Wetlands

This data set represents the extent, approximate location and type of wetlands and deepwater habitats in the United States and its Territories. These data delineate the areal extent of wetlands and surface waters as defined by Cowardin et al. (1979). Certain wetland habitats are excluded from the National mapping program because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect wetlands. These habitats include seagrasses or submerged aquatic vegetation that are found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries and near shore coastal waters. Some deepwater reef communities (coral or tuberficid worm reefs) have also been excluded from the inventory. These habitats, because of their depth, go undetected by aerial imagery. By policy, the Service also excludes certain types of "farmed wetlands" as may be defined by the Food Security Act or that do not coincide with the Cowardin et al. definition. Contact the Service's Regional Wetland Coordinator for additional information on what types of farmed wetlands are included on wetland maps. This dataset should be used in conjunction with the Wetlands Project Metadata layer, which contains project specific wetlands mapping procedures and information on dates, scales and emulsion of imagery used to map the wetlands within specific project boundaries. The present goal of the Service is to provide the citizens of the United States and its Trust Territories with current geospatially referenced information on the status, extent, characteristics and functions of wetlands, riparian, deepwater and related aquatic habitats in priority areas to promote the understanding and conservation of these resources. Digital wetlands data are intended for use with base maps and digital aerial photography at a scale of 1:12,000 or smaller. Due to the scale, the primary intended use is for regional and watershed data display and analysis, rather than specific project data analysis. The map products were neither designed nor intended to represent legal or regulatory products. Questions or comments regarding the interpretation or classification of wetlands or deepwater habitats can be addressed by visiting http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/FAQs.html These data were developed in conjunction with the publication Cowardin, L.M., V. Carter, F.C. Golet, and E.T. LaRoe. 1979. Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC. FWS/OBS-79/31. Alpha-numeric map codes have been developed to correspond to the wetland and deepwater classifications described. For more information on the wetland classification codes visit http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Data/Wetland-Codes.html. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) uses data standards to increase the quality and compatibility of its data. This approach increases the opportunity to share data and reduce occurrence of redundant data development. These standards can be found at: http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Data/Data-Standards and include the FGDC Wetlands Mapping Standard, FGDC-STD-015-2009. Note that coastline delineations were drawn to follow the extent of wetland or deepwater features as described by this project and may not match the coastline shown in other base maps. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant and Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) file is intended to document the data set in nonproprietary form, as well as in Arc/INFO format, this metadata file may include some Arc/INFO-specific terminology. Due to the quantity and complexity of the wetlands data the wetlands only display at 1:250,000 scale and greater. For wetland information visit www.fws.gov/wetlands/