What’s Protected, What’s Not: New Protected Areas Database for United States' Land Now Available

Several federal, state, and non-government agencies have combined resources and data about public landholdings to create the Protected Areas Database - United States (PAD-US).

PAD-US, released in April 2009, is a national inventory of protected lands. In addition to providing comprehensive information about public lands in the United States, this geodatabase includes information that allows it to be incorporated into the United Nations' World Protected Areas Database (WDPA), thereby aiding a new perspective on conservation efforts worldwide.

PAD-US was prepared in collaboration with the PAD-US Partnership, a public-private planning consortium comprised of federal, state, and non-governmental organizations interested in the inventory and management of protected lands.

"This effort, which was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey's Gap Analysis Program (GAP) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, seeks to provide the guidance and resources necessary to maintain protected lands data with greater accuracy and detail than previously possible," said John Mosesso, a USGS scientist involved with the project.

To read more of the official USGS press release, visit the USGS Newsroom.

More information on the PAD-US Partnership can be found on the Protected Areas Database website, as well as a map of the stewardship data.