Federal lands
Protected areas of Indiana include national forest lands, Army Corps of Engineers areas, state parks, state forests, state nature preserves, state wildlife management areas, and other areas.
Indiana has 24 state parks maintained and operated by Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). In addition, a separate state agency operates White River State Park in Indianapolis.
The North Country National Scenic Trail, generally known as the North Country Trail or simply the NCT, is a footpath stretching over 4,800 miles (7,700 km) from Middlebury in central Vermont to Lake Sakakawea State Park in central North Dakota in the United States; connecting both the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail with the Lewis and Clark Trail. Passing through the eight states of Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, it is the longest of the eleven National Scenic Trails authorized by Congress. As of early 2019, 3,129 miles (5,036 km) of the trail is in place.
The White River National Wildlife Refuge is a 160,756 acres (650.56 km2) wildlife refuge located in Desha, Monroe, Phillips, and Arkansas counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. White River NWR borders on Cache River National Wildlife Refuge at its northern boundary. In 1974, the White River Sugarberry Natural Area was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
Falls Lake State Recreation Area is a North Carolina state park in Durham and Wake Counties, North Carolina in the United States. Near Wake Forest, North Carolina, it covers 5,035 acres (20.38 km2) along the shores of 12,410-acre (50.2 km2) Falls Lake.
Jordan Lake State Recreation Area is a North Carolina state park spanning Chatham County, and Wake County North Carolina in the United States. It comprises 4,558 acres (18.45 km2) of woodlands along the shores of 13,940-acre (56 km2) Jordan Lake.
The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. As of 2022, the 42,826 protected areas covered 1,235,486 km2 (477,024 sq mi), or 13 percent of the land area of the United States. This is also one-tenth of the protected land area of the world. The U.S. also had a total of 871 National Marine Protected Areas, covering an additional 1,636,523 km2 (631,865 sq mi), or 19 percent of the total marine area of the United States.
The protected areas of Michigan come in an array of different types and levels of protection. Michigan has five units of the National Park Service system. There are 14 federal wilderness areas; the majority of these are also tribal-designated wildernesses. It has one of the largest state forest systems as well having four national forests. The state maintains a large state park system and there are also regional parks, and county, township and city parks. Still other parks on land and in the Great Lakes are maintained by other governmental bodies. Private protected areas also exist in the state, mainly lands owned by land conservancies.
The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is a 240,000-acre (970 km2), 261-mile long (420 km) National Wildlife Refuge located in and along the Upper Mississippi River. It runs from Wabasha, Minnesota in the north to Rock Island, Illinois in the south.
Lewis and Clark Lake is a 31,400 acre (130 km²) reservoir located on the border of the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota on the Missouri River. The lake is approximately 25 miles (40 km) in length with over 90 miles (140 km) of shoreline and a maximum water depth of 45 feet (14 m). The lake is impounded by Gavins Point Dam and is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District.
William C. Sterling State Park is a public recreation area located in Frenchtown Charter Township with a small portion lying within the city limits of Monroe, Michigan. It is the only Michigan state park located on Lake Erie. The park encompasses 1,300 acres (530 ha) of mostly man-made lagoons and beachfront near the mouth of Sandy Creek. The main attractions at the park include a 256-site campground, beach area, boat launch, and shore fishing lagoons. There are over seven miles (11 km) of biking and hiking trails within the park.
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.
The protected areas of Georgia cover almost one million acres (4,000 km2) of the state. These areas are managed by different federal and state level authorities and receive varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. On the Federal level, Georgia contains 1 Biosphere Reserve, 15 National Park Service Managed Sites, 1 National Forest and 8 Wildlife Refuges. Georgia is home to 63 state parks, 48 of which are state parks and 15 that are National Historic Sites, and many state wildlife preserves, under the supervision of the Georgia Department of Parks and Recreation, a division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located 3 miles east of Seymour, Indiana, on U.S. Route 50. Established in 1966, it comprises 7,802 acres in its main area of eastern Jackson and western Jennings counties, and an additional 78 acres (32 ha) in northwestern Monroe County, near Bloomington, Indiana, known as the "Restle Unit". It was established thanks to the selling of Federal Migratory Waterfowl Stamps, commonly known as Duck Stamps, by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It was Indiana's first National Wildlife Refuge. The name comes from the Muscatatuck River, which means "land of winding waters".
Hardy Lake, originally named Quick Creek Reservoir, is an Indiana state reservoir in Scott and Jefferson counties, Indiana. It is located four miles (6 km) east of Austin, Indiana and 35 miles (56 km) north of Louisville, Kentucky. It is the smallest reservoir maintained by the state of Indiana, measuring 2,448 acres (9.9 km2) of total property, and 741 acres (3.0 km2) of surface area for the lake. The lake is approximately 38 feet (12 m) deep.
Straddling the headwaters of the Minnesota River in west-central Minnesota, Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is within the heart of the tallgrass prairie's historic range. Today, less than one-percent of tallgrass prairie remains.
J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge is located along the Souris River in Bottineau and McHenry Counties in north-central North Dakota. The refuge of 58,693 acres (237.5 km2) extends from the Manitoba border southward for approximately 45 miles (72 km) in an area which was once Glacial Lake Souris. The area is old lake bottom and has extremely flat topography and a high density of temporary wetlands.
J. Edward Roush Lake is a reservoir in Huntington, Indiana, United States. The lake is found at an elevation of 748 feet (228 m).
Salamonie River State Forest is a 850-acre (3.4 km2) state forest in Wabash and Huntington counties, Indiana.
