Gap Analysis Project
Protected Areas
PAD-US is America’s official national inventory of U.S. terrestrial and marine protected areas that are dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity and to other natural, recreation and cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. PAD-US also includes the best available aggregation of federal land and marine areas provided directly by managing agencies, coordinated through the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Federal Lands Working Group. The latest version of the Protected Areas Database of the U.S. (PAD-US 2.1) is now available from our Data Download page. This update is a significant step towards meeting our goal of creating a spatially explicit inventory that lets any user – from the general public to professional land managers – know exactly what lands are protected anywhere in the United States and allows them to easily use this inventory in conservation, land management, planning, recreation, and other uses. PAD-US has been designated a National Geospatial Data Asset by the FGDC Steering Committee.
PAD-US Vision
What if you could find the location of any park or protected open space in the United States? By zooming in on a map you could see detailed boundaries and all nearby protected lands, and you could analyze these data to inform decisions...
Learn MorePAD-US Viewer
The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) Viewer provides a spatially explicit inventory that lets any user explore the protected areas network anywhere in the United States.
Learn More
PAD-US Vision
What if you could find the location of any park or protected open space in the United States? By zooming in on a map you could see detailed boundaries and all nearby protected lands, and you could analyze these data to inform decisions about conservation, recreation, or land use planning.
Introduction to the PAD-US Viewer
Welcome to the Gap Analysis Project (GAP) Protected Areas Viewer.
PAD-US Data Overview
PAD-US is America’s official national inventory of U.S. terrestrial and marine protected areas that are dedicated to the preservation of biological diversity and to other natural, recreation and cultural uses, managed for these purposes through legal or other effective means. PAD-US also includes the best available aggregation of federal land and marine areas provided directly by managing...
PAD-US Data-Stewards
PAD-US is developed in partnership with many organizations, including coordination groups at the Federal level, lead organizations for each State and a number of national and other non-governmental organizations whose work is closely related to PAD-US. This page details those relationships.
Protected Areas Resources
Access to PAD-US resources: Factsheets, Reports, Downloadable PAD-US Maps, Other GAP Online Data Viewers, Tools and Crosswalks, and Links to other applications where you can find GAP data.
PAD-US Help System
The USGS Protected Areas Database of the U.S. (PAD-US) is the official GIS-based national inventory of protected area boundaries within the U.S. It includes public lands and parks, Wilderness Areas, National Wildlife Refuges, reserves, conservation easements, Marine Protected Areas, and more. This Help System is being developed to provide users with more information about PAD-US data sources,...