Protected Areas Database of the United States
Description
This dataset (PAD-US) contains locations, geometries, and properties of protected areas across the United States, its territories, and marine jurisdictions. Records cover fee-owned lands, conservation easements, management designations, proclamation boundaries, and marine protected areas.
e2f37407…Usage notes
This dataset records legal and administrative interests. Records can overlap. Each record represents a distinct legal or administrative interest, not necessarily a distinct physical area. A fee-owned parcel, a management designation within it, and an easement on top of it may each appear as separate intersecting records for the same location. Area calculations should account for this, since summing GIS acres variable across records will overstate the real protected area. Suitable for conservation screening, gap analysis, land management, and recreation access planning. Not appropriate for cadastral or legal boundary adjudication, and some boundaries carry explicit planning-only caveats.
AOI constraints
GeometryPolygon, MultiPolygonVariables
access_date
Description
Year public access variable was most recently assigned to record.
access_source
Description
Organisation and method used to assign public access variable.
Usage notes
Follows the same coding conventions as gap code source variable.
aggregator_source
Description
Organisation credited with data aggregation, including the dataset version and source file reference. Format is 'aggregator name_PADUSversion_featureclass_filename_filetype'.
Usage notes
Explicitly links to the source data used for each record.
category
Description
General protection mechanism associated with record.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| Fee | Outright land ownership |
| Easement | Legally enforceable conservation agreement restricting use of privately held land |
| Other | Leases, agreements, deed restrictions |
| Unknown | Unknown |
| Designation | Management boundary overlapping fee land (e.g. National Monument, Wild and Scenic River) |
| Marine | Marine area; covers outer continental shelf and marine protected area records |
| Proclamation | Approved, proclamation or extent boundary; broad outer administrative category that may contain private inholdings with no conservation status |
comments
Description
Free-text comments from the original data source, aggregator, or PAD-US Team.
date_established
Description
Year protected area was designated or otherwise established. Assigned using unit name variable and designation type variable as identifiers.
Usage notes
Does not track changes in status over time. Not fully attributed across all records.
designation_type
Description
Standardised administrative designation type.
Usage notes
Used in the categorical assignment of gap status, iucn category, and public access variables where no other information is available. See local designation variable for unstandardised source value.
| Code | Designation type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NP | Federal | National Park |
| NM | Federal | National Monument |
| NCA | Federal | Conservation Area |
| NF | Federal | National Forest |
| NG | Federal | National Grassland |
| PUB | Federal | National Public Lands |
| NT | Federal | National Scenic or Historic Trail |
| NWR | Federal | National Wildlife Refuge |
| WA | Federal | Wilderness Area |
| WSR | Federal | Wild and Scenic River |
| WSA | Federal | Wilderness Study Area |
| MPA | Federal | Marine Protected Area |
| NRA | Federal | National Recreation Area |
| NSBV | Federal | National Scenic, Botanical or Volcanic Area |
| NLS | Federal | National Lakeshore or Seashore |
| IRA | Federal | Inventoried Roadless Area |
| ACEC | Federal | Area of Critical Environmental Concern |
| RNA | Federal | Research Natural Area |
| REC | Federal | Recreation Management Area |
| RMA | Federal | Resource Management Area |
| WPA | Federal | Watershed Protection Area |
| REA | Federal | Research or Educational Area |
| HCA | Federal | Historic or Cultural Area |
| MIT | Federal | Mitigation Land or Bank |
| MIL | Federal | Military Land |
| ACC | Federal | Access Area |
| SDA | Federal | Special Designation Area |
| PROC | Federal | Approved or Proclamation Boundary |
| FOTH | Federal | Federal Other or Unknown Designation |
| ND | Federal | Not Designated |
| TRIBL | Federal | Native American Land Area |
| OCS | Federal | Outer Continental Shelf Area |
| SP | State | State Park |
| SW | State | State Wilderness |
| SCA | State | State Conservation Area |
| SREC | State | State Recreation Area |
| SHCA | State | State Historic or Cultural Area |
| SRMA | State | State Resource Management Area |
| SOTH | State | State Other or Unknown |
| LP | Local government | Local Park |
| LCA | Local government | Local Conservation Area |
| LREC | Local government | Local Recreation Area |
| LHCA | Local government | Local Historic or Cultural Area |
| LRMA | Local government | Local Resource Management Area |
| LOTH | Local government | Local Other or Unknown |
| PCON | Private designations and easements | Private Conservation |
| PPRK | Private designations and easements | Private Park |
| PREC | Private designations and easements | Private Recreation or Education |
| PHCA | Private designations and easements | Private Historic or Cultural |
| PAGR | Private designations and easements | Private Agricultural |
| PRAN | Private designations and easements | Private Ranch |
| PFOR | Private designations and easements | Private Forest Stewardship |
| POTH | Private designations and easements | Private Other or Unknown |
| CONE | Private designations and easements | Conservation Easement |
| RECE | Private designations and easements | Recreation or Education Easement |
| HCAE | Private designations and easements | Historic or Cultural Easement |
| AGRE | Private designations and easements | Agricultural Easement |
| RANE | Private designations and easements | Ranch Easement |
| FORE | Private designations and easements | Forest Stewardship Easement |
| OTHE | Private designations and easements | Other Easement |
| UNKE | Private designations and easements | Unknown Easement |
| UNK | Private designations and easements | Unknown |
feature_class
Description
Original feature class a record occurred in before being combined into the dataset.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| Fee | Outright land ownership |
| Easement | Legally enforceable conservation agreement restricting use of privately held land |
| Designation | Management boundary overlapping fee land (e.g. National Monument, Wild and Scenic River) |
| Marine | Marine area; covers outer continental shelf and marine protected area records |
| Proclamation | Approved, proclamation or extent boundary; broad outer administrative category that may contain private inholdings with no conservation status |
gap_code_date
Description
Year gap status variable was most recently assigned to record.
gap_code_source
Description
Organisation and method used to assign gap status variable.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| GAP - Default | Categorical assignment without detailed review. |
| GAP | Assignment by standard methods, including management plan review. |
| GAP - [Other Organisation] | Assignment in partnership with another agency. |
| [Other Organisation] | Assignment by another organisation using their own methods. |
gap_status
Description
GAP status code. The core conservation mandate metric assigned by the USGS Gap Analysis Project.
Usage notes
Reflects management intent to protect biodiversity, not actual ecological condition or habitat quality. Independent of public access variable. A high conservation status area is not necessarily closed to the public, and a low conservation status area is not necessarily open.
| Index | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover, with a mandated plan maintaining a natural state in which disturbance events proceed naturally or are mimicked through management. |
| 2 | Permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover, with a mandated plan maintaining a primarily natural state but allowing uses or management that degrade natural communities or suppress disturbance. |
| 3 | Permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover for most of the area, but subject to broad low-intensity extractive uses (e.g. logging, off-highway vehicle use) or localised intense extractive uses (e.g. mining). Confers protection to federally listed endangered and threatened species. |
| 4 | No known mandates, easements, or deed restrictions preventing conversion of natural habitat to anthropogenic habitat. Generally allows conversion to unnatural land cover, or management intent is unknown. |
geometry
Description
Boundary geometry of protected area.
gis_acres
Description
Area of record polygon in acres, calculated from the geometry rounded to the nearest whole number.
Usage notes
Do not sum across multiple intersecting records to estimate total protected area, since records frequently overlap and summing will overstate the real area.
gis_source
Description
Original source GIS file name as obtained by data aggregator.
Usage notes
Not fully populated across all records.
iucn_category
Description
Management category, as defined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Usage notes
Only areas where gap status variable is 1 or 2 meet the IUCN definition of a protected area and receive a category assignment. Areas where gap status variable is 3 are attributed as 'Other Conservation Area'. Areas where gap status variable is 4 are attributed as 'Unassigned'. Not fully attributed across records.
| IUCN category | Description |
|---|---|
| Ia | Strict nature reserves |
| Ib | Wilderness areas |
| II | National park |
| III | Natural monument or feature |
| IV | Habitat/species management |
| V | Protected landscape/seascape |
| VI | Protected area with sustainable use of natural resources |
| Other Conservation Area | Areas where gap status variable is 3; not meeting the IUCN definition of a protected area |
| Unassigned | Areas where gap status variable is 4 |
iucn_category_date
Description
Year iucn category variable value was most recently assigned to record.
iucn_category_source
Description
Organisation and method used to assign iucn category variable.
Usage notes
Follows the same coding conventions as gap code source variable.
local_designation
Description
Designation type as provided in the source data, complementing standardised designation type variable with additional local detail.
Usage notes
Not standardised and may include various related designation names used in source files.
local_manager
Description
Managing agency name as provided in the source data, complementing standardised manager name variable with additional local detail (e.g. 'Agoura Hills, City of' where manager name is 'City Land').
local_name
Description
Protected area name as provided in the source data, complementing standardised unit name variable with additional local detail.
Usage notes
Not standardised and may include designation names, parcel identifiers, or formatting inconsistencies, but links directly to source data files.
local_owner
Description
Land owner name as provided in the source data, complementing standardised owner name variable with additional local detail (e.g. 'Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife' where owner name is 'State Fish and Wildlife').
manager_name
Description
Standardised name of managing agency. Uses same domain codes as owner name variable.
Usage notes
Recommended over owner name variable for depicting federal lands by agency.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| TVA | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| BLM | Bureau of Land Management |
| BOEM | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management |
| USBR | Bureau of Reclamation |
| FWS | US Fish & Wildlife Service |
| USFS | Forest Service |
| DOD | Department of Defense |
| USACE | Army Corps of Engineers |
| DOE | Department of Energy |
| NPS | National Park Service |
| NRCS | Natural Resources Conservation Service |
| ARS | Agricultural Research Service |
| BIA | Bureau of Indian Affairs |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| BPA | Bonneville Power Administration |
| OTHF | Other or Unknown Federal Land |
| TRIB | American Indian Lands |
| SPR | State Park and Recreation |
| SDC | State Department of Conservation |
| SLB | State Land Board |
| SFW | State Fish and Wildlife |
| SDNR | State Department of Natural Resources |
| SDOL | State Department of Land |
| OTHS | Other or Unknown State Land |
| REG | Regional Agency Land |
| RWD | Regional Water Districts |
| CITY | City Land |
| CNTY | County Land |
| UNKL | Other or Unknown Local Government |
| NGO | Non-Governmental Organization |
| PVT | Private |
| JNT | Joint |
| OTHR | Other |
| UNK | Unknown |
| VI | US Virgin Islands Government |
| AS | American Samoa Government |
| GU | Guam Government |
| MP | Mariana Islands Government |
| PR | Puerto Rico Government |
| FM | Federated States of Micronesia Government |
| MH | Marshall Islands Government |
| PW | Palau Government |
| UM | US Minor Outlying Islands Government |
| DESG | Designation |
manager_type
Description
Standardised management type, assigned by crosswalk from manager name variable. Uses same domain codes as owner type variable.
Usage notes
Recommended over owner type variable for depicting federal lands, where ownership data gaps are more common.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| FED | Federal |
| TRIB | American Indian Lands |
| STAT | State |
| DIST | Regional Agency Special District |
| LOC | Local Government |
| NGO | Non-Governmental Organization |
| PVT | Private |
| JNT | Joint |
| UNK | Unknown |
| TERR | Territorial |
| DESG | Designation |
owner_name
Description
Standardised name of land owner or holding agency.
Usage notes
For federal lands, manager name variable is recommended as the primary agency identifier due to known data gaps in fee ownership attribution. A value of 'Designation' is used where ownership is not applicable to record type.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| TVA | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| BLM | Bureau of Land Management |
| BOEM | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management |
| USBR | Bureau of Reclamation |
| FWS | US Fish & Wildlife Service |
| USFS | Forest Service |
| DOD | Department of Defense |
| USACE | Army Corps of Engineers |
| DOE | Department of Energy |
| NPS | National Park Service |
| NRCS | Natural Resources Conservation Service |
| ARS | Agricultural Research Service |
| BIA | Bureau of Indian Affairs |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| BPA | Bonneville Power Administration |
| OTHF | Other or Unknown Federal Land |
| TRIB | American Indian Lands |
| SPR | State Park and Recreation |
| SDC | State Department of Conservation |
| SLB | State Land Board |
| SFW | State Fish and Wildlife |
| SDNR | State Department of Natural Resources |
| SDOL | State Department of Land |
| OTHS | Other or Unknown State Land |
| REG | Regional Agency Land |
| RWD | Regional Water Districts |
| CITY | City Land |
| CNTY | County Land |
| UNKL | Other or Unknown Local Government |
| NGO | Non-Governmental Organization |
| PVT | Private |
| JNT | Joint |
| OTHR | Other |
| UNK | Unknown |
| VI | US Virgin Islands Government |
| AS | American Samoa Government |
| GU | Guam Government |
| MP | Mariana Islands Government |
| PR | Puerto Rico Government |
| FM | Federated States of Micronesia Government |
| MH | Marshall Islands Government |
| PW | Palau Government |
| UM | US Minor Outlying Islands Government |
| DESG | Designation |
owner_type
Description
Standardised ownership type, assigned by crosswalk from owner name variable.
Usage notes
For federal lands, manager type variable may better reflect agency identity, as ownership data gaps exist in the federal theme. A value of 'Designation' is used where ownership is not applicable to record type.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| FED | Federal |
| TRIB | American Indian Lands |
| STAT | State |
| DIST | Regional Agency Special District |
| LOC | Local Government |
| NGO | Non-Governmental Organization |
| PVT | Private |
| JNT | Joint |
| UNK | Unknown |
| TERR | Territorial |
| DESG | Designation |
public_access
Description
Level of public access permitted to protected area.
Usage notes
Independent of gap status variable. A high conservation status area is not necessarily closed to the public, and a low conservation status area is not necessarily open.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| OA | Open. No special access requirements. May be subject to regular hours. |
| RA | Restricted. Permit required, self-registration required, or access is seasonally limited. |
| XA | Closed. No public access permitted (e.g. land bank property, military base, many easements). |
| UK | Unknown. Access information not available. |
source_date
Description
Date the source GIS data was published or accessed by data aggregator.
Usage notes
In yyyy/mm/dd format. Where month or day is unknown, partial dates are given as yyyy/00/00. Where original source date is unavailable, the aggregation delivery date may be used.
source_protected_area_id
Description
Source protected area identifier as provided in the authoritative source data.
Usage notes
Intended to support joins to PAD-US source data. Not fully attributed across all records.
state_name
Description
US state or territory of record, given as a USPS two-letter abbreviation.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| AL | Alabama |
| AK | Alaska |
| AZ | Arizona |
| AR | Arkansas |
| CA | California |
| CO | Colorado |
| CT | Connecticut |
| DE | Delaware |
| DC | District of Columbia |
| FL | Florida |
| GA | Georgia |
| HI | Hawaii |
| ID | Idaho |
| IL | Illinois |
| IN | Indiana |
| IA | Iowa |
| KS | Kansas |
| KY | Kentucky |
| LA | Louisiana |
| ME | Maine |
| MD | Maryland |
| MA | Massachusetts |
| MI | Michigan |
| MN | Minnesota |
| MS | Mississippi |
| MO | Missouri |
| MT | Montana |
| NE | Nebraska |
| NV | Nevada |
| NH | New Hampshire |
| NJ | New Jersey |
| NM | New Mexico |
| NY | New York |
| NC | North Carolina |
| ND | North Dakota |
| OH | Ohio |
| OK | Oklahoma |
| OR | Oregon |
| PA | Pennsylvania |
| RI | Rhode Island |
| SC | South Carolina |
| SD | South Dakota |
| TN | Tennessee |
| TX | Texas |
| UT | Utah |
| VT | Vermont |
| VA | Virginia |
| WA | Washington |
| WV | West Virginia |
| WI | Wisconsin |
| WY | Wyoming |
| PR | Puerto Rico |
| VI | US Virgin Islands |
| AS | American Samoa |
| GU | Guam |
| MP | Northern Mariana Islands |
| UM | US Minor Outlying Islands |
| MH | Marshall Islands |
| PW | Palau |
| FM | Federated States of Micronesia |
| UNKF | Unknown Federal |
unit_name
Description
Name of protected area unit, standardised to proper case without acronyms or special characters.
Usage notes
Where unit name data are absent in source files, a categorical value is assigned from manager name variable with an auto-incremented number.
wdpa_code
Description
WDPA Site Code assigned by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) for areas submitted to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). See IBAT World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas dataset.
Usage notes
Only areas where gap status variable is 1 or 2 are submitted to the WDPA and will have a code assigned. Not fully attributed across records.
Pricing
This dataset has no data acquisition cost.
Resources
Provider
USGS
www.usgs.govThe United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a science agency of the US government that provides scientific information about the Earth's natural resources, natural hazards, and ecosystems. USGS operates the Landsat satellite programme and the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, producing geospatial datasets on land cover, land change, and environmental monitoring used by researchers and decision-makers worldwide.