PAD-US Data Explorer

Administered by the U.S. Geological Survey Gap Analysis Project, the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the nation’s official inventory of public open space and private protected areas. The lands included in PAD-US are assigned conservation status codes that both denote the level of biodiversity preservation and indicate other natural, recreational and cultural uses. PAD-US also includes the best available aggregation of federal lands data provided by agencies. This web map tool allows user to find areas protected for the primary purpose of biodiversity conservation, as well as lands and waters that provide public access to nature,  These views include summarization tools for several different areas of interest.  Views of the full inventory are also available allowing users to explore complex layers of protections and management jurisdictions across a wide range of landscapes.