A Map for the Future. Creating the Next Generation of Protected Area Inventories in the United States

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1 What if you could fid the locatio of ay park or protected ope space i the Uited States? By zoomig i o a map you could see detailed boudaries ad all earby protected lads, ad you could aalyze this data to iform decisios about coservatio, recreatio, or lad use plaig. For the first time, you ad millios of others would have a reliable, curret ivetory of all of the atio s protected areas. We re actually almost there tur this page to fid out the steps we eed to take to make this visio a reality A Map for the Future Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States PAD-US will give the America people a full accoutig of all of our ivestmets i protected areas this comprehesive ivetory of wilderess, parks ad ope space is essetial for more effective coservatio plas, lad maagemet ad recreatioal access. Guided by a public-private partership, PAD-US will collaborate with states, federal agecies, lad trusts, local govermets, private busiesses ad other groups to maitai a comprehesive record of America s lad coservatio accomplishmets. Ke Salazar, Secretary, U.S. Departmet of the Iterior July 2009 The Protected Areas Database U.S. (PAD-US) Partership

2 table of cotets 01 Summary 03 Startig Poits 05 The Importace of a Better Ivetory 07 Where We Stad Now 13 The PAD-US System 19 Makig It Happe The PAD-US Desig Project was created to develop the orgaizatioal ad techical strategies proposed i this report. The members of the project steerig committee thak the Doris Duke Charitable Foudatio (ad the Natioal Fish ad Wildlife Foudatio) ad the USGS Gap Aalysis Program for the fiacial support that made this effort possible. The PAD-US Partership was created by the Desig Project Steerig Committee i April 2009 as the coordiatig orgaizatio for further developig ad maagig a atioal protected areas ivetory. The Partership s foudig members iclude: the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Lad Maagemet ad USDA Forest Service; the Coservatio Biology Istitute, The Nature Coservacy ad Lad Trust Alliace. PAD-US Desig Project Steerig Committee Daielle Coboy, The Nature Coservacy Kevi Gergely, USGS Gap Aalysis Program Operatios Maager Joh Mosesso, USGS GAP Program Maager, NBII Program Developmet Dir. Joh Reitsma, U.S. Bureau of Lad Maagemet Jim Strittholt, Coservatio Biology Istitute (CBI) Do Schrupp, formerly with Colorado Divisio of Wildlife Brad Smith ad Adrew Gray, USDA Forest Service Larry Orma, GreeIfo Network (Coordiator) Cosultats Applied Geographics: Michael Terer, Executive Vice-Presidet, Kate Lome-Hickey, Guido Ster Coservatio Biology Istitute: Jim Strittholt, Dey Grossma GreeIfo Network: Larry Orma, Rhoda Friberg Techical Advisors Rob Aldrich, Lad Trust Alliace Lisa Audi, USGS GAP/Uiv. Idaho Frak Biasi, The Natioal Geographic Society Jaso Bullock, Virgiia Departmet of Coservatio ESRI Cosultig Services Adrew Gray, USDA Forest Service Ty Guthrie, The Nature Coservacy Da Phillips, USGS Joh Reitsma, BLM Demia Rybock, NatureServe Jim Strittholt, CBI Christia Supples, CBI Joh Waugh, IUCN padus@protectedlads.et Copyright 2009 PAD-US Partership Report desig: Iso Desig Photos: Natioal Geographic Society (see iside back cover for credits), Larry Orma prited o 100% recycled paper with 50% post-cosumer waste, processed chlorie-free

3 Summary It s time to create a comprehesive ad curret ivetory of America s protected lads a Protected Areas Database of the Uited States (PAD-US). A public-private collaboratio, the PAD-US Partership, is brigig together the best practices ad resources of federal, state ad o-govermetal groups to achieve this goal. Over the ext three years, the PAD-US Partership will oversee the trasformatio of curret protected lad ivetories: A sigle database will focus may state ad atioal efforts ito a highly flexible ad techologically robust atiowide data maagemet system. States will be supported with resources to greatly improve their ivetories that i tur form the foudatio of the atioal data. Federal agecies will improve their coordiatio ad data gatherig, gaiig better overall iformatio for less cost. The usefuless of protected area ivetories to the public, govermet ad busiess will grow, eablig much more evideced-based global, atioal, regioal ad local coservatio plaig ad assessmet, Protected Areas i the Uited States Protected Areas are lads dedicated to the preservatio of biological diversity ad to other atural, recreatio ad cultural uses, ad maaged for these purposes through legal or other effective meas. This map shows the data from the first PAD-US, released i April 2009 by USGS GAP, ad based o federal, state ad other ivetories gathered by GAP, Coservatio Biology Istitute ad The Nature Coservacy. Future releases will improve coverage ad have a more robust data structure. Dowload PAD-US at: A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 1

4 curret ivetory with pad-us I may areas of the U.S., there is oly icomplete mappig data o what lads are protected ope space. I this Califoria example, data sets from just four years ago showed oly a partial picture of all the publicly protected lads i a coastal regio (at left) a ew, comprehesive ad highly accurate state ivetory shows the full picture (at right). far more accurate lad use ad acquisitio plaig, ad easier ad more complete public kowledge of recreatioal opportuities. Emergig challeges of how to address climate chage ad improve fiscal ad ecoomic productivity will be better met by this cofluece of may ucoected data gatherig efforts ito a sigle system for plaig ad moitorig. This ambitious ageda is challegig but extraordiarily timely. The plas of public ad private orgaizatios, the capacity of techology, ad the drivig eed to fially assemble a full atioal database of protected areas have all coverged to make this the exact right momet for lauchig the Partership ad PAD-US. The Partership has already secured much of the fudig eeded to achieve this ageda, but eeds to esure that the etire program is fully supported, fiacially ad orgaizatioally. We welcome ew parters who ca support the PAD-US project with fudig or i-kid cotributios. We ivite you to joi us i takig this great step forward. 2

5 Startig Poits America s tremedous asset base of protected lads is critical for biodiversity coservatio, resource maagemet, recreatio ad more. But a failure to keep up good accoutig for this asset has left us uclear about what we have. The PAD-US Partership is a publicprivate effort to substatially improve our ivetories of precious atural lads ad is issuig this report as a call to actio. America s Natural Legacy A expase of prairie grasslad a atioal park of soarig graite peaks ad lush valleys a river parkway that rus for miles wetlads that host clouds of migratig birds a city park filled with kids playig workig forests that stretch as far as the eye ca see vast deserts that hold secrets of beauty ad life Whe these lads are owed outright or uder a coservatio easemet by a agecy or o-govermetal orgaizatio dedicated to keepig them as atural ope space, they become a key part of America s legacy of protected areas. They iclude atioal parks ad forests, state beaches ad parks, couty ope space reserves, city parks, lad trust preserves ad may other types of holdigs. Altogether, these areas exted over 1 millio square miles ad are owed ad maaged by thousads of public agecies ad o-profit orgaizatios that together serve the 300,000,000 people i our 50 states. This is America s atural asset base the lads that we have secured for biodiversity coservatio, recreatio, sceic value, resource maagemet, watershed health, commuity well-beig ad much more. We re Not Keepig Track of Our Lad Assets While may idividual agecies ad a umber of states have developed effective ivetories of protected areas, these idividual parts fall short of makig up a authoritative, effective atioal database.* The fact is, we sped billios o lad coservatio but do t ivest well i maagig data that could tell us how to better prioritize acquisitios or how to respod to challeges like climate chage, loss of habitat ad growig recreatio eeds. If we were a private busiess, we would likely fluk our audit o the basis of ot kowig our asset ivetory well eough. *A Geographic Iformatio Systems (GIS) database, where software ad spatial data are used to accurately locate ad describe features ad places. A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 3

6 There is good ews i this picture: it is likely that we have as much as iety percet of all protected areas i curret geospatial ivetories. But some of this data is ot highly accurate or stadardized, ad is ot regularly updated. Further, with recet large expasios of fudig for lad protectio comig from state ad local actios over the past several years, we re fallig behid i keepig track. The PAD-US Desig Project Over the last five years, there has bee a growig sese of urgecy i addressig this issue. The PAD-US Desig Project was created to develop a strategy for movig forward. The project came about from the covergece of a major foudatio (the Doris Duke Charitable Foudatio) eedig better iformatio o determiig the coservatio impact of their philathropic ivestmets i lad protectio, public agecies (US Geological Survey, US Forest Service ad Bureau of Lad Maagemet) eedig to improve the extet ad timeliess of their lad ivetories, ad a umber of oprofits (Coservatio Biology Istitute, The Nature Coservacy ad others) workig to provide data for educatio, research ad plaig, ad support of public decisio makig. I 2007 the Duke Foudatio commissioed a brief assessmet by Lyme Timber Compay Coservatio Cosultig Services ad the o-profit GreeIfo Network, from which emerged a cosesus that a major effort was eeded to advace a broader desig for protected areas data. That larger project bega i May, 2008, co-fuded by the Duke Foudatio ad the U.S. Geological Survey Gap Aalysis Program ad coordiated by GreeIfo Network with support from the Coservatio Biology Istitute. Durig the course of the PAD-US Desig Project, teams of experts have worked o proposig key elemets of a much-improved system for keepig track of protected areas i the U.S. This work has bee coordiated by a steerig committee of federal agecy ad o-profit orgaizatios, ad advised by state agecy leaders ad outside cosultats. I early 2009, the Desig Project trasformed ito the PAD-US Partership, sigalig the commitmet to major, cotiuig steps forward toward the visio developed i the Desig Project. A Map for the Future summarizes the work of this project ad aouces a formal partership to lead i the implemetatio of the recommedatios for a Protected Areas Database of the Uited States. 4

7 The Importace of a Better Ivetory Good decisios require good iformatio. A complete ad curret database of protected areas is a critical tool for atioal, state ad local agecy lad maagers, lad use plaig edeavors, foudatios ad other fuders, lad trusts, the geeral public, private real estate busiesses ad others. It s also a essetial resource for meetig our global reportig resposibilities, as well as a meas to greatly advace existig systems of lad plaig. A Natioal Ivetory Has Broad Beefits For those workig i a particular locality or just withi the bouds of lad maagemet for a sigle agecy, a comprehesive atioal dataset of protected areas may at first seem to be of modest value. I the few states where complete data already exists, that ivetory may meet most local plaig eeds. But there is a strog case to be made for maitaiig a thorough atioal ivetory, i additio to ay more localized systems. Measures of Coservatio Accomplishmet Oe of the drivig reasos for a better atioal ivetory is to aswer the questio, are we succeedig i protectig biodiversity i the face of extreme lad use threats to ature ad ourselves? We do t have a good respose to this critical issue, because we do t have the data that clearly tells us how we re doig. Foudatios, research orgaizatios ad agecies, legislators ad goverors all eed a commo base of iformatio to iform their ow evaluatios ad decisio makig. Ope Space Acquisitio Plaig I this era of limited fiacial resources, we eed to be efficiet with public fudig of ay type. Without a clear uderstadig of where protected lads are, we ca t make the best prioritizatio decisios for future protectio. Those who fud acquisitios from foudatios to agecies, to voters all eed to be assured that lad protectio is strategic ad effective. The loomig impacts of climate chage make havig such a ivetory eve more critical, as rapid shiftig of habitats requires us to determie migratio pathways i the patter of existig protected areas. Expaded Recreatioal Access With reewed emphasis o active livig ad growig reliace o web searchig for leisure opportuities, havig a clear atioal source of all protected parks ad ope spaces provides may citizes ad busiesses with iformatio they eed, all i a cosistet maer. Measurig Biodiversity Coservatio I the Uited States, the log stadig measuremet of lad protectio for biodiversity purposes comes from the U.S. Geological Survey s Gap Aalysis Program (GAP). Gap status codes of 1 4 rak highly protected lads (wilderess areas, atioal parks, etc.) dow to lads for which o plaed protectio is kow. Globally, the Iteratioal Uio for the Coservatio of Nature (IUCN) has a 10 step rakig process. There are efforts uderway to expad these rakig systems to capture more details about the effectiveess of stated coservatio itets. PAD-US is desiged to accommodate GAP, IUCN measures ad other future strategies to expad coservatio measuremet. A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 5

8 case study How Does a PAD-US Help? The U.S. Forest Service eeds to develop a accurate ad comprehesive aalysis o the amout ad coditio of protected old-growth forests across all owerships i a regio i order to esure that maagemet o Natioal Forests is cotributig sufficietly to maitaiig habitat for edagered species. The aalysis depeds o havig objective classificatios of protected status for all public ad private lads withi ad surroudig the Natioal Forests i order to correctly classify ad aalyze forest ivetory data. The lack of accurate iformatio o the coservatio status of all the forests i the regio makes it difficult to justify coservatio decisios o the Natioal Forests themselves. Better State Data ad Collaboratio Where a state does ot maitai a full ivetory, a atioal system may be able to fill i the gaps, by buildig up the state s base lads ivetory ad by improvig their techology practices. Where two or more states adjoi, a atioal data set ca support more efficiet regioal lad use plaig. Public Educatio ad Egagemet Kowledge fuels actio: whe people uderstad why ladscapes are importat, they re more highly motivated to vote for fuds ad other actios that ca protect them. Havig a full atioal database will be a valuable asset for efforts like LadScope America (a biodiversity web portal), for the ews media coverig atural resource stories, ad for may other efforts. Global Reportig A thorough atioal database will allow the U.S. to better meet key treaty obligatios for reportig o the state of coservatio to the World Coservatio Moitorig Cetre, the Commissio o Evirometal Cooperatio (CEC) ad other iteratioal orgaizatios. It may eve assist other coutries strugglig to fid effective ivetory strategies. Support for Private Lad Owers ad Lad Trusts Whe cosiderig the optio to place their lad uder easemet, private ladowers (ad oprofit lad trusts) eed a reliable ad easy-to-access iformatio source that lets them see what is earby, what other lads are protected. Efforts like Ladscope America ad the Private Ladowers Network are also workig to provide other helpful iformatio o biodiversity ad property owerships, ad will greatly beefit from a improved PAD-US. Tools for Busiesses Curret ecoomic crises uderscore the absolute importace of ivestig with a clear uderstadig of cotext. Title compaies, real estate developers, hazard isurace busiesses ad others eed to have easy access to precise patters of public owership before committig fiaces to particular places or customers. Collaborative Learig A atioal protected lads database system is a useful laboratory that ca help state, regioal ad local lad ivetories ad data maagemet systems. The PAD-US will eable extesive sharig of ew techology ad best data practices for data maagemet amog states ad agecies. PAD-US will be a valuable resource whe used i services such as Data Basi, a major coservatio data web ceter created by Coservatio Biology Istitute, where users ca create their ow maps ad add their ow data. By buildig o curret ivetories ad trasformig them ito a sigle ad more robust lad trackig system, we ca create tagible ad importat beefits for the public, govermets ad private busiess. The PAD-US Desig Project is settig out the road map for this crucial jourey. 6

9 Where we stad ow As much as 90 percet of all protected areas may ow be i GIS ivetories, but icompleteess of data, varied formats, data structures ad core elemets, accuracy issues, timeliess of updates, ad lack of fudig to assemble multiple sources of data stad i the way of a truly effective atioal ivetory. Usig emergig techology opportuities, the strog base of data that does exist ad the ew strategy of the PAD-US Partership, there is ow a outstadig opportuity for movig forward. Ivetories of protected areas exist at all levels of govermet ad amog may o-profits. Together these lads add up to as much as iety percet of all protected areas i the Uited States. Where does this data all come from? Local (cities, couties, etc.) 3,000 couties ad 20,000 cities, plus may other special recreatioal ad regioal ope space districts comprise the local govermet elemet of protected area ivetories. For local govermets, most such lads are parks ad related recreatioal facilities, but also iclude watersheds, habitat areas ad other resource lads. Some local govermets maitai good geospatial data, but may do ot ad most data is i icosistet formats, makig it hard to assemble ito larger sets. But these lads are crucial to the atioal picture local ope space acquisitio has bee rapidly growig i the last decade, with over $7 billio approved i taxes ad bods i 2008 electios. States Each of the 50 states i the U.S. has half a doze or more agecies that hold protected ope space. Fish ad wildlife agecies, parks departmets, specialized resource agecies for coasts, waterways, forests ad farmig all protect lad that eeds to be tracked. Some states have highly effective ivetories, but may oly have ivetories i idividual agecies ad few track local govermet lads, or easemets. I some areas, statewide o-profits (lad trusts or other orgaizatios) play key roles i trackig protected lads data ad eed to be egaged i coectig their iformatio to a overall system. Federal agecies Approximately 10 federal agecies admiister millios of acres of protected ope space areas, icludig the Natioal Park Service, Bureau of Lad Maagemet, Forest Service ad Fish & Wildlife Service. I geeral, these agecies maitai effective lad ivetories, although there are challeges i the fit betwee them, varyig data scales ad the Lad status i the u.s. Local/NGO 1% Private 76% State 3% Federal 20% The curret atioal ivetory of protected lads shows 715 millio acres held by federal, state ad local agecies ad by o-govermetal orgaizatios (fee lads oly easemets would add at least 40 millio acres), out of a total lad area of 2.3 billio acres. Improved ivetories will likely raise this figure some as more state, local ad NGO lads are accouted for. A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 7

10 past Natioal Ivetories April 2009, marked a milestoe with the release of versio 1.0 of PAD-US by the USGS Gap Aalysis Program. Updates ad improvemets to this will be made by the ed of 2009, resultig i a versio 1.1, to be created by the Coservatio Biology Istitute ad USGS. This first publicatio of PAD- US has emerged from two major data gatherig efforts: The CBI Protected Areas Database (PAD) First published i 1999 by the o-profit Coservatio Biology Istitute, the PAD is a atioal data ivetory of federal, state ad may local lads, with coservatio rakigs (GAP ad IUCN scores). Updates have bee published several times, with support from federal agecies ad private foudatios. USGS Gap Stewardship Layer The U.S. Geological Survey Gap Aalysis Program (GAP), started i the mid-1980s, provides a atioal view of several types of biodiversity data ad extesive coservatio assessmets. Like the PAD, the Stewardship Layer tracked protected areas, primarily at state ad regioal levels ad assigs GAP ad IUCN scores to each area. Prior to 2005, this data was gathered state by state, before trasitioig to multi-state regios ad releasig a atioal database i fulless of attributes about holdigs. For federal agecies, the eed is more for itegratio ad coordiatio tha data developmet. Natioal oprofits The Nature Coservacy (TNC), alog with Ducks Ulimited ad other groups that work across all states have data systems that track their ow protected lads. These are sometimes implemeted state by state, but TNC has developed a framework for a full atioal accoutig of its substatial lad holdigs, makig easier the coectios to a atioal ivetory. Oe TNC program i the ortheast states has made great progress i buildig a regioal protected lads data collaborative. The Lad Trust Alliace ad other groups are workig o how to improve protected areas data eeded by the coutry s 1,700 local ad regioal lad trusts. Easemets While the PAD-US proposal preseted here does ot directly address trackig data about lads protected by coservatio ad other easemets, a parallel project to do that was iitiated i mid Sposored by the U.S. Edowmet for Forestry ad Commuities, this two year effort will create a database compatible with PAD-US ad assemble existig data ito a atioal ivetory. Key parters i this work are the Coservatio Biology Istitute, Ducks Ulimited, Defeders of Wildlife, NatureServe ad The Trust for Public Lad. While may state ad federal ivetory efforts are coducted by agecies with statutory madates to maage lad resources (e.g., state departmets of atural resources, park deparmets, lad boards ad other agecies, ad Federal lad maagemet agecies like the BLM, USFS, NPS ad USFWS), some ivetories are doe as part of State Natural Heritage programs. Other collective efforts iclude work by park ad recreatio agecies to defie special stadards for their data eeds, through the Natioal Recreatio ad Park Associatio, ad the efforts to support implemetatio of State Wildlife Actio Plas, coordiated through Defeders of Wildlife ad other groups. The PAD-US project has take these programs ito accout i makig its recommedatios. The PAD-US versio 1 data is also beig used i global coservatio assessmets by the World Coservatio Moitorig Cetre ad the Commissio o Evirometal Cooperatio. To dowload PAD-US, go to: 8

11 What s Missig From Curret Ivetories? Protected lads ivetories at all levels vary from extremely accurate ad complete to sparse. I geeral, however, there are two major shortcomigs of existig ivetories that require improvemets: #1 Data Quality Issues Completeess few state data ivetories iclude all holdigs at state, regioal, couty ad city/tow levels, ad may states do ot have itegrated data eve across state agecies. With the huge amouts of local bod fudig for protected areas acquisitio over the past decade, ot trackig these sub-state lads is a major gap. I additio, easemets ad data about lads protected for defied periods of time are icosistetly tracked. Timeliess some states ad agecies update their holdigs every year or two, others have loger gaps (however, oe federal agecy, the U.S. BLM, updates its data every day!). Data stadards attributes for protected areas are ofte icomplete or icosistet, ad methods for gatherig together data ca be hit or miss. This hiders the ability to create cosistet data at regioal, statewide, or atioal levels. Coservatio status ad other codig lads that have t bee ivetoried do ot have coservatio codes (GAP, IUCN), ad more refied codig is eeded i some areas. Other importat codes, such as public access status, may ot be preset. case study How Does a PAD-US Help? The trustees of a private foudatio are cosiderig whether to cotiue its past ivestmet of $50 millio per year for the protectio of key ope space lads. They have asked their staff to defie how their fuds have helped leverage other protectio efforts i their four focus regios, spread across the U.S. Without a full data ivetory to use i this aalysis, the best that ca be doe is to cite idividual acquisitios that have occurred as examples, ad idicate the approximate scale of all coserved lads i these areas before ad after their ivestmets but they have o way of kowig whether these totals are accurate or ot. Spatial Accuracy i some areas, holdigs are official owership boudaries (parcels or tax lots), i others lad boudaries are defied o quadragle maps with mixed accuracy. The lack of cosistet coastlies ad water boudaries also creates complicatios. Techological Tools there is limited awareess ad use of special GIS applicatios that ca greatly improve data collectio ad aggregatio. #2 Ability to Sustai Ogoig Ivetories Perhaps more sigificat tha the weakesses of existig data is the lack of fudig ad orgaizatio eeded to esure good ivetories by states, federal agecies ad NGOs, ad to aggregate those ito a solid atioal product. While some states ad agecies fuctio well, more ofte there is limited fudig for assemblig aggregate data, ad uclear resposibility for how to orgaize this work. The PAD-US Partership believes that the issue of creatig reliable, ogoig support for effective protected area ivetories at the state ad atioal level is equal i importace to the techical cocers oted above about the actual data o these lads. A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 9

12 Best Practice Examples for U.S. Protected Area Motaa: The oly state i the U.S. with a required registry for all easemets that icludes GIS data about exact locatio ad associated iformatio, Motaa maages its data set through its State Library. The ivetory has primarily state ad federal holdigs, with some local data, plus extesive easemet data. Califoria: The o-profit GreeIfo Network has developed the Califoria Protected Areas Database (CPAD) through assemblig fudig from may resources, ad is ow at work o a memoradum of uderstadig amog these agecies ad o-profits that will provide for ogoig support of data updates. CPAD cotais data o 48 millio fee acres i almost 50,000 holdigs. Colorado: COMaP (Colorado Owership Maagemet ad Protectio) is the state s ivetory program, which is housed at Colorado State Uiversity s Natural Resource Ecology Lab. Their most recet ivetory was published i late 2008 ad icludes substatial local govermet ad NGO holdigs, i additio to state ad federal lads. Federal lads: The BLM s Surface Maagemet Agecy data layer (part of the BLM NILS system) portrays tracts of federal lad for the Uited States ad classifies these holdigs by admiistrative agecy. Multiple federal agecies have cotributed the most authoritative geospatial data to the cotets of this layer ad it is i a cotiuous state of update. This geospatial layer is a crucial compoet for lad use aalysis ad decisio support. hawai i alaska 10

13 Ivetories Great Lakes: CARL (Coservatio ad Recreatio Lads database) was created ad is maitaied by Ducks Ulimited as a regioal data set for several Great Lakes states, complete with olie browser. The system has fee as well as easemet data for the area. Northeast Collaborative: The Nature Coservacy s (TNC) Easter Resource Office has developed a cosortium amog 14 TNC state offices collectig data from federal, state, local, private, ad o-profit sources to create a comprehesive protected areas database for the regio. TNC has coducted this tax-parcel based ivetory of both fee ad easemet lads aually sice Massachusetts: The Protected ad Recreatioal Ope Space Data Layer is a comprehesive, tax parcel based system published by MassGIS, the state agecy resposible for GIS. Their web site has rich iformatio o the data set ad a detailed ewsletter provides periodic updates o this ad other GIS work by the state. Protectio Level All lads permaetly protected, ad: Gap 1 Maaged for highest levels of coservatio (wilderess areas, etc.) Gap 2 Maaged for cotiuatio of atural state Gap 3 Maaged to allow for itesive resource use Not show: Gap 4 - lads without protectio from coversio Virgiia: The Virgiia Dept. of Coservatio ad Recreatio maitais the state s Coservatio Lads Database, which icludes protected areas data for federal, state ad regioal agecies ad orgaizatios, ad also icludes sigificat easemet holdigs. data source: PAD-US versio 1.0, 2009 A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 11

14 case study How Does a PAD-US Help? A lad protectio agecy of the U.S. govermet receives a request from a Cogressioal committee cosiderig proposals for miig ad drillig i a umber of regios of the coutry. How much protected lad is at stake i this debate, they wat to kow? The agecy maager is forced to respod with what he thiks are the best estimates for federal lads ivolved ad ca oly make a reasoably iformed guess about state ad local lads, as there is o easy source for that data. A Opportuity Now As serious as these challeges of data quality ad sustaiable fudig are, the PAD-US strategy ow offers us a way forward: Needs are rapidly growig for govermet agecies ad foudatios to be more efficiet ad effective i targetig lad for protectio, particularly i light of curret fiscal ad ecoomic difficulties. Accurate lad ivetories are critical to soud public ad private decisio makig. Techology has rapidly progressed i the past five years to aid i developig good ivetories. The widespread availability of high quality air photography is a resource for accuracy (ad a driver of public expectatios for same). Tools like Google Maps ad other mashups offerig a wide rage of simple olie mappig applicatios, the icreasig prevalece of GPS devices ad data, advaces i GIS software ad other mappig techology all of these provide a golde opportuity for doig much more for far less cost tha ever before. Parcel maps i GIS format are icreasigly commo i states ad couties (there is eve a log-term atioal effort to assemble all of these ito a framework data layer). While sigificat issues remai, protected areas ca be more easily tracked with official parcel data available. Stadards are badly eeded to coordiate the growig umber of local ad state protected areas datasets, to esure that itegratio at state ad atioal levels is efficiet ad to improve the overall quality of data beig gathered. Collaboratio is icreasig amog may govermets, across ogovermetal sectors ad i philathropy. Efforts to develop ad share iformatio used by a wider audiece all help iform ad spur the protected areas iitiative. State ad local fudig for protectio of ope space has grow dramatically over the past decade. I the 2008 electios, over $7 billio dollars were authorized i state ad local measures ad taxes far more tha the overall federal budget for lad acquisitio. Much of the future icreases i protected lads will come from these state ad local efforts ad ivetories must accout for them. Mometum ow fially, ad ot least the PAD-US strategy has created a surge of iterest ad support that ca ow be take advatage of. Failure to seize this opportuity will set back for may years the prospects for a more effective atioal database of protected lads. 12

15 The PAD-US System The PAD-US system cosists of techology, stadards ad a collaborative orgaizatio. Its database techology uses emergig capabilities i GIS to itegrate may data sources ito a ivetory that ca the be distributed i may forms to may users. The PAD- US data stadards create a commo framework that ca be icorporated by states ad agecies ito their ow ivetories. The orgaizatio leadig this system is the publicprivate PAD-US Partership. A atioal database that cotais iformatio o almost all protected lads i the U.S. is a bold iitiative but it s also feasible ad close at had. The specifics of how the database is to be orgaized are drive by the visio adopted by the PAD-US Partership (see sidebar). The iitial focus of PAD-US is o fee-owed lads that are protected i perpetuity. Efforts to icorporate data o private lad easemets will be udertake i a parallel effort that balaces the eeds of private owers with the importace of kowig where easemets are for strategic coservatio assessmets, acquisitios ad lad use plaig. PAD-US will also begi with emphasis o lads critical for biodiversity preservatio, but at the same time ehace data o recreatio ad other ope space lads. Other protected areas data will also be cosidered i the future marie protected areas, lads protected for limited periods of time, ad other types of restrictios will be evaluated for iclusio ito PAD-US. The PAD-US takes advatage of a rapidly growig movemet i iformatio techology aggregatio of like thigs ito overall collectios. Work by the Federal Geographic Data Committee to defie ad compile framework data sets as part of a Natioal Spatial Data Ifrastructure (NSDI) uderscores this tred. Also, with the advet of extesive web-based mappig, there is a broad popular expectatio that a user ca drill dow ito data, zoomig i for more details. Over time, PAD-US will meet these eeds. The PAD-US Database Desig icludes both techology ad stadards, as well as the orgaizatio of the PAD-US Partership to esure sustaiability o the ivetory effort. pad-us visio A spatially explicit ivetory that lets ay user from the geeral public to professioal lad maagers kow exactly what lads are protected aywhere i the Uited States ad allows them to easily use this ivetory i coservatio, lad maagemet, plaig, recreatio ad other uses. pad-us database desig stagig System desig, PAD-US versio 1, Partership, preparatio for implemetatio Full system implemetatio, PAD-US v.2, support for states data, itegratio techology Ogoig operatio ad cotiued developmet A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 13

16 I. PAD-US Database Desig How Data Will Be Gathered The key to PAD-US is the quality of the compoet data sets that are itegrated ito the atioal system. Some agecies, states ad orgaizatios have very complete ad well-structured data ad their iformatio ca be easily imported ito PAD-US. Others have data that will eed adjustmets ad other revisios to fit ito PAD-US. For some states, oly partial data is available ad the PAD-US effort may have to commissio work to create ad brig together missig elemets to create a more complete statewide dataset. The proposed strategy for creatig the full implemetatio of PAD-US therefore has two types of data orgaizatios: process flow Durig PAD-US data gatherig, some states will have complete ivetories that fit well with PAD-US stadards (Tier 1 States), others will eed some assistace (Tier 2 States) or substatial assistace (Tier 3 States). Data Parters: groups whose data ca be imported with little adjustmet or who have the capacity to create data that ca be easily imported. Data Parters also iclude specific cotractors or other orgaizatios desigated by the PAD- US Partership. Data Providers: groups who have data for a sigle agecy or for some or all of a state, but whose data structure, cotet or quality is ot fully compatible with the PAD- US database, ad who will eed support i the data gatherig ad formattig processes. The data gatherig ad itegratio process is illustrated i the accompayig diagram. I additio to Parters ad Providers, there is techical oversight by the PAD-US Partership, to esure data itegrity ad resolve policy level issues about desigatios, defiitios, alterative sources, etc. Properly prepared data is held i a Stagig Database util deemed soud eough to be moved ito the master PAD-US Productio Database which will be published to the public. Oce data has bee aggregated ito PAD-US a review process will the be iitiated to allow for feedback ad suggested correctios. It is extremely importat to PAD-US to receive this type of user iput ad to establish processes so that iput ca be used to correct errors ad improve data quality. 14

17 The Structure of the Database Curret protected areas databases are mostly flat files each geographic object i the database has a series of spreadsheet-like colums that hold attributes about that object (ame, size, ower, etc.). The PAD-US i its full implemetatio will use a more robust structure, the desig of which is guided by these priciples: 1. Be simple ad ituitive while also capturig the iheret complexity of protected lads data 2. Support future growth ad maagemet efficiecy by allowig for icreasig automatio of the data maagemet ad updatig processes i the future 3. Preserve flexibility i the rage of data products that ca be produced The key compoets of the PAD-US database are its geometric structure ad its core ad supplemetal attributes. The proposed geometric structure (see diagram) promises a way past a key challege i curret ivetories, arisig from the fact that a sigle piece of lad may be protected i several differet ways. For example, a holdig might be owed by a agecy that is primarily dedicated to forestry, but part of this lad could be separately desigated as a Wilderess Area ad aother part maaged as a recreatioal site, while cuttig through both subareas could be a river coservatio zoe. The proposed PAD- US database desig s geometric structure is able to maitai these overlappig desigatios ad relate them to the core lad parcel. I this structure, the most basic elemet is the owership boudary, with other desigated forms of protectio (e.g. the Wilderess Area) overlayig this base lie geometry. The secod key elemet of the PAD-US database structure is a set of core ad supplemetal attributes, the descriptors of lads i the ivetory. The iitially proposed core attributes (the iformatio available for all features i the ivetory) are show i the accompayig table. Additioal, specialized attributes that may ot be available for all features will be cosidered durig the full implemetatio of PAD-US ad ca be established through relatioal tables. Critical to the success of PAD-US is a highly detailed system for defiig how ay protected area is desigated, or maaged. A lad parcel could be a state beach, a wildlife refuge, a research forest or ay of over a hudred differet protectio desigatios. The Master Stewardship List (MSL), developed as part of the PAD-US by the US Geological Survey, which will be expaded to iclude additioal desigatios, implemets a orgaized listig ad associated codig of all such protectio desigatios. The list idetifies all specific maagemet desigatios of federal agecies (Natioal Parks, Areas of Critical Evirometal Cocer, etc.), ad also sets forth commo desigatios (e.g., City Park, State Historic Park, Regioal Watershed, Lad Trust Preserve, etc.) for states ad sub-state lad maagemet agecies ad proposed PAD-US geometric structure Proposed PAD-US Core Attributes Field Name PADUS-UID Ower ID Ower Name Ower Type Name Stadard Name Category Maager ID Maager Name MSL ID Stadard Desigatio Local Desigatio Paret Site Code Status IUCNCAT GAPCAT Access State Couty Source Source Date Create Source Date Aggregate GIS Area Area Commets Descriptio Uique Idetifyig umber Uique idetifyig umber of agecy Etity that ows holdig Owership category (9 - State, Federal, City, Private, etc.) Name of holdig as received from the source ( Joes State Park ad Recreatio Area ) Stadardized ame accordig to established covetios ( Joes SP ) Fee, Easemet or Other Etity resposible for maagemet, if ay Etity that maages holdig, if ay Master Stewardship List idetifier code Desigatio ame from MSL table Desigatio provided by the source Commo code for multiple part protected areas Desigated, Pedig, or Degazetted IUCN coservatio measure GAP coservatio measure Ope, Restricted, Closed U.S. state abbreviatio Couty ame Source of the polygo data *Master Stewardship List Year data first etered i PAD-US Year aggregated data was provided Measured from the data (uits TBD) Area as reported by data steward Commets from either the source or aggregator A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 15

18 orgaizatios. The PAD-US system will track both the origial agecy desigatio as well as the stadard MSL desigatio. The power of this desigatio system is its ability to support detailed aalysis of protected area data (e.g., fid all regioal parks withi 30 miles of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Maagemet Refuge ) i a stadard way. Usig Automatio to Improve Efficiecy Movig from data gatherig by maual procedures to a poit where some or most data ca be automatically icorporated ito PAD-US is a key step for plaig the future. The key to successful automatio is for PAD-US to be built from parter supplied data sets, each of which already has most of the core attributes oted above. Gettig to this poit will take time, as states ad agecies will eed assistace ad ecouragemet to create high quality, data ad/ or to revise their curret structures to better fit emergig PAD-US stadards. PAD-US will establish defied rules that gover how data from each primary source is trasferred ito the atioal database collectio. While problems such as topology or differig ways of establishig attributes will eed careful attetio, if sigificat automatio ca be achieved, the costs of log term maagemet ad updatig of the database could be sigificatly lesseed. Automatio ca ever fully replace careful huma quality cotrol ad the specific kowledge of protected lads data maagemet. But movig protected area data itegratio ito the ew techologies that are fast-emergig, with appropriate attetio to quality cotrol, ca result i a wider variety of data products ad much greater cost efficiecy i data maagemet ad update. Publishig Products from the Database At its core, PAD-US is a atiowide collectio of base lie data from which may products will be created: The full database i its GIS format, as a stad-aloe file Data extracted by subject, jurisdictio or geography ( just lads that are Gap 2 ad restricted access, or all state parks for the southeast ) More simply formatted data (e.g., shape files or KML files) Maps prited o paper or digitally (PDF, JPG, etc.) Statistical aalyses of the umerical ad other attribute data Web map services published from the database Durig the ext phase of this effort, a pla for servig PAD-US live via the Iteret will also be implemeted this will eable GIS data users to receive or cosume ogoig updates without havig to reacquire the etire database. 16

19 For the Future From this proposed database desig, the followig steps are ecessary before full implemetatio of the PAD-US: Testig, refiemet ad creatio of the proposed database, usig appropriate GIS software Creatio of the computer hardware system for editig, storig ad maipulatig PAD-US Coordiatio with federal efforts to itegrate lad owership trackig amog all federal agecies. Establishmet of cotacts ad procedures for data collectio/review for each federal agecy, state, atioal lad-holdig NGO ad icludig key idividual agecies where states do ot have statewide aggregated databases. Resolutio of specific data maagemet issues ad challeges such as itegratio betwee existig tax parcel ad PLSS* coordiate systems *PLSS-Public Lad Survey System I additio, PAD-US will actively coordiate with the Federal Georgraphic Data Committee s efforts to promote the Natioal Spatial Data Ifrastructure (NSDI) as a o-framework data layer ad to esure proper coordiatio with the NSDI cadastral framework data layer. State by State Ivetories the Key to PAD-US States are critical to the success of PAD-US. Every state has some uique elemets i how they maitai protected areas data, ad PAD-US eeds to build o those stregths to the greatest extet possible. I some cases, states have very complete data sets that ca be easily icorporated ito PAD-US; i other cases, oly idividual state agecies have protected lads data ad there is o trackig of local ad regioal lad holdigs. The PAD-US Partership will work with states to icorporate atioal stadards to the greatest extet possible, ad try to provide fiacial support to improve idividual states data holdigs. Key parters i this work will iclude state ad federal resource agecies with official lad maagemet resposibilities, State Natural Heritage etwork programs that maage biodiversity data, ad NGOs such as lad trusts ad other atioal groups icludig Coservatio Biology Istitute, Ducks Ulimited, The Trust for Public Lad ad The Nature Coservacy, alog with uiversities ad other orgaizatios. A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 17

20 II. The PAD-US Partership The PAD-US system icludes both a database ad a orgaizatio, the PAD- US Partership. A volutary collaborative, the Partership is ot a ew agecy or a idepedet istitutio. The Partership coordiates the work of improvig ad maitaiig the PAD-US. Idividual agecies ad orgaizatios cotribute staff ad/or fudig which is applied to tasks agreed to i a overall work pla. The key fuctios of the Partership are: Models of Collaboratio Brigig diverse iterests together helps build strog, resiliet programs, but ca also require time-cosumig coordiatio ad egagemet efforts. I the protected areas area, there are several examples of how collaboratio has bee beeficial Colorado s COMaP program uses a state uiversity base to brig may agecies together; The Nature Coservacy Northeast Cosortium is built o state fish ad wildlife agecies workig o a regioal program; Califoria s CPAD is ru by a o-profit, GreeIfo Network, which is able to coect may differet fudig streams; ad Ducks Ulimited s CARL database also uses a o-profit base to create multi-state egagemet. The Multi- Resolutio Lad Use Cosortium has demostated sharig of effort amog federal agecies, ad the Ocea Biogeographic Iformatio System, hosted at Rutgers Uiversity, is a iteratioal cosortium that coordiates a wide rage of marie species data gatherig ad research. All of these have iformed the PAD- US Partership framework. 1. Defie strategy ad directio for PAD-US 2. Oversee database ad data developmet operatios* 3. Certify major PAD-US data products ad stadards 4. Resolve ay disagreemets over codig decisios 5. Ecourage stadards adoptio by states ad agecies 6. Develop support for states ad other data parters 7. Maage fudig (public ad private) ad agreemets 8. Determie parter roles ad resposibilities 9. Udertake educatio ad outreach about PAD-US *Admiistratio of the physical database is provided by the USGS Gap Aalysis Program Just as the data that makes up PAD-US comes from may differet sources, the busiess pla for the Partership has a variety of elemets. For example, durig 2009, improvemets to the PAD-US versio 1.0 will be made through the joit work of the Coservatio Biology Istitute ad the USGS GAP staff. The two orgaizatios are poolig their efforts to udertake coordiated improvemets to PAD-US for a versio 1.1 of the data. Durig the major expasio of PAD-US durig , federal agecy staffig ad additioal resources will be sought to match private foudatio fudig. These resources will be leveraged with other data update projects that take place i idividual states or regios. Over the loger term, the Partership expects to have appropriate icreases i federal fudig for core operatios atioally, supplemeted by special project fudig from govermet or private sources, icludig possible relatioships with commercial busiesses. Sustaiig a cosortium to maage a complex data process is challegig. The PAD-US Partership cosidered alterative forms of structurig this eterprise, but cocluded that the likage of public agecies ad oprofit orgaizatios offered the best choice by far. By providig broad stakeholder egagemet, multiple bases of support ad a wide rage of creativity, the Partership is the right orgaizatioal basis for this edeavor. 18

21 Makig It Happe The first prelimiary protected areas database has bee issued i 2009, with a major project to substatially expad the data at state ad atioal levels aticipated durig The PAD-US Partership ivites your participatio i this project, by joiig the orgaizatio, helpig esure your data is icluded, idetifyig fudig opportuities ad more. The PAD-US system is beig developed i these stages: Early 2009 Formatio of the PAD-US Partership, presetatio of thetechical desig ad stadards for PAD-US; release of the first versio of the PAD-US database by USGS GAP Educatio ad outreach by the PAD-US Partership ad developmet of work pla for efforts. Summer 2009 Iitiatio of a parallel project to improve data o lads secured by easemets. This project will be supported by the U.S. Edowmet for Forestry ad Commuities, ad will be coordiated with PAD-US. Late 2009 PAD-US versio 1.1 published through collaboratio betwee USGS ad the Coservatio Biology Istitute, icludig ew PAD-US-proposed data attributes ad sigificatly expaded coverage of protected areas below the state level. Early 2010 through 2012 Major project lauched by the PAD- US Partership to implemet the full database desig, to make major improvemets i state ad sub-state data ad refie the rakig codes i the database. Publicatio of PAD-US versio 2.0 with subsequet updates, plus iitiatio of PAD-US web service ad o Ogoig maagemet of PAD-US through all agecy ad orgaizatio parters (published updates aually or semi-aually); further developmet of support to states for expaded data developmet; cotiued developmet of PAD-US capacities. A Map for the Future: Creatig the Next Geeratio of Protected Area Ivetories i the Uited States 19

22 What eeds to happe ext? There is much to do to prepare for a major implemetatio effort to establish the full PAD-US. You ca do the followig to be a part of this project: 1. Edorse: Agecies ad orgaizatios eed to joi the volutary PAD- US Partership, by sigig a stadard edorsemet letter, ad, where appropriate, desigatig a data steward as a liaiso. 2. Fud: Commitmets are eeded, particularly from federal agecies, for fudig to match emergig private philathropic fudig for the desig implemetatio phase. Additioal private foudatio fudig will also be sought for particular geographic areas ad subject themes (local parks ad recreatio, lads i river corridors, etc.). 3. Coordiate: Liaisos ad stewards eed to be idetified for each state (to joi those i federal agecies ad atioal o-profits), to help refie how PAD-US ca best assist state ivetory efforts. 4. Stadardize: PAD-US data stadards eed to be fialized ad begi to be icorporated ito idividual state, local ad federal agecy protected lads databases. 5. Collaborate: Partership opportuities must be idetified where PAD- US projects ca help expad or leverage state or regioal-fuded efforts to improve protected areas data. Curret iformatio o these ad other ext steps ca be foud o the PAD- US Partership web site, Coclusio what you ca do Joi the PAD-US Partership Become a state or agecy data steward Icorporate the PAD-US Core Attributes ito your ivetory Collaborate o fudig opportuities Help us spread the word about PAD-US A comprehesive ivetory of America s protected areas, providig support to coservatio, lad maagemet, recreatio ad lad use plaig all i a system that gives reliable ad curret iformatio to decisio makers, citizes geerally, agecy lad maagers, local plaers, ogovermetal groups ad private busiesses. Achievig this visio is the purpose of the PAD-US Partership. We believe that the value of this effort is paramout, with beefits flowig to every sector of the Uited States. The creatio of the Partership, the publicatio of a first major data ivetory ad the techical recommedatios that will form the basis of the fully implemeted PAD-US data product all move us substatially forward o the path we ve mapped out i this report. We hope you will joi us o this importat jourey! 20

23 Resources PAD-US Steerig Committee Orgaizatios PAD-US Partership Coservatio Biology Istitute USGS Gap Aalysis Program The Nature Coservacy Bureau of Lad Maagemet, NILS Lad Trust Alliace USDA Forest Service (Research & Developmet, State & Private Forestry) GreeIfo Network Other Resources Liks to orgaizatios ad projects related to PAD-US, partial list Natioal Biological Iformatio Ifrastructure Natioal Fish ad Wildlife Foudatio Data Basi NatureServe LadScope America Trust for Public Lad Ducks Ulimited Defeders of Wildlife Coservatio Registry Teamig With Wildlife State Wildlife Actio Plas Associatio of Fish & Wildlife Agecies Private Lad Owers Network Natioal Recreatio ad Park Associatio World Coservatio Moitorig Ceter Iteratioal Uio for the Coservatio of Nature Photo Credits Natioal Geographic Society Miriam Stei: cover, iside back cover ad pages 1, 2, 5, 19 Joel Sartore: iside back cover Phil Schermeister, George F. Mobley, B. Athoy Stewart: back cover Getty Images, Ic. Aderse Ross: cover (right had image) Larry Orma: all other photographs

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