Protected areas of the United States facts for kids

The amazing Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

John Muir (1838-1914) helped inspire the idea of national parks in the U.S. He once said, "Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation ?" This means we are all connected to nature.

The protected areas of the United States are special places like parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. They are managed by different groups, including the federal government, states, local communities, and even Native American tribes. These areas have different levels of protection. Some are kept wild, like wilderness areas, while others allow some activities like logging or fishing.

As of 2020, there were over 36,000 protected areas in the U.S. These areas cover about 1,118,917 square kilometers (432,016 square miles). This is about 12 percent of all the land in the United States! It's also one-tenth of all the protected land in the entire world. The U.S. also has many protected areas in the ocean, covering a huge 3,210,908 square kilometers (1,239,739 square miles).

Sometimes, different levels of government work together to manage these areas. For example, the Father Marquette National Memorial is a federal park, but a state park system helps run it. The Kal-Haven Trail is a state park that is managed by a local county government.

Protected Areas Managed by the U.S. Government

Federal protected areas are lands and waters that the U.S. government owns or manages. These areas often have special rules to protect them.

As of 2007, the U.S. had 6,770 protected areas managed by the federal government. Many of these are managed by the National Park Service. This service is part of the United States Department of the Interior. National Parks are often seen as the most important protected areas.

Other federal agencies also manage protected lands:

• The United States Forest Service manages national forests.
• The Bureau of Land Management looks after many public lands.
• The United States Fish and Wildlife Service manages wildlife refuges.
• The United States Army Corps of Engineers manages many lakes and waterways. They offer lots of outdoor fun, like boating and fishing.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has a system to rate how protected an area is. The highest levels of protection are called Level I (Strict Nature Reserves & Wilderness Areas) and Level II (National Parks). The United States protects 12 percent of all the Level I and II lands in the world. These lands cover about 210,000 square miles (543,900 square kilometers).

Many federal protected areas have different names. This is because some names describe who owns the land, and others describe special rules for the land. For example, both the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service manage areas called National Preserves. Also, National Monuments can be managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, or the Bureau of Land Management.

Wilderness Areas are special places kept very wild. They can be found within other protected areas and are managed by different agencies. Sometimes, a wilderness area might even stretch across lands managed by several agencies!

Types of Federal Protected Areas

Here are some of the main types of protected areas managed by the U.S. government:

• National Park System (You can find a list of these areas here)
  • National Parks
  • National Preserves
  • National Seashores
  • National Lakeshores
• National Forest System
  • National Forests
  • National Grasslands
• National Conservation Lands
  • National Monuments
  • National Conservation Areas
  • Wilderness Areas
  • Wilderness Study Areas
  • National Wild and Scenic Rivers
  • National Scenic Trails
  • National Historic Trails
  • Cooperative Management and Protection Areas
  • Forest Reserves
  • Outstanding Natural Areas
• National Marine Sanctuaries (These protect special ocean areas)
• National Recreation Areas
• National Estuarine Research Reserves (These protect important coastal areas where rivers meet the sea)
• National Trails System
• National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (You can find a list of these rivers here)
• National Wilderness Preservation System (You can find a list of these areas here)
• National Wildlife Refuge System (You can find a list of these refuges here)

Protected Areas Managed by States

Every state in the U.S. has its own system of state parks. They also have other protected areas like forests, wildlife refuges, and recreation areas. State parks can be very different from each other. Some are small parks in cities, while others are huge, like national parks.

For example, Adirondack Park in New York is a very large state park. It's so big that it has towns inside its borders! About half of the park, which is about 3 million acres (12,140 square kilometers), is owned by the state and kept wild forever. Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska is the largest state park in the U.S. It's bigger than many national parks, covering about 1.6 million acres (6,475 square kilometers). That's even larger than the entire state of Delaware! Many states also have areas for hunting and other outdoor activities.

Lists of State Protected Areas

• You can find lists of state parks in the U.S. for each state: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
• List of U.S. state and tribal wilderness areas
• Wildlife Management Areas in the U.S.

Protected Areas Managed by Local Communities

Counties, cities, and towns also manage many different types of local parks and protected areas. Some of these are small, like picnic areas or playgrounds. But others are large nature reserves. For example, South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona, is known as the largest city park in the United States. It covers about 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) and has 58 miles (93 kilometers) of trails!

Protected Areas by Region

• Protected areas of American Samoa
• Protected areas of California
• Protected areas of Colorado
• Protected areas of Georgia
• Protected areas of Illinois
• Protected areas of Kentucky
• Protected areas of Michigan
• Protected areas of Ohio