Protected Areas Database (PADUS)

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 (https://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 PAD-US database strives to be a complete “best available” inventory of protected areas. As this dataset is a compilation of many data sets; data completeness, accuracy, and scale may vary. For more information regarding the PAD-US dataset please visit, https://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/. To View the complete metadata record for this dataset please visit, https://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/padus/data/metadata/ .