wildlife Refuges in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. The data is visible at all scales but draws best at scales greater than 1:2,000,000. Various - Esri compiled and published this layer in May 2022. See individual agency views for data vintage. There are six layer views available that were created from this service. Each layer uses a filter to extract an individual agency from the service. For more information about the layer views or how to use them in your own project, follow these links: USA Bureau of Land Management Lands, USA Bureau of Reclamation Lands, USA Department of Defense Lands, USA National Park Service Lands, USA Fish and Wildlife Service Lands, USA Forest Service LandsView Dataset on the Gateway

Graph and download economic data for Federal Government; Total Assets (Does Not Include Land), Level (FGTNILA027N) from 1945 to 2024 about land, IMA, federal, assets, government, and USA.

NOTE: A more current version of the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is available: PAD-US 2.1 https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT. The USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation's inventory of protected areas, including public land and voluntarily provided private protected areas, identified as an A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset in the Cadastre Theme (https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-cadastre/). The PAD-US is an ongoing project with several published versions of a spatial database including areas dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity, and other natural (including extraction), recreational, or cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. The database was originally designed to support biodiversity assessments; however, its scope expanded in recent years to include all public and nonprofit lands and waters. Most are public lands owned in fee; however, long-term easements, leases, agreements, Congressional (e.g. 'Wilderness Area'), Executive (e.g. 'National Monument'), and administrative designations (e.g. 'Area of Critical Environmental Concern') documented in agency management plans are also included. The PAD-US strives to be a complete inventory of public land and other protected areas, compiling “best available” data provided by managing agencies and organizations. The PAD-US geodatabase maps and describes areas with over twenty-five attributes in nine feature classes to support data management, queries, web mapping services, and analyses. NOTE: A more current version of the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is available: PAD-US 2.1 https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT This PAD-US Version 2.0 dataset includes a variety of updates and changes from the previous Version 1.4 dataset. The following list summarizes major updates and changes: 1) Expanded database structure with new layers: the geodatabase feature class structure now includes nine feature classes separating fee owned lands, conservation (and other) easements, management designations overlapping fee lands, marine areas, proclamation boundaries and various 'Combined' feature classes (e.g. 'Fee' + 'Easement' + 'Designation' feature classes); 2) Major update of the Federal estate including data from 8 agencies, developed in collaboration with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Federal Lands Working Group (FLWG, https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-govunits/federal-lands-workgroup/); 3) Major updates to 30 States and limited additions to 16 other States; 4) Integration of The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Secured Lands geodatabase; 5) Integration of Ducks Unlimited's (DU) Conservation and Recreation Lands (CARL) database; 6) Integration of The Trust for Public Land's (TPL) Conservation Almanac database; 7) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Lands database update: the national source of lands owned in fee or managed by TNC; 8) National Conservation Easement Database (NCED) update: complete update of non-sensitive (suitable for publication in the public domain) easements; 9) Complete National Marine Protected Areas (MPA) update: from the NOAA MPA Inventory, including conservation measure ('GAP Status Code', 'IUCN Category') review by NOAA; 10) First integration of Bureau of Energy Ocean Management (BOEM) managed marine lands: BOEM submitted Outer Continental Shelf Area lands managed for natural resources (minerals, oil and gas), a significant and new addition to PAD-US; 11) Fee boundary overlap assessment: topology overlaps in the PAD-US 2.0 'Fee' feature class have been identified and are available for user and data-steward reference (See Logical_Consistency_Report Section).
For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://usgs.gov/gapanalysis/PAD-US/. For more information about data aggregation please review the “Data Manual for PAD-US” available at https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/pad-us-data-manual .

This data set portrays the Public Land Surveys of the United States, including areas of private survey, Donation Land Claims, and Land Grants and Civil Colonies. This is a revised version of the May, 2002 data set.

These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas. The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data. No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data.

All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by a rectangular system of surveys called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), established and regulated by the Bureau of Land Management. The original public domain includes the land ceded to the Federal Government by the Thirteen Original States, supplemented with acquisitions from native Indians and foreign powers. It encompasses major portions of the land area of 30 western States.

Under Congressional mandate, cadastral surveys of public lands were undertaken to create parcels suitable for disposal by the Government. The PLSS was developed for this purpose. The PLSS is a rectangular survey system that typically divides the land into 6-mile square townships, which are further subdivided into 1-mile square sections (the data in the National Atlas do not include section-level information). The extension of the rectangular system of surveys over the public domain has been in progress since 1785. These surveys form the basis of patents issued when public lands pass out of Federal ownership.

Certain lands were excluded from the public domain and not subject to survey and disposal. These lands include the beds of navigable bodies of water, national installations such as military reservations and national parks, and areas such as land grants that had already passed to private ownership prior to subdivision by the Government.

Data describing the PLSS is required by Federal surface and mineral management agencies, as well as any organization concerned with and ownership in the 30 western States that were formed from the public domain. Additionally, many agencies have encoded natural resource or environmental inventory data based on the PLSS.

Alaska is the largest U.S. state in terms of area and also contains some areas of the most untamed wildlife in North America. In 2012, there was around 91.8 million acres of forest area located in Alaska, more than any other U.S. state. U.S. lumber production The United States lumber industry has seen ups and downs over the last several years. In 2006, some 49.74 billion board feet of lumber were produced in the United States. Three years later this figure had decreased to around 30.2 billion board feet, the lowest it had been in recent years. By 2016, the production volume of lumber had recovered somewhat, reaching 41 billion board feet. U.S. national park system As a country with so much natural splendor, it only makes sense that there is a vast network of national parks and forests in the United States dedicated to preservation and public enjoyment. In 2018, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California was the leading unit in the national park system in terms of visitors. In addition, 58 percent of American campers intended to visit a national park in 2017.

In the United States, the federal government manages approximately 28% of the land in the United States. Most federal lands are west of the Mississippi River, where almost half of the land by area is managed by the federal government. Federal lands include 193 million acres managed by the US Forest Service in 154 National Forests and 20 National Grasslands, Bureau of Land Management lands that cover 247 million acres in Alaska and the Western United States, 150 million acres managed for wildlife conservation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 84 million acres of National Parks and other lands managed by the National Park Service, and over 30 million acres managed by the Department of Defense. The Bureau of Reclamation manages a much smaller land base than the other agencies included in this layer but plays a critical role in managing the country's water resources. The agencies included in this layer are:Bureau of Land ManagementDepartment of DefenseNational Park ServiceUS Fish and Wildlife ServiceUS Forest ServiceDataset SummaryPhenomenon Mapped: United States federal lands managed by six federal agenciesGeographic Extent: 50 United States and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands. The layer also includes National Monuments and Wildlife Refuges in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea.Data Coordinate System: WGS 1984Visible Scale: The data is visible at all scales but draws best at scales greater than 1:2,000,000Source: BLM, DOD, USFS, USFWS, NPS, PADUS 3.0Publication Date: Various - Esri compiled and published this layer in May 2025. See individual agency views for data vintage.There are six layer views available that were created from this service. Each layer uses a filter to extract an individual agency from the service. For more information about the layer views or how to use them in your own project, follow these links:USA Bureau of Land Management LandsUSA Department of Defense LandsUSA National Park Service LandsUSA Fish and Wildlife Service LandsUSA Forest Service LandsWhat can you do with this Layer?This layer is suitable for both visualization and analysis across the ArcGIS system. This layer can be combined with your data and other layers from the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro to create powerful web maps that can be used alone or in a story map or other application.Because this layer is part of the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World it is easy to add to your map:In ArcGIS Online, you can add this layer to a map by selecting Add then Browse Living Atlas Layers. A window will open. Type "federal lands" in the search box and browse to the layer. Select the layer then click Add to Map.In ArcGIS Pro, open a map and select Add Data from the Map Tab. Select Data at the top of the drop down menu. The Add Data dialog box will open on the left side of the box, expand Portal if necessary, then select Living Atlas. Type "federal lands" in the search box, browse to the layer then click OK.In both ArcGIS Online and Pro you can change the layer's symbology and view its attribute table. You can filter the layer to show subsets of the data using the filter button in Online or a definition query in Pro.The data can be exported to a file geodatabase, a shapefile or other format and downloaded using the Export Data button on the top right of this webpage.This layer can be used as an analytic input in both Online and Pro through the Perform Analysis window Online or as an input to a geoprocessing tool, model, or Python script in Pro.The ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World provides an easy way to explore many other beautiful and authoritative maps on hundreds of topics like this one.Questions?Please leave a comment below if you have a question about this layer, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Government; Total Assets (Does Not Include Land), Level (FGTNILQ027S) from Q4 1945 to Q1 2025 about land, IMA, federal, assets, government, and USA.

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/ .

Graph and download economic data for State and Local Governments; Total Assets (Does Not Include Land), Level (SLGTANA027N) from 1945 to 2024 about retirement, land, state & local, IMA, assets, government, employment, and USA.

The USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation's inventory of protected areas, including public land and voluntarily provided private protected areas, identified as an A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset in the Cadastre Theme ( https://ngda-cadastre-geoplatform.hub.arcgis.com/ ). The PAD-US is an ongoing project with several published versions of a spatial database including areas dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity, and other natural (including extraction), recreational, or cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. The database was originally designed to support biodiversity assessments; however, its scope expanded in recent years to include all open space public and nonprofit lands and waters. Most are public lands owned in fee (the owner of the property has full and irrevocable ownership of the land); however, permanent and long-term easements, leases, agreements, Congressional (e.g. 'Wilderness Area'), Executive (e.g. 'National Monument'), and administrative designations (e.g., 'Area of Critical Environmental Concern') documented in agency management plans are also included. The PAD-US strives to be a complete inventory of U.S. public land and other protected areas, compiling “best available” data provided by managing agencies and organizations. PAD-US provides a full inventory geodatabase, spatial analysis, statistics, data downloads, web services, poster maps, and data submissions included in efforts to track global progress toward biodiversity protection. PAD-US integrates spatial data to ensure public lands and other protected areas from all jurisdictions are represented. PAD-US version 4.0 includes new and updated data from the following data providers. All other data were transferred from previous versions of PAD-US. Federal updates - The USGS remains committed to updating federal fee owned lands data and major designation changes in regular PAD-US updates, where authoritative data provided directly by managing agencies are available or alternative data sources are recommended. Revisions associated with the federal estate in this version include updates to the Federal estate (fee ownership parcels, easement interest, management designations, and proclamation boundaries), with authoritative data from 7 agencies: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau), Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The federal theme in PAD-US is developed in close collaboration with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Federal Lands Working Group (FLWG, https://ngda-gov-units-geoplatform.hub.arcgis.com/pages/federal-lands-workgroup/ ). This includes improved the representation of boundaries and attributes for the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, in collaboration with agency data-stewards, in response to feedback from the PAD-US Team and stakeholders. Additionally, National Cemetery boundaries were added using geospatial boundary data provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and NASA boundaries were added using data contained in the USGS National Boundary Dataset (NBD). State Updates - USGS is committed to building capacity in the state data steward network and the PAD-US Team to increase the frequency of state land and NGO partner updates, as resources allow. State Lands Workgroup ( https://ngda-gov-units-geoplatform.hub.arcgis.com/pages/state-lands-workgroup ) is focused on improving protected land inventories in PAD-US, increase update efficiency, and facilitate local review. PAD-US 4.0 included updates and additions from the following seventeen states and territories: California (state, local, and nonprofit fee); Colorado (state, local, and nonprofit fee and easement); Georgia (state and local fee); Kentucky (state, local, and nonprofit fee and easement); Maine (state, local, and nonprofit fee and easement); Montana (state, local, and nonprofit fee); Nebraska (state fee); New Jersey (state, local, and nonprofit fee and easement); New York (state, local, and nonprofit fee and easement); North Carolina (state, local, and nonprofit fee); Pennsylvania (state, local, and nonprofit fee and easement); Puerto Rico (territory fee); Tennessee (land trust fee); Texas (state, local, and nonprofit fee); Virginia (state, local, and nonprofit fee); West Virginia (state, local, and nonprofit fee); and Wisconsin (state fee data). Additionally, the following datasets were incorporated from NGO data partners: Trust for Public Land (TPL) Parkserve (new fee and easement data); The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Lands (fee owned by TNC); TNC Northeast Secured Areas; Ducks Unlimited (land trust fee); and the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED). All state and NGO easement submissions are provided to NCED. For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://www.usgs.gov/programs/gap-analysis-project/science/protected-areas . For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://www.usgs.gov/programs/gap-analysis-project/science/protected-areas . For more information about data aggregation please review the PAD-US Data Manual available at https://www.usgs.gov/programs/gap-analysis-project/pad-us-data-manual . A version history of PAD-US updates is summarized below (See https://www.usgs.gov/programs/gap-analysis-project/pad-us-data-history/ for more information): 1) First posted - April 2009 (Version 1.0 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 2) Revised - May 2010 (Version 1.1 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 3) Revised - April 2011 (Version 1.2 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 4) Revised - November 2012 (Version 1.3) https://doi.org/10.5066/F79Z92XD 5) Revised - May 2016 (Version 1.4) https://doi.org/10.5066/F7G73BSZ 6) Revised - September 2018 (Version 2.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P955KPLE 7) Revised - September 2020 (Version 2.1) https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT 8) Revised - January 2022 (Version 3.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Q9LQ4B 9) Revised - April 2024 (Version 4.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P96WBCHS Comparing protected area trends between PAD-US versions is not recommended without consultation with USGS as many changes reflect improvements to agency and organization GIS systems, or conservation and recreation measure classification, rather than actual changes in protected area acquisition on the ground.

The USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation's inventory of protected areas, including public land and voluntarily provided private protected areas, identified as an A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset in the Cadastre Theme (https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-cadastre/). The PAD-US is an ongoing project with several published versions of a spatial database including areas dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity, and other natural (including extraction), recreational, or cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. The database was originally designed to support biodiversity assessments; however, its scope expanded in recent years to include all public and nonprofit lands and waters. Most are public lands owned in fee (the owner of the property has full and irrevocable ownership of the land); however, long-term easements, leases, agreements, Congressional (e.g. 'Wilderness Area'), Executive (e.g. 'National Monument'), and administrative designations (e.g. 'Area of Critical Environmental Concern') documented in agency management plans are also included. The PAD-US strives to be a complete inventory of public land and other protected areas, compiling “best available” data provided by managing agencies and organizations. The PAD-US geodatabase maps and describes areas using over twenty-five attributes and five feature classes representing the U.S. protected areas network in separate feature classes: Fee (ownership parcels), Designation, Easement, Marine, Proclamation and Other Planning Boundaries. Five additional feature classes include various combinations of the primary layers (for example, Combined_Fee_Easement) to support data management, queries, web mapping services, and analyses. This PAD-US Version 2.1 dataset includes a variety of updates and new data from the previous Version 2.0 dataset (USGS, 2018 https://doi.org/10.5066/P955KPLE ), achieving the primary goal to "Complete the PAD-US Inventory by 2020" (https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/science/pad-us-vision) by addressing known data gaps with newly available data. The following list summarizes the integration of "best available" spatial data to ensure public lands and other protected areas from all jurisdictions are represented in PAD-US, along with continued improvements and regular maintenance of the federal theme. Completing the PAD-US Inventory: 1) Integration of over 75,000 city parks in all 50 States (and the District of Columbia) from The Trust for Public Land's (TPL) ParkServe data development initiative (https://parkserve.tpl.org/) added nearly 2.7 million acres of protected area and significantly reduced the primary known data gap in previous PAD-US versions (local government lands). 2) First-time integration of the Census American Indian/Alaskan Native Areas (AIA) dataset (https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2019/AIANNH) representing the boundaries for federally recognized American Indian reservations and off-reservation trust lands across the nation (as of January 1, 2020, as reported by the federally recognized tribal governments through the Census Bureau's Boundary and Annexation Survey) addressed another major PAD-US data gap. 3) Aggregation of nearly 5,000 protected areas owned by local land trusts in 13 states, aggregated by Ducks Unlimited through data calls for easements to update the National Conservation Easement Database (https://www.conservationeasement.us/), increased PAD-US protected areas by over 350,000 acres. Maintaining regular Federal updates: 1) Major update of the Federal estate (fee ownership parcels, easement interest, and management designations), including authoritative data from 8 agencies: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Census Bureau (Census), Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The federal theme in PAD-US is developed in close collaboration with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Federal Lands Working Group (FLWG, https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-govunits/federal-lands-workgroup/); 2) Complete National Marine Protected Areas (MPA) update: from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) MPA Inventory, including conservation measure ('GAP Status Code', 'IUCN Category') review by NOAA; Other changes: 1) PAD-US field name change - The "Public Access" field name changed from 'Access' to 'Pub_Access' to avoid unintended scripting errors associated with the script command 'access'. 2) Additional field - The "Feature Class" (FeatClass) field was added to all layers within PAD-US 2.1 (only included in the "Combined" layers of PAD-US 2.0 to describe which feature class data originated from). 3) Categorical GAP Status Code default changes - National Monuments are categorically assigned GAP Status Code = 2 (previously GAP 3), in the absence of other information, to better represent biodiversity protection restrictions associated with the designation. The Bureau of Land Management Areas of Environmental Concern (ACECs) are categorically assigned GAP Status Code = 3 (previously GAP 2) as the areas are administratively protected, not permanent. More information is available upon request. 4) Agency Name (FWS) geodatabase domain description changed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (previously U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service). 5) Select areas in the provisional PAD-US 2.1 Proclamation feature class were removed following a consultation with the data-steward (Census Bureau). Tribal designated statistical areas are purely a geographic area for providing Census statistics with no land base. Most affected areas are relatively small; however, 4,341,120 acres and 37 records were removed in total. Contact Mason Croft (masoncroft@boisestate) for more information about how to identify these records. For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://usgs.gov/gapanalysis/PAD-US/. For more information about data aggregation please review the Online PAD-US Data Manual available at https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/pad-us-data-manual. Some of the the American Indian reservations (AIR) polygons are based on the 2010 USA Indian Reservations dataset distributed by USGS (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/4f4e4a2ee4b07f02db61576c).

This web application contains information from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, The U.S.G.S., The U.S. Census and BLM. The following information is in relation to the Surface Management Agency layer created by BLM: 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. The SMA feature class covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. 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. This layer is a dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices. 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. The SMA Withdrawals feature class covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. A Federal SMA Withdrawal is defined by formal actions that set aside, withhold, or reserve Federal land by statute or administrative order for public purposes. A withdrawal creates a title encumbrance on the land. Withdrawals must accomplish one or more of the following: A. Transfer total or partial jurisdiction of Federal land between Federal agencies. B. Close (segregate) Federal land to operation of all or some of the public land laws and/or mineral laws. C. Dedicate Federal land to a specific public purpose. There are four major categories of formal withdrawals: (1) Administrative, (2) Presidential Proclamations, (3) Congressional, and (4) Federal Power Act (FPA) or Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Withdrawals. These SMA Withdrawals will include the present total extent of withdrawn areas rather than all of the individual withdrawal actions that created them over time. 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. This layer is a dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices. 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. For more information on theProtected Areas Database (PAD-US) 3.0 Datalayer visit: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/gap-analysis-project/science/pad-us-data-download or U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gap Analysis Project (GAP), 2022, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) 3.0: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Q9LQ4B.

United States US: Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data was reported at 1.168 % in 2010. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1.168 % for 2000. United States US: Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data is updated yearly, averaging 1.168 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2010, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.168 % in 2010 and a record low of 1.168 % in 2010. United States US: Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. Land area below 5m is the percentage of total land where the elevation is 5 meters or less.; ; Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/lecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2.; Weighted Average;

In 2021, the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) initiated a tracking mechanism that requires all federal agencies that own or manage land to categorize the acres of those lands into three broad categories of predominant land use and produce an annual report. In this context the USDA Forest Service has considered the definitions of each category and classified all acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands into 1. Conservation/Preservation, 2. Commercial, 3. Operational designations. Those designations are additionally separated by whether the lands have been identified as Stewardship lands, or if the lands were acquired by the federal government for General Plant, Property & Equipment purposes. In response, the Washington Office Lands and Realty Management staff determined the appropriate data sources for this annual report and developed classification rules and a geoprocessing methodology to overlay and extract a seamless and complete NFS acreage total by the required categorizations. The acres of land in each category are dynamic, as the status of surface ownership may change from year to year based on administrative and congressional designations, purchases, dispositions, or exchanges. The data used to generate the report are updated weekly, and this translates into continuously refreshed reporting and mapping products. Presented here is the spatial representation of the rule-based land category designations of NFS lands.The FASAB land categories are defined as follows:Conservation/ Preservation: land or land rights that are predominantly used for conservation or preservation purposes.Conservation: protection and proper use of natural resources.Preservation: the protection of buildings, objects, and landscapes.Commercial: land and permanent land rights that are predominately used to generate inflows of resources derived from the land itself or activities that nonfederal third parties perform on the land, usually through special use permits, right-of-way grants, and leases.Operational: land that is used for general or administrative purposes.The Land_FASAB dataset covers National Forest System Lands including federally owned units of forest, range, and related land consisting of national forests, purchase units, national grasslands, land utilization project areas, experimental forest areas, experimental range areas, designated experimental areas, other land areas, water areas, and interests in lands that are administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service or designated for administration through the Forest Service. Additional information on this FASAB and the geoprocessing used to produce this dataset can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/Land-FASAB-dataset-FAQ.pdfMetadata and DownloadsThis record was taken from the USDA Enterprise Data Inventory that feeds into the https://data.gov catalog. Data for this record includes the following resources: ISO-19139 metadata ArcGIS Hub Dataset ArcGIS GeoService CSV Shapefile GeoJSON KML For complete information, please visit https://data.gov.

This data set depicts federal lands having restrictions on access or activities -- that is, lands mangaed by the National Park Service, Defense Department, or Energy Department -- in western North America. The data set was created by reformatting and merging state- and province-based ownership data layers originally acquired from diverse sources (including state GAP programs, USBLM state offices and other sources). For each original dataset 3 additional fields, "Pub_Pvt", "CA_OWN", and "SOURCE" were added and populated based on the specific ownership information contained in the source data. The original coverages were then merged based on the "CA_OWN" field. Finally, NPS, DOD, and DOE lands were selected out of the ownership layer. All work was completed in AcMap 8.3. This product and all source data are available online from SAGEMAP: http://sagemap.wr.usgs.gov.

The USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation's inventory of protected areas, including public land and voluntarily provided private protected areas, identified as an A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset in the Cadastre Theme ( https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-cadastre/ ). The PAD-US is an ongoing project with several published versions of a spatial database including areas dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity, and other natural (including extraction), recreational, or cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. The database was originally designed to support biodiversity assessments; however, its scope expanded in recent years to include all open space public and nonprofit lands and waters. Most are public lands owned in fee (the owner of the property has full and irrevocable ownership of the land); however, permanent and long-term easements, leases, agreements, Congressional (e.g. 'Wilderness Area'), Executive (e.g. 'National Monument'), and administrative designations (e.g. 'Area of Critical Environmental Concern') documented in agency management plans are also included. The PAD-US strives to be a complete inventory of U.S. public land and other protected areas, compiling “best available” data provided by managing agencies and organizations. The PAD-US geodatabase maps and describes areas using thirty-six attributes and five separate feature classes representing the U.S. protected areas network: Fee (ownership parcels), Designation, Easement, Marine, Proclamation and Other Planning Boundaries. An additional Combined feature class includes the full PAD-US inventory to support data management, queries, web mapping services, and analyses. The Feature Class (FeatClass) field in the Combined layer allows users to extract data types as needed. A Federal Data Reference file geodatabase lookup table (PADUS3_0Combined_Federal_Data_References) facilitates the extraction of authoritative federal data provided or recommended by managing agencies from the Combined PAD-US inventory.

This PAD-US Version 3.0 dataset includes a variety of updates from the previous Version 2.1 dataset (USGS, 2020, https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT ), achieving goals to: 1) Annually update and improve spatial data representing the federal estate for PAD-US applications; 2) Update state and local lands data as state data-steward and PAD-US Team resources allow; and 3) Automate data translation efforts to increase PAD-US update efficiency. The following list summarizes the integration of "best available" spatial data to ensure public lands and other protected areas from all jurisdictions are represented in the PAD-US (other data were transferred from PAD-US 2.1).

Federal updates - The USGS remains committed to updating federal fee owned lands data and major designation changes in annual PAD-US updates, where authoritative data provided directly by managing agencies are available or alternative data sources are recommended. The following is a list of updates or revisions associated with the federal estate:

1) Major update of the Federal estate (fee ownership parcels, easement interest, and management designations where available), including authoritative data from 8 agencies: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau), Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The federal theme in PAD-US is developed in close collaboration with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Federal Lands Working Group (FLWG, https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-govunits/federal-lands-workgroup/ ).

2) Improved the representation (boundaries and attributes) of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, in collaboration with agency data-stewards, in response to feedback from the PAD-US Team and stakeholders.

3) Added a Federal Data Reference file geodatabase lookup table (PADUS3_0Combined_Federal_Data_References) to the PAD-US 3.0 geodatabase to facilitate the extraction (by Data Provider, Dataset Name, and/or Aggregator Source) of authoritative data provided directly (or recommended) by federal managing agencies from the full PAD-US inventory. A summary of the number of records (Frequency) and calculated GIS Acres (vs Documented Acres) associated with features provided by each Aggregator Source is included; however, the number of records may vary from source data as the "State Name" standard is applied to national files. The Feature Class (FeatClass) field in the table and geodatabase describe the data type to highlight overlapping features in the full inventory (e.g. Designation features often overlap Fee features) and to assist users in building queries for applications as needed.

4) Scripted the translation of the Department of Defense, Census Bureau, and Natural Resource Conservation Service source data into the PAD-US format to increase update efficiency.

5) Revised conservation measures (GAP Status Code, IUCN Category) to more accurately represent protected and conserved areas. For example, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Waterfowl Production Area Wetland Easements changed from GAP Status Code 2 to 4 as spatial data currently represents the complete parcel (about 10.54 million acres primarily in North Dakota and South Dakota). Only aliquot parts of these parcels are documented under wetland easement (1.64 million acres). These acreages are provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are referenced in the PAD-US geodatabase Easement feature class 'Comments' field.

State updates - The USGS is committed to building capacity in the state data-steward network and the PAD-US Team to increase the frequency of state land updates, as resources allow. The USGS supported efforts to significantly increase state inventory completeness with the integration of local parks data in the PAD-US 2.1, and developed a state-to-PAD-US data translation script during PAD-US 3.0 development to pilot in future updates. Additional efforts are in progress to support the technical and organizational strategies needed to increase the frequency of state updates. The PAD-US 3.0 included major updates to the following three states:

1) California - added or updated state, regional, local, and nonprofit lands data from the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), managed by GreenInfo Network, and integrated conservation and recreation measure changes following review coordinated by the data-steward with state managing agencies. Developed a data translation Python script (see Process Step 2 Source Data Documentation) in collaboration with the data-steward to increase the accuracy and efficiency of future PAD-US updates from CPAD.

2) Virginia - added or updated state, local, and nonprofit protected areas data (and removed legacy data) from the Virginia Conservation Lands Database, provided by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Natural Heritage Program, and integrated conservation and recreation measure changes following review by the data-steward.

3) West Virginia - added or updated state, local, and nonprofit protected areas data provided by the West Virginia University, GIS Technical Center.

For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://www.usgs.gov/gapanalysis/PAD-US/. For more information about data aggregation please review the PAD-US Data Manual available at https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/pad-us-data-manual .

A version history of PAD-US updates is summarized below (See https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/science-analytics-and-synthesis/gap/pad-us-data-history for more information): 1) First posted - April 2009 (Version 1.0 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 2) Revised - May 2010 (Version 1.1 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 3) Revised - April 2011 (Version 1.2 - available from the PAD-US: Team pad-us@usgs.gov). 4) Revised - November 2012 (Version 1.3) https://doi.org/10.5066/F79Z92XD 5) Revised - May 2016 (Version 1.4) https://doi.org/10.5066/F7G73BSZ 6) Revised - September 2018 (Version 2.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P955KPLE 7) Revised - September 2020 (Version 2.1) https://doi.org/10.5066/P92QM3NT 8) Revised - January 2022 (Version 3.0) https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Q9LQ4B
Comparing protected area trends between PAD-US versions is not recommended without consultation with USGS as many changes reflect improvements to agency and organization GIS systems, or conservation and recreation measure classification, rather than actual changes in protected area acquisition on the ground. These lands are commonly known as Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) but that nomenclature varies by state.

Public Land Survey SystemThis feature layer, utilizing National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) data from the Bureau of Land Management data, displays the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) in the United States. Per BLM, "The BLM is required to perform cadastral surveys on all federal interest and Indian lands. As part of survey work, the BLM maintains an essential land grid, known as the rectangular survey system or Public Land Survey System (PLSS), which is the basis for identifying legal descriptions of land parcels."PLSS Township 7N 22EData downloaded: October 17, 2023Data source: BLM National Public Land Survey System PolygonsNGDAID: 10 (BLM National PLSS Public Land Survey System Polygons)OGC API Features Link: (Public_Land_Survey_System - OGC Features) copy this link to embed it in OGC Compliant viewersFor more information: About the Public Land Survey SystemSupport documentation: BLM National PLSS Public Land Survey System PolygonsFor feedback please contact: ArcGIScomNationalMaps@esri.comNGDA Data SetThis data set is part of the NGDA Cadastre Theme Community. Per the Federal Geospatial Data Committee (FGDC), Cadastre is defined as the "past, current, and future rights and interests in real property including the spatial information necessary to describe geographic extents. Rights and interests are benefits or enjoyment in real property that can be conveyed, transferred, or otherwise allocated to another for economic remuneration. Rights and interests are recorded in land record documents. The spatial information necessary to describe geographic extents includes surveys and legal description frameworks such as the Public Land Survey System, as well as parcel-by-parcel surveys and descriptions. Does not include federal government or military facilities."For other NGDA Content: Esri Federal Datasets

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has been tracking and compiling information on conservation lands in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states for over 20 years. TNC’s Secured Areas (Conserved Lands) Dataset is compiled bi-annually from over sixty state, federal, and private source (See Lineage section of this metadata for full list of sources). The foundation of the dataset is public conservation land information maintained by each state, supplemented by federal land information from PAD-US and private conservation land information compiled by TNC’s state field offices.State-based TNC staff compile the data for their state, assign a TNC GAP status to each polygon, and populate other standard attribute fields. TNC assigned a GAP Status to all polygons to the best of our ability and in some cases altered GAP status found in original sources if further information was available. The completed state datasets were regionally compiled by TNC’s Center for Resilient Conservation Science (CRCS) and quality checked for consistency and discrepancies across the northeast.Definitions of GAP categories are given below and are described in terms of Conservation Management Categories as interpreted by TNC Center for Resilient Conservation Science.Conserved for Nature: GAP 1-2 Lands: Conservation land where the primary intent is the conservation of nature.GAP 1. Permanently Secured for Nature and Natural Processes : An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover and a mandated management plan in operation to maintain a natural state where the area is allowed to “self-adjust” over time. Primary intention of the owner or easement holder is for biodiversity and nature protection. Land and water managed through natural processes including disturbances with little or no human intervention.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 natural state, but which receives hands-on management. Primary intention of the owner or easement holder is for biodiversity and nature protection. Land and water managed with hands-on manipulation of processes, species composition, and disturbance.Conserved for Multiple Uses: GAP 3 Lands: Conservation land where the primary intent is multiple use. :GAP 3. Permanently Secured for Multiple Uses including extraction and recreation. : An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover, but the primary intention of the owner or easement holder is for multiple uses, which may include biodiversity but also recreation and certain extractive uses. Extractive uses may include either a broad, low-intensity type (e.g., logging) or localized intense type (e.g., mining).Conserved for Agriculture: Conservation land where the primary intent is the preservation of farmland.GAP 39. Agricultural Easement: Land in a permanent agricultural easement or easement to maintain grass (e.g., vegetable farm with permanent easement to prevent development).Not Conserved Open SpaceGAP 4. Areas with no known mandate for permanent protection. Temporary easement lands (e.g., CREP 5-year term, similar X-year term agreements) and/or municipal lands (school yards, golf courses, soccer fields, ball fields, town commons) where intention in management and use of the open space is not biodiversity protection. It was beyond our capacity to comprehensively compile these GAP 4 lands, and as such, they are included only where source data made it feasible to easily incorporate them.Data Sources:

Various sources at the National, State, and sub-state level provide input to this dataset. Please see details below.

CONNECTICUT

Overview: This Connecticut Conservation Lands dataset was based on an update of the existing 2018 Secured Lands dataset compiled by TNC which had its roots in 1) the 2005 Protected Open Space Phase 1 dataset which mapped parcels designated as permanently protected open space by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 2) a Municipal and Private Open Space data layer from the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management DEP which mapped property owned by Connecticut municipalities and private organizations for the purpose of preserving open space including land conservation trust property, town open space, parks, school playgrounds, campgrounds, golf courses, club/association recreational property, and cemeteries, and 3) a DEP Property dataset which included state owned property such as natural area preserves, state forests, state parks, state park scenic reserves, state park trails, wildlife areas, and wildlife sanctuaries. This dataset was augmented in summer 2022 with updated TNC lands, Harvard Forest Wildlands 6/2022 parcels, Northeast Wilderness Trust properties, and a newly available protected open space dataset for eastern Connecticut from efforts of the CT Land Conservation Council/The Last Green Valley Protected Open Space Mapping Project (5/2/2022 Brian Hall, Hunter Brawley, Amy Patterson, Lois Bruinooge).

Last Updated: September 2022

DELWARE

Overview: Secured lands are present in Delaware via their FirstMap online service, under their Preserved Lands Network 2.0 layer. Additionally, Drexel University was able to provide more data on secured lands throughout the Delaware River Basin. A similar process to that descried for Delaware was used to crosswalk between the fields in this dataset and the secured areas schema Sources: FirstMap Delaware, Drexel, The Nature Conservancy, PAD-US 3.0

Last Updated: December 2022

MAINE

Overview: The Maine Conservation Lands Geodatabase is maintained and updated by the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in cooperation with Justin Schlawin, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. It includes most of the state, federal, and larger private conservation lands with legal protection in the state of Maine. TNC in Maine is working with both state agencies and land trusts to improve comprehensive updating and the overall content of this dataset. The spatial data is compiled from over 300 different data sources and are from a variety of scales, ranging from 1:100,000 scale to high-accuracy digital surveys.

Last Updated: May 2022

MARYLAND

Overview: The Maryland Conservation Lands dataset is based on a compilation of multiple sources, with most data coming from the imap.maryland.gov, data downloaded Feb 2022. The iMAP data sources included DNR Owned and Conservation Easements, MD Environmental Trust Easements, Protected Federal Lands, Coastal Estuarine Land Conservation Program, Rural Legacy Properties, Private Conservation Lands, Local Protected Lands, MALPF Easements, Transfer Purchased Development, and Forest Conservation Act Easements. Additional sources include NRCS Geospatial Data Gateway Agricultural Conservation Easement Program Wetlands Reserve Easements, military lands from the previous 2018 MD Secured Areas dataset, and updated TNC lands.

Last Updated: June 2022

MASSACHUSETTS

Overview: The Massachusetts Conservation Lands layer is based primarily on the Protected and Recreational Open Space, MassGIS. Link to Data Version April 2022, from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Office of Geographic and Environmental Information (MassGIS). This layer contains the boundaries of conservation lands and outdoor recreational facilities in Massachusetts. The associated database contains relevant information about each parcel, including ownership, level of protection, public accessibility, assessor’s map and lot numbers, and related legal interests held on the land, including conservation restrictions. Additional parcels and attributes were added from TNC_Interests Version March 2022, DCR Landscape Designations Version 2012, and Harvard Forest Wildlands June 2022 datasets.

Last Updated: October 2022

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Overview: The New Hampshire Conservation Lands dataset was based primarily on NH GRANIT data as of July 2022. The New Hampshire Geographically Referenced Analysis and Information Transfer System (NH GRANIT) maintains and updates the statewide conservation lands dataset through extensive outreach to federal and state agencies, municipalities, land trusts and private land owners. TNC worked to integrate additional land trust lands compiled by TNC in cooperation with GRANIT but which had not been integrated into the latest GRANIT posted conservation lands dataset, additional properties from the Harvard Forest Wildlands project, and management zones from the US Forest Service land in the White Mountains of New Hampshire using the US Forest Service Management Areas.

Last Updated: September 2022

NEW JERSEY

Overview: The New Jersey Conservation Lands dataset was based primarily on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Green Acres Program state-local-and-nonprofit-open-space layer (version 20220810) which includes Green Acres encumbered and unencumbered protected open space and recreation areas. The Green Acres encumbered lands are owned in fee simple interest by either the state, county, municipality, or a nonprofit agency and have either received funding through the Green Acres State or Local Assistance Program or are listed on a Green Acres approved Recreation and Open Space Inventory (ROSI). The unencumbered open space lands do not fall under Green Acres rules and regulations and therefore have a lesser level of protection. Types of open space property in this data layer include parks, conservation areas, preserves, historic sites, recreational fields, beaches, etc. The data was derived from a variety of mapped sources which vary in scale and level of accuracy. This dataset was augmented with additional Federal conservation land from USGS Protected Areas Database 2.1, TNC lands as of September 2022, and the Farmland Preservation File.

Land cover describes the surface of the earth. This time-enabled service of the National Land Cover Database groups land cover into 20 classes based on a modified Anderson Level II classification system. Classes include vegetation type, development density, and agricultural use. Areas of water, ice and snow and barren lands are also identified.The National Land Cover Database products are created through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC). The MRLC Consortium is a partnership of federal agencies, consisting of the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.Time Extent: 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021 for the conterminous United States. The layer displays land cover for Alaska for the years 2001, 2011, and 2016. For Puerto Rico there is only data for 2001. For Hawaii, Esri reclassed land cover data from NOAA Office for Coastal Management, C-CAP into NLCD codes. These reclassed C-CAP data were available for Hawaii for the years 2001, 2005, and 2011. Hawaii C-CAP land cover in its original form can be used in your maps by adding the Hawaii CCAP Land Cover layer directly from the Living Atlas.Units: (Thematic dataset)Cell Size: 30m Source Type: Thematic Pixel Type: Unsigned 8 bitData Projection: North America Albers Equal Area Conic (102008)Mosaic Projection: North America Albers Equal Area Conic (102008)Extent: 50 US States, District of Columbia, Puerto RicoSource: National Land Cover DatabasePublication date: June 30, 2023Time SeriesThis layer is served as a time series. To display a particular year of land cover data, select the year of interest with the time slider in your map client. You may also use the time slider to play the service as an animation. We recommend a one year time interval when displaying the series. If you would like a particular year of data to use in analysis, be sure to use the analysis renderer along with the time slider to choose a valid year.North America Albers ProjectionThis layer is served in North America Albers projection. Albers is an equal area projection, and this allows users of this service to accurately calculate acreage without additional data preparation steps. This also means it takes a tiny bit longer to project on the fly into Web Mercator projection, if that is the destination projection of the service.Processing TemplatesCartographic Renderer - The default. Land cover drawn with Esri symbols. Each year's land cover data is displayed in the time series until there is a newer year of data available.Cartographic Renderer (saturated) - This renderer has the same symbols as the cartographic renderer, but the colors are extra saturated so a transparency may be applied to the layer. This renderer is useful for land cover over a basemap or relief. MRLC Cartographic Renderer - Cartographic renderer using the land cover symbols as issued by NLCD (the same symbols as is on the dataset when you download them from MRLC).Analytic Renderer - Use this in analysis. The time series is restricted by the analytic template to display a raster in only the year the land cover raster is valid. In a cartographic renderer, land cover data is displayed until a new year of data is available so that it plays well in a time series. In the analytic renderer, data is displayed for only the year it is valid. The analytic renderer won't look good in a time series animation, but in analysis this renderer will make sure you only use data for its appropriate year.Simplified Renderer - NLCD reclassified into 10 broad classes. These broad classes may be easier to use in some applications or maps.Forest Renderer - Cartographic renderer which only displays the three forest classes, deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forest.Developed Renderer - Cartographic renderer which only displays the four developed classes, developed open space plus low, medium, and high intensity development classes.Hawaii data has a different sourceMRLC redirects users interested in land cover data for Hawaii to a NOAA product called C-CAP or Coastal Change Analysis Program Regional Land Cover. This C-CAP land cover data was available for Hawaii for the years 2001, 2005, and 2011 at the time of the latest update of this layer. The USA NLCD Land Cover layer reclasses C-CAP land cover codes into NLCD land cover codes for display and analysis, although it may be beneficial for analytical purposes to use the original C-CAP data, which has finer resolution and untranslated land cover codes. The C-CAP land cover data for Hawaii is served as its own 2.4m resolution land cover layer in the Living Atlas.Because it's a different original data source than the rest of NLCD, different years for Hawaii may not be able to be compared in the same way different years for the other states can. But the same method was used to produce each year of this C-CAP derived land cover to make this layer. Note: Because there was no C-CAP data for Kaho'olawe Island in 2011, 2005 data were used for that island.The land cover is projected into the same projection and cellsize as the rest of the layer, using nearest neighbor method, then it is reclassed to approximate the NLCD codes. The following is the reclass table used to make Hawaii C-CAP data closely match the NLCD classification scheme:C-CAP code,NLCD code0,01,02,243,234,225,216,827,818,719,4110,4211,4312,5213,9014,9015,9516,9017,9018,9519,3120,3121,1122,1123,1124,025,12USA NLCD Land Cover service classes with corresponding index number (raster value):11. Open Water - areas of open water, generally with less than 25% cover of vegetation or soil.12. Perennial Ice/Snow - areas characterized by a perennial cover of ice and/or snow, generally greater than 25% of total cover.21. Developed, Open Space - areas with a mixture of some constructed materials, but mostly vegetation in the form of lawn grasses. Impervious surfaces account for less than 20% of total cover. These areas most commonly include large-lot single-family housing units, parks, golf courses, and vegetation planted in developed settings for recreation, erosion control, or aesthetic purposes.22. Developed, Low Intensity - areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 20% to 49% percent of total cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units.23. Developed, Medium Intensity - areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 50% to 79% of the total cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units.24. Developed High Intensity - highly developed areas where people reside or work in high numbers. Examples include apartment complexes, row houses and commercial/industrial. Impervious surfaces account for 80% to 100% of the total cover.31. Barren Land (Rock/Sand/Clay) - areas of bedrock, desert pavement, scarps, talus, slides, volcanic material, glacial debris, sand dunes, strip mines, gravel pits and other accumulations of earthen material. Generally, vegetation accounts for less than 15% of total cover.41. Deciduous Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. More than 75% of the tree species shed foliage simultaneously in response to seasonal change.42. Evergreen Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. More than 75% of the tree species maintain their leaves all year. Canopy is never without green foliage.43. Mixed Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. Neither deciduous nor evergreen species are greater than 75% of total tree cover. 51. Dwarf Scrub - Alaska only areas dominated by shrubs less than 20 centimeters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20% of total vegetation. This type is often co-associated with grasses, sedges, herbs, and non-vascular vegetation.52. Shrub/Scrub - areas dominated by shrubs; less than 5 meters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20% of total vegetation. This class includes true shrubs, young trees in an early successional stage or trees stunted from environmental conditions.71. Grassland/Herbaceous - areas dominated by gramanoid or herbaceous vegetation, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation. These areas are not subject to intensive management such as tilling, but can be utilized for grazing.72. Sedge/Herbaceous - Alaska only areas dominated by sedges and forbs, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation. This type can occur with significant other grasses or other grass like plants, and includes sedge tundra, and sedge tussock tundra.73. Lichens - Alaska only areas dominated by fruticose or foliose lichens generally greater than 80% of total vegetation.74. Moss - Alaska only areas dominated by mosses, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation.Planted/Cultivated 81. Pasture/Hay - areas of grasses, legumes, or grass-legume mixtures planted for livestock grazing or the production of seed or hay crops, typically on a perennial cycle. Pasture/hay vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of total vegetation.82. Cultivated Crops - areas used for the production of annual crops, such as corn, soybeans, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton, and also perennial woody crops such as orchards and vineyards. Crop vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of total vegetation. This class also includes all land being actively tilled.90. Woody Wetlands - areas where forest or shrubland vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of vegetative cover and the soil or