About the data
This directory brings together every unit managed by the four federal land agencies into one guide. Facts, boundaries and photos come straight from the agencies and refresh every night. Alerts refresh every hour. Guide text and designation histories are written and checked by the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Where each piece comes from
| Data | Source | Refreshed |
|---|---|---|
| National Park System units, descriptions, photos, hours, fees, visitor centers, campgrounds, things to do | NPS Data API | Nightly |
| National Park boundaries | NPS Land Resources Division | Nightly |
| National wildlife refuges and wetland management districts | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved acquisition boundaries | Nightly |
| National forests, grasslands, Forest Service monuments, recreation and scenic areas | USDA Forest Service Enterprise Data Warehouse | Nightly |
| BLM national monuments and conservation areas | Bureau of Land Management National Conservation Lands | Nightly |
| Park alerts and closures | NPS Data API | Hourly |
| Weather watches, warnings and advisories | National Weather Service | Hourly |
| Active wildfire perimeters | National Interagency Fire Center (WFIGS) | Hourly |
| State lines | U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb | As needed |
| Designation history, guide text, Roosevelt connections | Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, reviewed by its historians | As written |
How designation history works
Each site’s history lists every change in its status: the date, the designation, the legal authority (an act of Congress, a presidential proclamation, an executive order or a secretarial order) and the administration in office. For acts of Congress, the entry names the President who signed the law. Each history appears here once the Library’s historians have checked it against primary sources.
Boundaries and acreage
Boundaries are simplified to about 200 meters so pages load quickly. They are for trip planning, not navigation or legal use; follow each source link for official full-resolution data. Refuge acreage reflects the approved acquisition boundary, which can be larger than the land the Fish and Wildlife Service actually manages. Acreage marked “estimate” is computed from the simplified boundary.
Places managed by more than one agency
When agencies share a place, such as a national monument split between the Forest Service and BLM, it appears once and lists every managing agency.
Photos
Photos come from the managing agency with the credit it provides. Most federal photos are in the public domain, but some agency pages use photos by outside photographers. Check the credit before reusing an image.