Federal Surface Management Agency Boundaries for U.S. Territories

A GIS dataset containing polygon features showing the boundaries and surface extent of Federal surface management agencies across the United States and its territories. The data classifies land by its active Federal managing agency and depicts current withdrawn areas, including lands acquired or exchanged. It is a dynamic assembly of spatial layers maintained by various federal and local government offices.

Use Cases

• Map the spatial boundaries of Federal agency surface administrative jurisdiction for land use planning.
• Analyze the distribution of withdrawn areas categorized by administrative, presidential, congressional, or FERC withdrawal types.
• Identify areas where land jurisdiction has been transferred between Federal agencies or dedicated to specific public purposes.

Strengths

• Covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands.
• Represents a dynamic assembly of spatial layers maintained by authoritative federal and local government offices.
• Classifies Federal land by its active surface managing agency and depicts current withdrawn areas.

Limitations

• Does not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain detailed land ownership attributes.
• The polygon features represent aggregated withdrawn extents rather than individual historical withdrawal actions.
• Sample data and specific row/column counts are unavailable for assessing dataset scale and granularity.

Provenance

Source

Department of the Interior.

Collection Method

Dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices.

Freshness

Last updated on March 3, 2026.

Geography

Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands.