The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most up-to-date and complete source of information on protected areas, updated monthly with submissions from governments, non-governmental organizations, landowners, and communities.
Status: Active 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.
Please note that we are actively working on known issues with two of our services in the viewer: 'Protection Status by GAP Status Code' and 'Public Access.' We apologize for any inconvenience.
Status: ActivePAD-US Data Overview
PAD-US is America’s official national inventory of U.S. terrestrial and marine protected areas (List of National Geospatial Data Assets) 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...
Status: ActivePAD-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.
Status: ActiveProtected 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.
Status: ActiveNatural Areas
PAD-US Help System
World Database On Protected Areas 2020
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,...