This dataset was created by the Transportation Planning and Programming (TPP) Division of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for planning and asset inventory purposes, as well as for visualization and general mapping. County boundaries were digitized by TxDOT using USGS quad maps, and converted to line features using the Feature to Line tool. This dataset depicts a generalized coastline.Update Frequency: As NeededSource: Texas General Land OfficeSecurity Level: PublicOwned by TxDOT: FalseRelated LinksData Dictionary PDF [Generated 2025/03/14]

This project updates the geothermal resources beneath our oil and gas fields, as part of the research for the Texas GEO project. This report "Analysis of Geothermal Resources in Three Texas Counties" (October 2020) improves on previous mapping of the Texas resources for the counties of Crockett (West Texas), Jackson (central Gulf Coast) and Webb (South Texas). Through additional bottom-hole temperatures (BHT), the number of well sites increased from 532 to 5,410 in total for these counties. The improved methodology to calculate formation temperatures from 3.5 km (11,500 ft) to 10 km (32,800 ft) includes thermal conductivity values more closely related to the actual county geological formations, incorporated radiogenic heat production of formations, and the related mapped depth to basement. The results show deep temperatures as hotter than previously calculated, with temperatures of 150 degrees Celcius possible for Webb County between depths of 2.6 - 5.1 km, Jackson County between depths 3.0 - 5.4 km, and Crockett County between depths of 2.7 - 8.0 km.

This data release documents the digital data used to produce flood-inundation maps for a range of gage heights (stages) for the Sabinal River near Utopia, Tex. The simulated flood-inundation maps correspond to a range in stage from 7 to 24 feet (ft) at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage 08197970 Sabinal River at Utopia, Tex. at intervals of 0.5-ft. The maps were created for a 10-mile reach of the Sabinal River extending from USGS streamgage 08197936 Sabinal River below Mill Creek near Vanderpool, Tex. to USGS streamgage 08197970 Sabinal River at Utopia, Tex. (hereinafter referred to as the “Utopia gage”) and 7-mile reach of the West Sabinal River were created by the USGS in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and with the Texas Water Development Board. Stage data are collected every 5 minutes and used for estimating areas of inundation near the Utopia gage; the stage data are available from the USGS National Water Information System ( ...

This map contains the 4 Regional Areas: Border and Permian Basin, Central Texas, Coastal and East Texas, North Central and West Texas and the 16 Regions of the TCEQ. The areas for this data was obtained from TXDOT county boundaries (no coastal detail). General purpose use is to delineate TCEQ Region boundaries on maps and other products. Originating feature class was digitized by TXDOT at 1:24,000 using DRGs (USGS Topos) in the NAD 83 Datum.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas on August 25 as a category 4 hurricane with wind gusts exceeding 150 miles per hour. As Harvey moved inland the forward motion of the storm slowed down and produced tremendous rainfall amounts to southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. Historic flooding occurred in Texas and Louisiana as a result of the widespread, heavy rainfall over an 8-day period in Louisiana in August and September 2017. Following the storm event, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrographers recovered and documented 2,123 high-water marks in Texas, noting location and height of the water above land surface. Many of these high-water marks were used to create flood-inundation maps for selected communities of Texas that experienced flooding in August and September, 2017.
The mapped area boundary, flood inundation extents, depth rasters, and coastal surge layer were created to provide an estimated extent of flood inundation in Coastal basins including East and West Matagorda Bay Subbasins, East and West San Antonio Bay Subbasins, and Aransas Bay Subbasin, Texas. The mapped area of the Coastal basins were separated into three sections based on the availability and location of high-water marks. The maps of the eastern part of the East Matagorda Bay Subbasin include a 17-mi reach of Peyton Creek and a 16-mi reach of Big Boggy Creek, and flood-inundation map for 6-mi reach of Little Boggy Creek in Matagorda County. The maps of the western part of East Matagorda Bay Subbasin include a 13.5-mi reach of West Carancahua Creek, 14.5-mi reach of East Carancahua Creek, and 9.6-mi reach of Keller Creek within Matagorda, Jackson, and Calhoun Counties. The maps of the middle part of the East Matagorda Bay Subbasin are for a 21-mi reach of the Tres Palacios River within Matagorda County. These geospatial data include the following items: 1. bnd_emb1, bnd_emb2, and bnd_tres_palacios; shapefiles containing the polygon showing the mapped area boundary for the Coastal basins flood maps, 2. hwm_emb_1, hwm_emb2, and hwm_tres_palacios; shapefiles containing high-water mark points used for inundation maps, 3. polygon_emb1, polygon_emb_2, and polygon_tres_palacios; shapefiles containing mapped extent of flood inundation for the Coastal basins, derived from the water-surface elevation surveyed at high-water marks, 4. depth_emb1, depth_emb2, and depth_tres; raster files for the flood depths derived from the water-surface elevation surveyed at high-water marks, and 5. coastal_surge.lyr; a layer file generated from the depth raster depicting water height above ground recorded at the high-water marks. The upstream and downstream mapped area extent is limited to the upstream-most and downstream-most high-water mark locations. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the mapped area boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. The mapped area boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth raster from the water-surface elevation raster file. Depth raster files were created using the "Topo to Raster" tool in ArcMap (ESRI, 2012). The HWM elevation data from the USGS Short-tern Network (STN) was used to create the flood water-surface raster file (U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], 2018, Short-Term Network Data Portal: USGS flood information web page, accessed February 13, 2018, at https://water.usgs.gov/floods/FEV.). The water-surface raster was the basis for the creation of the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer to support the development of flood inundation map for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response and recovery operations.

This is a dataset containing what the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) in Austin, Texas considers the 9 Major aquifers of Texas. Lines were digitized from the Bureau of Economic Geology's Geologic Atlas Sheets (GAT) at 1:250,000 scale. Work started in January 1990 and was completed in May 1990. All digitizing was done at the USGS office in Austin, Texas using Arc/Info. REVISIONS MADE TO THE MAJOR AQUIFERS FOR THE 2007 STATE WATER PLAN: The Edwards aquifer southern boundary has been updated based on new geochemical data. The boundary of the 1,000-mg/L line of equal dissolved solids concentration has been revised and moved both to the north and south of the previous boundary. More information on the new aquifer boundary can be found in the Texas 2007 State Water plan at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/home/index.asp. In general, the Pecos Valley aquifer is defined by: (1) the occurrence of structural highs that have the potential to form barriers to groundwater flow and (2) the spatial extent of the Pecos Valley sediment. The Pecos Valley aquifer boundary differs from its former boundary in two ways. First, we revised the aquifer boundary, extending the aquifer into New Mexico to coincide with perceived hydrologic boundaries. Second, the old aquifer boundary excluded parts of Loving, Winkler, Ward, Pecos, and Crane counties where the alluvium is thin. This presents a problem to modeling groundwater flow because it incorrectly restricts access to the Pecos River, the main discharge zone. The new aquifer boundary better represent the geology as indicated by the 1:250,000 maps of the Geologic Atlas of Texas by including these areas of thinner alluvium. More information on the new aquifer boundary can be found in the Texas 2007 State Water plan at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/home/index.asp. Aware of reports that not all of the mapped Seymour Aquifer held water, TWDB reviewed well information to determine which parts of the aquifer hold water and which parts do not. This review was done prior to developing the groundwater availability model for the Seymour Aquifer. In the process of developing the model, additional changes were made to the aquifer’s extent. Therefore, TWDB has changed the boundary so that only those sediments that are known to hold groundwater are part of the Seymour Aquifer More information on the new aquifer boundary can be found in the Texas 2007 State Water plan at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/home/index.asp. The Trinity Aquifer extends beneath the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer ending in the subsurface toward the west in eastern Uvalde County. This subsurface boundary in Uvalde County appears to coincide with the Sabinal River and, therefore, has a great amount of sinuosity and detail. Groundwater in the Trinity Aquifer in Uvalde County presumably flows beneath the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer toward the south, in the same direction of the Sabinal River, which is probably why TWDB chose the river as the subsurface boundary of the aquifer. However, the boundary has much greater detail than what is known about the groundwater flow line. Therefore, TWDB has smoothed the shape of this line to better reflect the knowledge of its position. More information on the new aquifer boundary can be found in the Texas 2007 State Water plan at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/home/index.asp. * The Edwards-Trinity Aquifer (outcrop) lines in West Texas were adjusted to lie adjacent to the updated Pecos Valley aquifer lines. Also, a small part of the outcrop was reclassified to subcrop in order to show the adjusted outcrop of the Pecos Valley aquifer which lies on top of the Edwards-Trinity in northern Pecos County. Also, a small part of the Ogallala aquifer in West Texas (specifically Andrews and Ector counties) was adjusted to lie adjacent to the updated Pecos Valley and Edwards-Trinity aquifer lines.

This data release documents the digital data used to produce flood-inundation maps for a range of gage heights (stages) for the Sabinal River near Utopia, Tex. The simulated flood-inundation maps correspond to a range in stage from 11 to 28 feet (ft) at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage 08197970 Sabinal River at Utopia, Tex. at intervals of 0.5-ft. The maps were created for a 10-mile reach of the Sabinal River from USGS streamgage 08197936 Sabinal River below Mill Creek near Vanderpool, Tex., at the upstream boundary of the study reach, to USGS streamgage 08197970 Sabinal River at Utopia, Tex. (hereinafter referred to as the “Utopia gage”), at the downstream boundary of the study reach, and 7-mile reach of the West Sabinal River and were created by the USGS in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and with the Texas Water Development Board. Stage data are collected every 5 minutes and used for estimating areas of inundation near the ...

This dataset combines the work of several different projects to create a seamless data set for the contiguous United States. Data from four regional Gap Analysis Projects and the LANDFIRE project were combined to make this dataset. In the northwestern United States (Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Wyoming) data in this map came from the Northwest Gap Analysis Project. In the southwestern United States (Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) data used in this map came from the Southwest Gap Analysis Project. The data for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia came from the Southeast Gap Analysis Project and the California data was generated by the updated California Gap land cover project. The Hawaii Gap Analysis project provided the data for Hawaii. In areas of the county (central U.S., Northeast, Alaska) that have not yet been covered by a regional Gap Analysis Project, data from the Landfire project was used. Similarities in the methods used by these projects made possible the combining of the data they derived into one seamless coverage. They all used multi-season satellite imagery (Landsat ETM+) from 1999-2001 in conjunction with digital elevation model (DEM) derived datasets (e.g. elevation, landform) to model natural and semi-natural vegetation. Vegetation classes were drawn from NatureServe's Ecological System Classification (Comer et al. 2003) or classes developed by the Hawaii Gap project. Additionally, all of the projects included land use classes that were employed to describe areas where natural vegetation has been altered. In many areas of the country these classes were derived from the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). For the majority of classes and, in most areas of the country, a decision tree classifier was used to discriminate ecological system types. In some areas of the country, more manual techniques were used to discriminate small patch systems and systems not distinguishable through topography. The data contains multiple levels of thematic detail. At the most detailed level natural vegetation is represented by NatureServe's Ecological System classification (or in Hawaii the Hawaii GAP classification). These most detailed classifications have been crosswalked to the five highest levels of the National Vegetation Classification (NVC), Class, Subclass, Formation, Division and Macrogroup. This crosswalk allows users to display and analyze the data at different levels of thematic resolution. Developed areas, or areas dominated by introduced species, timber harvest, or water are represented by other classes, collectively refered to as land use classes; these land use classes occur at each of the thematic levels. Raster data in both ArcGIS Grid and ERDAS Imagine format is available for download at http://gis1.usgs.gov/csas/gap/viewer/land_cover/Map.aspx Six layer files are included in the download packages to assist the user in displaying the data at each of the Thematic levels in ArcGIS. In adition to the raster datasets the data is available in Web Mapping Services (WMS) format for each of the six NVC classification levels (Class, Subclass, Formation, Division, Macrogroup, Ecological System) at the following links. http://gis1.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services/gap/GAP_Land_Cover_NVC_Class_Landuse/MapServer http://gis1.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services/gap/GAP_Land_Cover_NVC_Subclass_Landuse/MapServer http://gis1.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services/gap/GAP_Land_Cover_NVC_Formation_Landuse/MapServer http://gis1.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services/gap/GAP_Land_Cover_NVC_Division_Landuse/MapServer http://gis1.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services/gap/GAP_Land_Cover_NVC_Macrogroup_Landuse/MapServer http://gis1.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services/gap/GAP_Land_Cover_Ecological_Systems_Landuse/MapServer

These data are part of a larger USGS project to develop an updated geospatial database of mines, mineral deposits and mineral regions in the United States. Mine and prospect-related symbols, such as those used to represent prospect pits, mines, adits, dumps, tailings, etc., hereafter referred to as “mine” symbols or features, are currently being digitized on a state-by-state basis from the 7.5-minute (1:24, 000-scale) and the 15-minute (1:48, 000 and 1:62,500-scale) archive of the USGS Historical Topographic Maps Collection, or acquired from available databases (California and Nevada, 1:24,000-scale only). Compilation of these features is the first phase in capturing accurate locations and general information about features related to mineral resource exploration and extraction across the U.S. To date, the compilation of 400,000-plus point and polygon mine symbols from approximately 51,000 maps of 17 western states (AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY and western TX) has been completed. The process renders not only a more complete picture of exploration and mining in the western U.S., but an approximate time line of when these activities occurred. The data may be used for land use planning, assessing abandoned mine lands and mine-related environmental impacts, assessing the value of mineral resources from Federal, State and private lands, and mapping mineralized areas and systems for input into the land management process. The data are presented as three groups of layers based on the scale of the source maps. No reconciliation between the data groups was done.

This is the compilation of the most significant events of 2020 that occurred across the county warning area (CWA) for NWS Midland. The CWA encompasses 26 counties across West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. These major events include snow and ice storms, severe weather, high wind events, and record-breaking temperatures. While this story map does not include every weather event from 2020, it does comprise of the biggest events as determined by the employees at NWS Midland. The most important details of each event are mentioned in this story map, but further information on each event can be found at: https://www.weather.gov/maf/Many photos and videos within this story map were shared by local media and/or the public.Snow Map: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=86a96b13e0194a108cefee9defb6b7eb

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/ .

Reason for Selection Native grasslands and savannas are important for many endemic species, provide critical habitat and food for pollinators, and are often hotspots for biodiversity. Once a predominant ecosystem type, grasslands and savannas have significantly declined from their historical extent. In part because of the regular disturbance (e.g., mowing, fire) typically required to maintain high-quality grasslands, they are difficult to detect through remote sensing and are not well-captured by other indicators. In addition, grassland and savanna birds are experiencing significant declines and are currently off-track for meeting the SECAS 10% goal, so it is important that the Blueprint capture known and potential habitat. Input Data

Texas Ecological Mapping Systems: statewide raster, accessed 12-2023
Oklahoma Ecological Systems Map: download the raster, accessed 12-2023
Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US): PAD-US 3.0 national geodatabase - Combined Proclamation Marine Fee Designation Easement; PAD-US 4.0 national geodatabase - Combined Proclamation Marine Fee Designation Easement
National Land Cover Database (NLCD): 2021 Land Cover, 2021 U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Tree Canopy Cover, 2013 Land Cover, and 2013 USFS Tree Canopy Cover
2020 LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings (BPS) [LF 2.2.0]
Southeast Blueprint 2024 landscape condition indicator
Southeast Blueprint 2024 extent

Known grasslands

Known grassland prairies dataset for the Middle Southeast subregion, provided by Toby Gray with Mississippi State University in Oct 2020 (available on request by emailing rua_mordecai@fws.gov); this is an improved version of the Known Prairie Patches in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks (GCPO) layer
Known Piedmont prairie locations in the South Atlantic subregion: We identified known prairie locations by requesting spatial data on known prairies from the 74 members of the Piedmont Prairie Partnership mailing list and other prairie managers (Wake County Open Space program and Prairie Ridge Ecostation in NC). We combined that information with known locations in Virginia aggregated by the Virginia Natural Heritage Program (available on request by emailing rua_mordecai@fws.gov).
Grassland polygons from the Catawba Indian Nation, provided by Aaron Baumgardner, Natural Resources Director, in July 2023 (for more information email rua_mordecai@fws.gov)
Grassland polygons from two iNaturalist projects in Texas: erwin-park-prairie-restoration-area, stella-rowan-prairie
Southeastern Grasslands Institute polygons from selected iNaturalist projects. We used only projects with polygons digitized at a fine resolution and did not include projects with more coarse polygons covering a large area. Specific projects used were: 
    allegheny-mountains-riverscour-barrens, big-south-fork-riverscour-barrens-1, big-south-fork-riverscour-barrens-2, big-south-fork-riverscour-barrens-4-us, big-south-fork-riverscour-barrens-6, biodiversity-of-piedmont-granite-glades-outcrops, bluff-mountain-fen, caney-fork-sandstone-riverscour-barrens-and-glades, clear-creek-sandstone-riverscour-barrens, clear-fork-river-riverscour-barrens, craggy-mountains-mafic-outcrops-and-barrens, cumberland-plateau-escarpment-limestone-barrens, cumberland-river-limestone-riverscour-glades, daddy-s-creek-riverscour-barrens, dunbar-cave-prairie-restoration, eastern-highland-rim-limestone-riverscour-glade, emory-river-sandstone-riverscour-barrens, falls-of-the-ohio-river-limestone-riverscour-glade, flat-rock-cedar-glades-and-barrens-state-natural-area, grasshopper-hollow-fen, gunstocker-glade, hiwassee-river-phyllite-riverscour-glade, ketona-dolomite-barrens, laurel-river-riverscour-barrens-and-glades, lime-hills-limestone-barrens, limestone-barrens-of-the-western-valley-of-the-tennessee-river, little-mountains-limestone-barrens, little-river-canyon-riverscour-barrens-and-glades, moulton-valley-limestone-glades, mulberry-fork-of-black-warrior-river-riverscour-barrens-and-glades, muldraugh-s-hill-limestone-barrens, nashville- basin-limestone-glades, new-river-riverscour-barrens, obed-river-sandstone-riverscour-barrens, outer-bluegrass-dolomite-barrens, ridge-and-valley-sandstone-outcrops, rock-creek-sandstone-riverscour-barrens, rockcastle-river-sandstone-riverscour-barrens, shawnee-hills-sandstone-glades-and-outcrops, southern-blue-ridge-mountains-grass-balds, southern-blue-ridge-mountains-serpentine-barrens, southern-blue-ridge-phyllite-outcrops, southern-ridge-and-valley-limestone-glades, southern-ridge-and-valley-shale-barrens, southern-ridge-and-valley-siltstone-barrens, tennessee-ridge-and-valley-dolomite-barrens-and-woodlands-tn-us, the-farm-prairie-and-oak-savanna, tin-top-road-savanna, western-allegheny-escarpment-limestone-barrens, western-highland-rim-limestone-glade-and-barrens, western-valley-limestone-barrens-decatur-co-north-us, western-valley-limestone-barrens-hardin-wayne-cos, western-valley-limestone-barrens-perry-co, western-valley-silurian-limestone-barrens, white-s-creek-sandstone-riverscour-barrens-and-glades, folder-six-glades

Mapping Steps

Combine all known grasslands polygons and convert to raster, assigning them a value of 7.
From the 2021 and 2013 NLCD landcover, create rasters that only include classes likely to have grasslands and savannas. The classes included are based on NLCD classes that overlap known grassland and savanna polygons. Any class that covered >1% of known grasslands and savannas is included: 31 Barren Land, 41 Deciduous Forest, 42 Evergreen Forest, 43 Mixed Forest, 52 Scrub/Shrub, 71 Grassland/Herbaceous, 81 Pasture/Hay.
For those 2021 and 2013 selected landcover rasters, remove forest with ≥ 60% canopy cover using NLCD USFS Tree Canopy Cover for the corresponding year. This results in potential grassland and savanna rasters for 2021 and 2013.
Make a single potential grassland and savanna raster that only includes pixels that are potential grasslands and savannas in both 2013 and 2021. This removes temporary grasslands and savannas that result from clearcuts.
From the Texas and Oklahoma ecological systems maps, extract classes that predict areas invaded by mesquite, a non-native tree that spreads aggressively in the grasslands and savannas of the Southwest and disrupts natural ecosystems through its heavy water consumption. For Oklahoma, this is VegName = 'Ruderal Mesquite Shrubland'. For Texas, this is CommonName = 'Native Invasive: Mesquite Shrubland'. Combine these and use them to remove areas that are no longer grassland and savanna due to mesquite invasion. The resulting layer represents potential grasslands.
To identify potential grasslands and savannas in natural landscapes, use values 5 and 6 from the landscape condition indicator. Assign a value of 3 to any potential grassland pixel that receives a landscape condition score of 5 or 6. Assign all other potential grassland pixels a value of 2.
To identify likely grasslands and savannas, overlay the potential grasslands and savannas raster with select polygons from PAD-US 4.0. To pull out types of protected lands that commonly manage grasslands and savannas, we used GAP status, designation type, manager name, and easement holder. We also identified a number of protected areas directly by name that had important areas of grassland and savanna but weren’t captured by the other rules.
    GAP status (GAP_sts) 1 or 2: Gap status 1 and 2 refer to areas managed for biodiversity that are not subject to extractive uses like logging and mining. GAP status 2 is technically intended to encompass areas where disturbance events are suppressed, but in practice, most protected areas in the Southeast that are actively managing grasslands and savannas are classified as GAP status 2.
    Designation type (Des_Tp) of ‘NWR’, ‘MIL’, ‘NF’, or ‘NG’ (i.e. National Wildlife Refuge, military installation, National Forest, or National Grassland)
    Manager name (Mang_Name) of ‘RWD’ (i.e. Regional Water District)
    Local manager name (Loc_Mang) of 'Ducks Unlimited (Wetlands America Trust)'
    Easement holder (EsmtHldr) of 'Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy'
    Unit name (Unit_Nm) of ‘Point Washington State Forest’, ‘Pine Log State Forest’, ‘M. C. Davis - Seven Runs Creek Conservation Easement’, ‘Nokuse Plantation Conservation Easements’, ‘Tate's Hell State Forest’, ‘Box-R Wildlife Management Area’, ‘Aucilla Wildlife Management Area’, ‘Snipe Island Unit’, ‘Big Bend Wildlife Management Area’, ‘Goethe State Forest’, ‘Amelia Wildlife Management Area’, ‘Powhatan Wildlife Management Area’, ‘Cumberland State Forest’, ‘Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest’, ‘Haw River State Park’, ‘R. Wayne Bailey - Caswell Game Land’, ‘Medoc Mountain State Park’, ‘Embro Game Land’, ‘Dupont State Forest’, ‘Hanging Rock State Park’, ‘Bladen Lakes State Forest’, ‘Whitehall Plantation Game Land’, ‘Suggs Mill Pond Game Land’, ‘Bushy Lake State Natural Area’, ‘Pondberry Bay Plant Conservation Preserve’, ‘Green Swamp Game Land’, ‘Holly Shelter Game Land’, ‘Chowan Swamp Game Land’, ‘Brookgreen Gardens’, ‘Cary State Forest’, ‘Suwannee Ridge Mitigation Park Wildlife and Environmental Area’, ‘Adams-Alapha Ag & Conservation Easement’, ‘Twin Rivers State Forest’, ‘Chattahoochee Fall Line Wildlife Management Area’, ‘Enon Plantation’, or ‘Georgia-Alabama Land Trust Easement #214’, ‘Covington Wildlife Management Area’, ’ Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve’, ‘Little River State Forest’, or ‘Susan Turner Plantation’, or have the local name (Loc_Nm) 'Sandhills Game Land', 'Blackwater River State Forest', 'Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area', 'Herky Huffman/Bull Creek Wildlife Management

Publication_Date: 20050901 Title: Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, Chapter 213 Rules - Recharge Zone, Transition Zone, Contributing Zone, and Contributing Zone Within the Transition Zone. This dataset represents the geographic areas identified in TCEQ rules as being subject to regulation under the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program. The coverage was derived from existing official hard copy maps, containing regulatory boundaries based on previous geologic interpretation of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge, Transition, Contributing and Contributing Within the Transition zones, as defined in 30 TAC 213. This dataset contains lines, area features and zone types attributes extended to all 90 USGS 7.5-minute maps under TCEQ rules. Effective September 1, 2005, amended 30 TAC 213 changes the designation of portions of four areas in northern Hays and southern Travis Counties. The commission adopts changes from transition zone to contributing zone within the transition zone, from transition zone to recharge zone and from recharge zone to transition zone. These changes were made to regulatory zone boundaries on the Oak Hill 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, the Mountain City 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, and the Buda 7.5 Minute Quadrangle. Also effective September 1, 2005, with this amendment, the commission is adopting changes from transition zone to recharge zone, and contributing zone within the transition zone; in southern Hays and Comal Counties for areas along the eastern boundary of the recharge zone in the vicinity of the Blanco River, the City of San Marcos, the City of New Braunfels, the community of Hunter and the community of Garden Ridge. Changes are depicted on the Mountain City 7.5 Minute Quadrangle; on the San Marcos North 7.5 Minute Quadrangle; on the San Marcos South 7.5 Minute Quadrangle; on the Hunter 7.5 Minute Quadrangle; and on the Bat Cave 7.5 Minute Quadrangle. The commission also adopted changes along the western boundary of the recharge zone in southern Hays and Comal Counties. Effective September 1, 2005, areas are changed from contributing zone to recharge zone in the Guadalupe River basin, and other areas in the Guadalupe River basin, and near Wimberley are changed from recharge zone to contributing zone. These changes occur on the Smithson Valley, Sattler, Devil’s Backbone and Wimberley 7.5 Minute Quadrangles. Another area near Hays City was changed to recharge zone from contributing zone, and is changed accordingly in the Driftwood 7.5 Minute Quadrangle. Purpose: This dataset provides TCEQ regional office and public with information on Edwards Aquifer Protection areas and types, including changes made to the boundaries by the most recent rules revisions, according to 30 TAC Ch. 213 (1999). This coverage is to facilitate the eventual replacement of the hard copy maps, historically used to identify the geographic location of Edwards Aquifer Protection Program regulated areas. The purpose of the TCEQ Rule 30, Texas Administrative Code(TAC), Chapter 213 is to regulate activities having the potential for polluting the Edwards Aquifer and hydrologically connected surface streams in order to protect existing and potential uses of ground- water and maintain Texas Surface Water Quality Standards. The following definitions are founded under Chapter: The Edwards Aquifer - portion of an arcuate belt of porous, waterbearing, predominantly carbonate rocks known as the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer trending from west to east to north- east in Kinney, Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, Comal, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties; and is composed of the Salmon Peak Limestone, McKnight Formation, West Nueces Formation, Devil's River Limestone, Person Formation, Kainer Formation, Edwards Group and Georgetown Formation. The permeable aquifer units generally overlie the less- permeable Glen Rose Formation to the south, overlie the less- permeable Comanche Peak and Walnut formations north of the Colorado River, and underlie the less-permeable Del Rio Clay regionally. (30 TAC, § 213.3(8) ) Recharge Zone - area where the stratigraphic units constituting the Edwards Aquifer crop out, including the outcrops of geologic form- ations in proximity to the Edwards Aquifer where caves, sinkholes, faults, fractures, or other permeable features would create a potential for recharge to surface waters into the Edwards Aquifer. (30 TAC, § 213.3(25) ) Transition Zone - area where geologic formations crop out in proximity to and south and southeast of the recharge zone and where faults, fractures, and other geologic features present a possible avenue for recharge of surface water to the Edwards Aquifer, including portions of the Del Rio Clay, Buda Limestone, Eagle Ford Group, Austin Chalk, Pecan Gap Chalk, and Anacacho Limestone. ( 30 TAC, § 213.3(34) ) Contributing Zone - The area or watershed where runoff from precipitation flows downgradient to the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer. The Contributing Zone is located upstream (upgradient) and generally north and northwest of the Recharge Zone for the following counties: (A) all areas within Kinney County, except the area within the watershed draining to Segment 2304 of the Rio Grande Basin; (B) all areas within Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, and Comal Counties; (C) all areas within Hays and Travis Counties, except the area within the watersheds draining to the Colorado River above a point 1.3 miles upstream from Tom Miller Dam, Lake Austin at the confluence of Barrow Brook Cove, Segment 1403 of the Colorado River Basin; and (D) all areas within Williamson County, except the area within the watersheds draining to the Lampasas River above the dam at Stillhouse Hollow reservoir, Segment 1216 of the Brazos River Basin. ( 30 TAC, §213.22(2) )
Contributing Zone Within the Transition Zone - The area or watershed where runoff from precipitation flows downgradient to the Recharge Zone of the Edwards Aquifer. The Contributing Zone Within the Transition Zone is located downstream (downgradient) and generally south and southeast of the Recharge Zone and includes specifically those areas where stratigraphic units not included in the Edwards Aquifer crop out at topographically higher elevations and drain to stream courses where stratigraphic units of the Edwards Aquifer crop out and are mapped as Recharge Zone. ( 30 TAC, § 213.22(3) )