Product Summary

Product Summary icon The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency that provides information to the public on the extent and status of the Nation's wetlands. Through the National Wetlands Inventory, the agency has developed a series of topical maps to show wetlands and deepwater habitats. These maps have been used extensively to make resource management decisions at the federal, state and local government levels.

The goal of the National Wetlands Inventory is to provide the citizens of the United States and its Trust Territories with current geospatially referenced information on the status, extent, characteristics and functions of wetland, riparian, deepwater and related aquatic habitats in priority areas to promote the understanding and conservation of these resources.

As of October of 2009, the wetland geospatial data layer provides on-line map information for 82 percent of the conterminous U.S., 31 percent of Alaska and 100 percent of Hawaii. This has been accomplished by working with numerous public and private cooperators to produce maps, digital data, and publications. Currently, efforts are underway to complete and maintain a seamless digital wetlands data set for the Nation. This effort constitutes the Wetlands Data Layer of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Please read the Disclaimer, Data Limitations, Exclusions and Precautions, and the Wetlands Geodatabase User Caution.