Protected areas of California



According to the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD), in the state of California, United States, there are over 14,000 inventoried protected areas administered by public agencies and non-profits. In addition, there are private conservation areas and other easements. They include almost one-third of California's scenic coastline, including coastal wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dune systems. The California State Parks system alone has 270 units and covers 1.3 million acres (5,300 km2), with over 280 miles (450 km) of coastline, 625 miles (1,006 km) of lake and river frontage, nearly 18,000 campsites, and 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.

Obtaining an accurate total of all protected land in California and elsewhere is a complex task. Many parcels have inholdings, private lands within the protected areas, which may or may not be accounted for when calculating total area. Also, occasionally one parcel of land is included in two or more inventories. Over 90% of Yosemite National Park for example, is listed both as wilderness by the National Wilderness Preservation System, and as national park land by the National Park Service. The Cosumnes River Preserve is an extreme example, owned and managed by a handful of public agencies and private landowners, including the Bureau of Land Management, the County of Sacramento and The Nature Conservancy. Despite the difficulties, the CPAD gives the total area of protected land at 49294000 acre, or 47.05% of the state (not including easements); a considerable amount for the most populous state in the country.

National Park System
The U.S. National Park System controls a large and diverse group of California parks, monuments, recreation areas and other units which in total exceed 6240000 acre. The best known is Yosemite National Park, noted for several iconic natural features including Yosemite Falls, El Capitan and Half Dome, which is displayed on the reverse side of the California state quarter. Other prominent parks are the Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park complex, Redwood National Park, Channel Islands National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and the largest, Death Valley National Park. The NPS also administers the Manzanar National Historic Site in Inyo County. {| width=100% border=0
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National parks

 * Channel Islands National Park
 * Death Valley National Park
 * Joshua Tree National Park
 * Kings Canyon National Park
 * Lassen Volcanic National Park
 * Pinnacles National Park
 * Redwood National Park
 * Sequoia National Park
 * Yosemite National Park
 * YosemitePark2 amk.jpg]]
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National monuments
(administered by the NPS)
 * Cabrillo National Monument
 * Castle Mountains National Monument
 * César E. Chávez National Monument
 * Devils Postpile National Monument
 * Lava Beds National Monument
 * Muir Woods National Monument
 * Mojave Trails National Monument
 * San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
 * Sand to Snow National Monument
 * World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
 * Trees and sunshine.JPG]]
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National recreation areas

 * Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
 * Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
 * Golden Gate National Recreation Area
 * Santa monica nra.jpg]]
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National seashores

 * Point Reyes National Seashore
 * Palomarin at point reyes.jpg]]
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National preserves

 * Mojave National Preserve
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National Landscape Conservation System
The Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) includes over 850 federally recognized areas and in California, manages 15500000 acre of public lands, nearly 15% of the state's land area. The National Landscape Conservation System is composed of several types of units: national monuments (distinct from the same-named units within the National Park System), national conservation areas, forest reserves, outstanding natural areas, national scenic and historic trails, wilderness, wilderness study areas, and others. {| width=100% border=0
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National monuments
(administered by the BLM)
 * Berryessa Snow Mountain (also administered by the Mendocino National Forest)
 * California Coastal
 * Carrizo Plain
 * Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
 * width=20% |Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains 283.jpg]]

National conservation areas

 * California Desert
 * King Range
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Forest reserves

 * Headwaters Forest
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Outstanding natural areas

 * Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station
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National scenic and historic trails

 * California National Historic Trail
 * Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
 * Old Spanish National Historic Trail
 * Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
 * width=20% | Farewell Gap.jpg along the Pacific Crest Trail]]

Wilderness and wilderness study areas
Total BLM-managed wilderness land in California is 3725230 acre.
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National Marine Sanctuaries
The National Marine Sanctuary System is managed by the Office of Marine Sanctuaries, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. California has four of the thirteen U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries:


 * Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
 * Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
 * Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
 * Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary - one of the largest in the world at 5300 sqmi.

National Wildlife Refuges
National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is an extensive system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants. Many of the state's refuges are important stops and destinations for millions of migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway corridor. One, the Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area, has the highest density of waterfowl in the world. There are 38 units in the refuge system in California, including both wildlife refuges and wildlife management areas, divided into 9 different regional areas. Combined the areas equal about 440000 acre. {| width=100% border=0
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Hopper Mountain NWR Complex

 * Bitter Creek NWR
 * Blue Ridge NWR
 * Hopper Mountain NWR
 * Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes NWR
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San Diego NWR Complex

 * San Diego NWR
 * San Diego Bay NWR
 * Seal Beach NWR
 * Sweetwater Marsh NWR
 * Tijuana Slough NWR
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Humboldt Bay NWR Complex

 * Humboldt Bay NWR
 * Castle Rock NWR
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San Francisco Bay NWR Complex

 * Antioch Dunes NWR
 * Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR
 * Ellicott Slough NWR
 * Farallon NWR
 * Marin Islands NWR
 * Salinas River NWR
 * San Pablo Bay NWR
 * width=20% | San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.jpg]]
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Kern NWR Complex

 * Kern NWR
 * Pixley NWR
 * width=20% | Blackneckstilt kernrivernwr.jpg]]

San Luis NWR Complex

 * Grasslands WMA
 * Merced NWR
 * San Joaquin River NWR
 * San Luis NWR
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Klamath Basin NWR Complex

 * Clear Lake NWR
 * Lower Klamath NWR
 * Tule Lake NWR
 * width=20% | RossGeese Oregon.jpg at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge]]

Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Complex

 * Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR
 * Coachella Valley NWR
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Sacramento NWR Complex

 * Butte Sink WMA
 * Colusa NWR
 * Delevan NWR
 * North Central Valley WMA
 * Sacramento NWR
 * Sacramento River NWR
 * Sutter NWR
 * Willow Creek-Lurline WMA
 * width=20% | Snow geeze and ducks at Sacramento.jpg at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge]]

Other refuges

 * Modoc NWR
 * width=20% | Badger modocnwr.jpg at the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge]]
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Wild and Scenic rivers
Rivers designated as Wild and Scenic are administered by one of four federal land management agencies: The Bureau of Land Management, The National Park Service, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or The U.S. Forest Service. There are 22 rivers in California with portions designated as Wild and Scenic, with 23 designations in all (the American River has two separate designations, one for the North Fork, and one for the Lower section). Listed in miles.

National Forests
California has 17 U.S. National Forests, one special management unit (Lake Tahoe) and parts of 3 other National Forests. Total combined area of the forests is 20061888 acre and covers over 19% of the state. The largest forest entirely within the state is Shasta-Trinity National Forest, at 2209832 acre, the smallest is Cleveland National Forest at 460000 acre. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is not precisely a national forest in the conventional sense. Instead the Forest Service manages the land with particular attention paid to Lake Tahoe and its relationship with the forests surrounding it, with emphasis on erosion control management and watershed restoration, among other more conventional forest management activities. It is the smallest of the Forest Service units in California, with 191000 acre in its jurisdiction split between California and Nevada.

State Forests
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) operates eight Demonstration State Forests totaling 71,000 acres. The forests represent the most common forest types in the state. The State Forests grow approximately 75 million board feet of timber annually and harvest an average of 30 million board feet each year, enough to build 3,000 single-family homes. Revenue from these harvests fund the management of the State Forests. In addition, the forests provide research and demonstration opportunities for natural resource management, while providing public recreation opportunities, fish and wildlife habitat, and watershed protection. Activities include: experimental timber harvesting techniques, watershed restoration, mushroom collecting, hunting, firewood gathering, cone collecting for seed, a variety of university research projects, horseback riding, camping, mountain biking, and hiking.

Largest land owners of protected lands
The 20 largest landholders, according to the CPAD 2018a Statistics Report: