BLM 3DEP LIDAR Priority Planning Areas map service for viewing BLM’s participation to the USGS 3DEP (3D Elevation Program) to collaborate to acquire high-resolution LiDAR data that is available through the USGS National Map. The implementation of this map service allows the BLM to have more flexibility for tracking ongoing BLM 3DEP acquisition through this USGS and BLM partnership. Additionally, BLM high, medium, and low priorities are included, as well as areas where BLM projects have been completed and are available on the USGS National Map.

BLM Priority areas that include the following. High – These areas include BLM managed lands within the larger collaborative multi-agency LiDAR acquisition areas that are ongoing. Medium – These include PHMA – BLM administered lands identified as having the highest value to maintaining sustainable greater sage-grouse populations and Salinity project boundary – that provides a framework for improving the effectiveness of the Colorado River Basin of BLM managed lands. Low – These include GHMA – BLM administered lands identified that are occupied seasonally or year old and are outside of PHMA and all remaining BLM managed lands. Complete – Areas of BLM administered lands of where LiDAR acquisitions is complete and is available at the USGS National Map.

BLM Priority areas that include the following. High – These areas include BLM managed lands within the larger collaborative multi-agency LiDAR acquisition areas that are ongoing. Medium – These include PHMA – BLM administered lands identified as having the highest value to maintaining sustainable greater sage-grouse populations and Salinity project boundary – that provides a framework for improving the effectiveness of the Colorado River Basin of BLM managed lands. Low – These include GHMA – BLM administered lands identified that are occupied seasonally or year old and are outside of PHMA and all remaining BLM managed lands. Complete – Areas of BLM administered lands of where LiDAR acquisitions is complete and is available at the USGS National Map.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior - The annual lidar and DEM acquisition plan is part of the 3DEP initiative to systematically collect enhanced elevation data (Quality Level 2) in the form of high-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data over the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and the territories on an 8-year schedule. The FY19 acquisition plan currently anticipates collecting 225,000 sq. mi. or more depending on partnerships and other contributions to the plan. Interested parties who wish to become a funding partner with the USGS in FY19 or in future years should contact a USGS Geospatial Liaison - http://liaisons.usgs.gov/geospatial/documents/TNM_Partnership_User_ContactList.pdf. Products will include: raw point cloud, classified point cloud, 1M DEM, and other standard derived 3DEP datasets. To find out more about the 3DEP initiative go to http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP.

The Surface Management Agency (SMA) Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset depicts Federal land for the United States and classifies this land by its active Federal surface managing agency. The SMA feature class covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. A Federal SMA agency refers to a Federal agency with administrative jurisdiction over the surface of Federal lands. Jurisdiction over the land is defined when the land is either: Withdrawn by some administrative or legislative action, or Acquired or Exchanged by a Federal Agency. This layer is a dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices. The GIS data contained in this dataset represents the polygon features that show the boundaries for Surface Management Agency and the surface extent of each Federal agency’s surface administrative jurisdiction. SMA data depicts current withdrawn areas for a particular agency and (when appropriate) includes land that was acquired or exchanged and is located outside of a withdrawal area for that agency. The SMA data do not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain land ownership attribute details. The SMA Withdrawals feature class covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. A Federal SMA Withdrawal is defined by formal actions that set aside, withhold, or reserve Federal land by statute or administrative order for public purposes. A withdrawal creates a title encumbrance on the land. Withdrawals must accomplish one or more of the following: A. Transfer total or partial jurisdiction of Federal land between Federal agencies. B. Close (segregate) Federal land to operation of all or some of the public land laws and/or mineral laws. C. Dedicate Federal land to a specific public purpose. There are four major categories of formal withdrawals: (1) Administrative, (2) Presidential Proclamations, (3) Congressional, and (4) Federal Power Act (FPA) or Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Withdrawals. These SMA Withdrawals will include the present total extent of withdrawn areas rather than all of the individual withdrawal actions that created them over time. A Federal SMA agency refers to a Federal agency with administrative jurisdiction over the surface of Federal lands. Jurisdiction over the land is defined when the land is either: Withdrawn by some administrative or legislative action, or Acquired or Exchanged by a Federal Agency. This layer is a dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices. The GIS data contained in this dataset represents the polygon features that show the boundaries for Surface Management Agency and the surface extent of each Federal agency’s surface administrative jurisdiction. SMA data depicts current withdrawn areas for a particular agency and (when appropriate) includes land that was acquired or exchanged and is located outside of a withdrawal area for that agency. The SMA data do not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain land ownership attribute details.

The Surface Management Agency (SMA) Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset depicts Federal land for the United States and classifies this land by its active Federal surface managing agency. The SMA feature class covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. A Federal SMA agency refers to a Federal agency with administrative jurisdiction over the surface of Federal lands. Jurisdiction over the land is defined when the land is either: Withdrawn by some administrative or legislative action, or Acquired or Exchanged by a Federal Agency. This layer is a dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices. The GIS data contained in this dataset represents the polygon features that show the boundaries for Surface Management Agency and the surface extent of each Federal agency’s surface administrative jurisdiction. SMA data depicts current withdrawn areas for a particular agency and (when appropriate) includes land that was acquired or exchanged and is located outside of a withdrawal area for that agency. The SMA data do not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain land ownership attribute details. The SMA Withdrawals feature class covers the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. A Federal SMA Withdrawal is defined by formal actions that set aside, withhold, or reserve Federal land by statute or administrative order for public purposes. A withdrawal creates a title encumbrance on the land. Withdrawals must accomplish one or more of the following: A. Transfer total or partial jurisdiction of Federal land between Federal agencies. B. Close (segregate) Federal land to operation of all or some of the public land laws and/or mineral laws. C. Dedicate Federal land to a specific public purpose. There are four major categories of formal withdrawals: (1) Administrative, (2) Presidential Proclamations, (3) Congressional, and (4) Federal Power Act (FPA) or Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Withdrawals. These SMA Withdrawals will include the present total extent of withdrawn areas rather than all of the individual withdrawal actions that created them over time. A Federal SMA agency refers to a Federal agency with administrative jurisdiction over the surface of Federal lands. Jurisdiction over the land is defined when the land is either: Withdrawn by some administrative or legislative action, or Acquired or Exchanged by a Federal Agency. This layer is a dynamic assembly of spatial data layers maintained at various federal and local government offices. The GIS data contained in this dataset represents the polygon features that show the boundaries for Surface Management Agency and the surface extent of each Federal agency’s surface administrative jurisdiction. SMA data depicts current withdrawn areas for a particular agency and (when appropriate) includes land that was acquired or exchanged and is located outside of a withdrawal area for that agency. The SMA data do not illustrate land status ownership pattern boundaries or contain land ownership attribute details.

,This dataset represents the GIS Version of the Public Land Survey System including both rectangular and non-rectangular surveys. The primary source for the data is cadastral survey records housed by the BLM supplemented with local records and geographic control coordinates from states, counties as well as other federal agencies such as the USGS and USFS. The data has been converted from source documents to digital form and transferred into a GIS format that is compliant with FGDC Cadastral Data Content Standards and Guidelines for publication. This data is optimized for data publication and sharing rather than for specific 'production' or operation and maintenance. This data set includes the following: PLSS Fully Intersected (all of the PLSS feature at the atomic or smallest polygon level), PLSS Townships, First Divisions and Second Divisions (the hierarchical break down of the PLSS Rectangular surveys), and the Bureau of Census 2015 Cartographic State Boundaries. The Entity-Attribute section of this metadata describes these components in greater detail. Please note that the data on this site, although published at regular intervals, may not be the most current PLSS data that is available from the BLM. Updates to the PLSS data at the BLM State Offices may have occurred since this data was published. To ensure users have the most current data, please contact the BLM PLSS Data Set Manager.,

,Feature level Dataset for the BLM Administrative Unit Boundaries Data Standard. This feature dataset includes both BLM administrative land areas and office locations. Land areas are depicted with polygons for the smallest administrative unit (field offices). Larger administrative units, such as district offices, and administrative states may be derived from these polygons. Office locations at each level are depicted with points. This dataset is a subset of the official national dataset, containing features and attributes intended for public release and has been optimized for online map service performance. The Schema Workbook represents the official national dataset from which this dataset was derived.,

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Program to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data and for a wide range of other three-dimensional (3D) representations of the Nation's natural and constructed features. 3DEP informs critical decisions that are made across our Nation every day that depend on elevation data, ranging from immediate safety of life, property, and environment to long term planning for infrastructure projects. Lidar, an airborne laser detection technology for mapping features on the ground, is being collected nationwide, while Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) is being collected over Alaska. Assessing the accuracy of the lidar point cloud data collected for 3DEP is defined in the Lidar Base Specification (https://www.usgs.gov/ngp-standards-and-specifications/lidar-base-specification-online). The vertical accuracy of the lidar and IfSAR data and the derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) is the most scrutinized accuracy metric. 3DEP data are assessed and reported in accordance with the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data. Vegetated vertical accuracy (VVA) and non-vegetated vertical accuracy (NVA) are assessed for absolute vertical accuracy compared to survey-grade checkpoints collected with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers by professional land surveyors. These checkpoints are published with 3DEP projects (https://rockyweb.usgs.gov/vdelivery/Datasets/Staged/Elevation/metadata/) and represent tens of millions of dollars of high accuracy data that can be used to assess both 3DEP and other endeavors such as the Seamless 1-m DEM that the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center is producing to support the USGS 3D National Topography Model. However, these checkpoints were not standardized until Lidar Base Specification 2022 rev. A. All checkpoints prior to this revision were delivered by contractors in XML, PDFs, excel spreadsheets, CSVs, shapefiles, and geodatabase feature classes depending on the preference of the lidar contractors and 3DEP partners. In 2021, the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) consolidated the checkpoints in the 3DEP and older lidar/IfSAR data holdings gathered between 2010-2017 to support research for and the eventual publication of a journal article called “The Accuracy and Consistency of 3D Elevation Program Data: A Systematic Analysis” (https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040940). In 2024, NGTOC enriched and standardized the points used in that paper to match the current survey point delivery schema. This included re-projecting the data horizontally to North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) (2011) geographic, deleting duplicate points, identifying the point type as NVA or VVA, identifying matching work unit and project ID numbers within the Work Unit Extent Spatial Metadata, verifying the correct geoid models, using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey (NGS) VDatum tool to update the Z elevation values in the conterminous United States (CONUS) and Puerto Rico into meters and GEOID18 and everything in Hawaii and Alaska into meters and GEOID12B, determining the collection date and the publication date, and finding the URL to the source information where possible. The first version of the 3DEP checkpoints database, which included 41,958 survey-grade points from 205 lidar and IfSAR projects covering 710 published work units, was published in October 2024. NGTOC updated this database with additional checkpoints in December 2025. Version 2 of the checkpoints database includes 145,299 checkpoints from 551 lidar projects covering 1,874 published work units.

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