James River National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia

This data set contains boundary layers for the James River National
Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

National Wildlife Refuges are federal lands managed by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The primary source for boundary
information is the USFWS Realty program (status maps, legal
surveys). An effort by the USFWS Region 5 (northeast states -ME,NH,VT,
MA, RI, CT, NY, PA, NJ, MD, DE, WV, VA) Realty Division, Cartography
and Spatial Data Services Branch has resulted in digital refuge
boundaries for all refuges in the northeast at a scale of 1:24,000.

The purpose of this data is to serve as a spatial reference of refuge
boundaries for other data layers in GIS and mapping applications. It
is specifically not intended to be used as a land survey or
representation of land for conveyance or tax purposes.

Status maps were registered to geographic coordinates, boundaries were
digitized and labeled. Digital files were updated using survey and
collateral data for newly acquired tracts, then stepped through 3
levels of quality-control review for spatial and thematic
accuracy. James River NWR boundary lines were registered to
1:24,000-scale digital raster graphics.

Refuge boundaries define areas that are approved by U.S. Congress for
acquisition into the National Wildlife Refuge System, or are currently
owned by USFWS. Arcs are coded with an item "boundary" with the type
of boundary line; polygons are coded with an item "status" that
describes their ownership status.

[Summary provided by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]