Riparian Areas of the Western United States (National Wetlands Inventory)

This dataset represents the extent, approximate location and type of riparian habitats in the western United States.  These data delineate aerial extent of riparian habitats as defined by "A System for Mapping Riparian Areas in the United States" (USFWS 2009).  Certain riparian habitats may be excluded from the national mapping program because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect riparian habitats.  The present goal of the Service 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 wetlands, riparian, deepwater and related aquatic habitats in priority areas to promote the understanding and conservation of these resources.  The riparian maps were produced as topical overlays using U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps as the base.  The hard copy product is a composite map showing topographic and planimetric features from the USGS map base and riparian habitats from the Service's topical overlay.  Thus the data are intended for use in publications, at a scale of 1:24,000 or smaller.  Due to the scale, the primary intended use is for regional and watershed data display and analysis rather than specific project data analysis.  The map products were neither designed or intended to represent legal or regulatory products.  Questions or comments regarding the interpretation or classification of riparian habitats can be addressed by visiting http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/FAQS.html.  These spatial data are not designed to stand alone. They form topical overlays to the U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 or 1:25,000 scale topographic quadrangles.  These data will also work with current available digital wetlands data.  Note that riparian delineations were drawn to follow the extent of riparian features described by this project and may not match surface features shown in other base maps.  Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposed only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.