Geospatial Data
Effective beginning 06/04/2025: This website, and all linked websites under the control of the agency is under review and content may change.
Selected GIS Datasets for the Southwestern Region
Selected GIS datasets for the Southwestern Region are available for download from this page.
Use of most of these files requires GIS software such as ArcGISPro from ESRI. Most of these datasets are provided in File geodatabase format version 10x or ArcView shapefile (shp) format. (ESRI and the ESRI Logo are licensed trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.)
Many datasets are also available as Feature Services in AGOL or Arc Server. These datasets will have links to the AGOL Hosted Service or the Arc Server location.
Additional descriptive information about the datasets is available through the Metadata files. These files meet the FGDC (Federal Geospatial Data Committee) standards for structure and content.
Notice: Some datasets that were previously on this site have been removed. Please access this data on the FS Geodata Clearing House.
Activities (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
4FRI Dashboard Activities Posted Weekly | This AGOL feature layer is a queried subset of the Activities (FACTS_ACT160_VW_Attributes) dataset that includes planned, awarded, and completed hazardous fuels, timber, and fire activities within the 4FRI Landscape. This data is updated weekly and populates the 4FRI Public Dashboard |
Aerial Photography Mission Data (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
Photo Mission Area Polygons & Photo Centers
Posted 07/01/2025 | Historical Aerial Photography Archive Missions (HAPAP) is a geodatabase that interfaces with a Map Viewer Search engine of all aerial photography projects completed in the Southwestern Region of the Forest Service. This database contains metadata on each mission indicating the original mission specifications and information on how to locate the associated rolls of film. |
Post Fire Photography Projects List Posted 7/23/2020 | This spreadsheet lists all of the post fire aerial photography projects flown by the Southwestern Region. With projects dating back to 1972, this imagery serves as an important record of fire extent and damage. Geospatial features describing the photo centers and footprints for these projects can be accessed in the Historical Aerial Photography feature service above, and the imagery can be requested from the Aerial Photography Field Office
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Ecological Response Units (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
Ecological Response Units (Version 5.4)
Posted 11/3/2022 | Ecological Response Units - The purpose of this feature class is to be an ecosystem mapping tool across all of Arizona and New Mexico. Ecological Response Units (ERUs) facilitate landscape analyses and planning. The framework represents all major ecosystem types of the southwest region, and represents a stratification of biophysical themes. ERUs are used to define historic/reference conditions within a mapping unit by integrating site potential (soil physical and chemical properties, geology, geomorphology, aspect, slope, climate variables, and geographic location), fire regime (historic and contemporary), neighboring vegetation communities, and seral state sequence. The shapefile data is tiled into four tiles: Arizona North, Arizona South, New Mexico North, New Mexico South. View a sample image of the tile locations |
ERU Fire Groups
Posted 4/4/2023 | Fire groups are categories based upon vegetation types and their fire regime. This dataset is derived from Version 5.4 of the Ecological Response Unit (ERU) layer. Fire groups were assigned to the ERU designations during the 2017 and 2023 regional wildfire risk assessments (Nicolet 2017, Gannon et al. 2023). The polygons were dissolved by the fire group assignments to the ERUs. A minimum mapping unit of 1,000 acres (400 ha) is required by some protocols (USDA Forest Service 2017) and was then applied following the dissolve to exclude small polygons (<1,000 acres). Over 86% of the region is represented by large polygons that exceed the minimum map unit threshold. Attributes were added for historic fire regime and flame length class. Note that non-vegetation ERUs such as sparsely vegetated, urban/developed, agriculture, and water did not get assigned a fire group and were included with small polygons (< 1,000) into a general category of “Not Included (< 1,000 ac)”. |
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment
| The CCVA is an all-lands vulnerability assessment for major upland ecosystems of AZ and NM (Triepke 2016). Based on the anticipated effects of climate and uncharacteristic drought to site potential, the vulnerability of individual plant communities was identified by the level of future climate departure from the climate envelope for given ecosystem types. The CCVA was an ecosystems approach to predicting vulnerability based on climate projections at the year 2090. Much of the underpinning knowledge and geography of vegetation-climate relationships stems from the Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory of the USFS Southwestern Region (USDA Forest Service 1986, Winthers et al. 2005). |
Aquatic-Riparian Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (ARCCVA)
Posted 12/2/2022 | Land managers are considering ongoing and potential effects of climate and drought on natural resources to coordinate responses for the protection of ecosystems and their water supply, aquatic and riparian biodiversity, and other ecosystem services (Smith and Friggens 2017). Though climate vulnerability of these systems remains understudied (Mott Lacroix et al. 2017), the Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) of the USDA Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and other organizations have developed assessments, tools, and methods for evaluating specific localities or the vulnerability for key ecosystem components. The Aquatic-Riparian Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (ARCCVA) complements prior work with a regionwide vulnerability assessment of sufficient thematic detail to support natural resource policy and management prioritization, watershed assessment, monitoring systems, and to support effects analyses of landscape-scale projects. This work builds on an approach established by Smith and Friggens (2017) and adds additional indicators and spatial extent. by The ARCCVA satisfies some requirements of the Forest Service Climate Scorecard and partially fulfills the vulnerability assessment requirement of the agency’s Climate Adaptation Framework used to support the subsequent step of building an adaptation strategy. The ARCCVA includes subwatershed-scale reporting (HUC12) for all lands of Arizona and New Mexico along with watersheds that include Forest Service lands in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. The assessment was supported by existing data sources on over two dozen intrinsic and climate-related indicators associated with watershed condition, riparian and aquatic habitat, and the presence of warm- and cold-water fish. |
Socioeconomic Vulnerability Assessment (SEVA)
Posted 2/2/2023 | A changing climate and its effects on ecosystem services will have broad impacts, however, not all people and communities will be equally affected. This assessment of vulnerability is concerned with identifying communities and geographic areas where climate-change-driven ecological changes have the potential to adversely affect human well-being due to changes in the provision of ecosystem services. Communities that are at greater risk of ecological changes and that lack adaptive capacity are considered more vulnerable. We analyzed vulnerability components of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity based on available socioeconomic and ecological data. Reporting here includes quantitative and spatially based summaries on community risk, resource sector dependence, and capacity to adapt, as well as an integration of the three vulnerability components. This report extends existing vulnerability reporting focused on national forests by assessing all lands, regardless of ownership, in Arizona and New Mexico. "Socioeconomic Vulnerability to Ecological Changes in the Southwest" Publication PDF |
Forest Orders (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
Forest Orders
Posted as a map service 5 times daily | Forest order map. Forest orders are areas of the forest where entry or use is restricted for safety and or resource protection. Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter II, Subpart B, may close an area to entry or may restrict the use of an area by applying any or all of the prohibitions authorized by the code of regulations. |
General Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
General Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey
Posted 12/2001 | General Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey - (United States Forest Service Southwest Region) The data set is composed of polygon features denoting soil condition, erosion hazard, revegetation potential and vegetation cover. The scale is 1:250000. This data set was created for the USFS General Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey. It's purpose is to delineate the locations and areas of varying GTES characteristics. |
Land (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
Office Locations
Posted 05/14/2025 | The location of Forest Service Offices in the Southwest Region. Supervisors Office, District Office, and Ranger Station. |
Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
TEU, Terrestrial Ecological Unit
Posted 11/14/2024 | Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory. Potential Natural Vegetation and Soil Class. The Land Type Map Component Vegetation, Soil, Geology (LT_MapCompVegSoilGeology) feature class has classification information for Vegetation (potential and existing), soil, geology, geomorphology, ecological types and miscellaneous classifications. Classifications are displayed in order of dominance for each type (PNV, Soil, etc) along with the percentage based on aggregating component actual percents (null values are treated as 0). If there are multiple classifications per component, that component percent is divided by the number of classifications that are attached to that component, and then that percent is aggregated up to the map unit. Map Symbol Comp Pct Vegetation Class 22 1 45 VegClass1 22 2 30 Vegclass2 22 3 25 Vegclass1 Aggregated Vegetation class Vegclass1 - 70 pct Vegclass2 - 30 pct |
Transportation (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
Arizona Trail Alignment | The Arizona National Scenic Trail is 807 miles long running across the entire length of the state from the U.S./ Mexico border to Utah. Designated by Congress as a National Scenic Trail in 2009, the non-motorized AZNST showcases Arizona's diverse vegetation, wildlife, scenery, and history. The USDA Forest Service is the lead managing agency for the AZNST. The USDA Forest Service Region 3, Southwestern Region, provides management oversight to the AZNST GIS data layers. This line feature class dataset was confirmed using Region 3’s Federal and State data, reference data, and third-party data. |
MVUM (Motor Vehicle Use Map) Downloadable Maps | Printable MVUM as PDF files |
Vegetation (Southwestern Region)
| Category/Feature Class | Abstract |
|---|---|
INREV (OSU Institute Natural Resources Existing Vegetation)
Posted 06/17/2025 | Existing vegetation mapping provides basic information on the current condition of vegetation structure and composition. Beginning in 2004 the Southwestern Region developed Mid-Scale Existing Vegetation Mapping on all National Forests and Grasslands (Mellin et al. 2008). The Southwestern Region collaborated with OSU’s Institute of Natural Resources to develop new mid-scale mapping with the INREV project. Mid-scale mapping is compliant with agency technical guidance for existing vegetation (Brohman and Bryant 2005, Nelson et al. 2015). For business needs of natural resource organizations, existing vegetation mapping represents an important component in an overall inventory, monitoring, and analysis framework. Update July 2023. Updated to fix errors in Tree Density and Bacal Area attributes. 6/17/2025. |
Mid-Scale Existing Vegetation Canopy Cover Map Units
Posted 09/09/2019 | Canopy cover map units of trees for tree life form polygons or shrubs for shrub life form polygons. The Southwestern Region existing vegetation mapping program (R3-EVP) is intended to meet the needs of forest plan revisions, national fire planning, and other landscape-level analyses by providing a consistent, region-wide dataset that depicts existing vegetation at the mid-scale level. |
Mid-Scale Existing Vegetation Dominance Type Map Units
Posted 07/09/2020 | Polygons of dominance type in the map units. Dominance types are defined by the species or genera of greatest abundance, usually of the uppermost canopy of the plant community. The Southwestern Region existing vegetation mapping program (R3-EVP) is intended to meet the needs of forest plan revisions, national fire planning, and other landscape-level analyses by providing a consistent, region-wide dataset that depicts existing vegetation at the mid-scale level. |
Mid-Scale Existing Vegetation Life Form
Posted 07/06/2020 | Polygons representing the dominant life form. The Southwestern Region existing vegetation mapping program (R3-EVP) is intended to meet the needs of forest plan revisions, national fire planning, and other landscape-level analyses by providing a consistent, region-wide dataset that depicts existing vegetation at the mid-scale level. |
Mid-Scale Existing Vegetation Size Map Units
Posted 01/06/2026 | Diameter class map unit of dominant trees for tree life form polygons or shrub height class for shrub life form polygons. The Southwestern Region existing vegetation mapping program (R3-EVP) is intended to meet the needs of forest plan revisions, national fire planning, and other landscape-level analyses by providing a consistent, region-wide dataset that depicts existing vegetation at the mid-scale level. |
Riparian Existing Vegetation​ (REV)
Posted 06/02/2025 | This feature class contains attribute information from four different vegetation maps (Lifeform Type, Leaf Retention Type, Canopy Cover, and Size Class) and statistics on NDVI and lidar. For this project canopy height and cover data were derived from lidar data found within the Prescott National Forest and used in mapping tree size. The lidar and other predictor variables from imagery were used to segment the study area into objects with similar characteristics for use in vegetation mapping. Vegetation mapping attributes were then added to each segment as classified by Random Decision Forest classifier. A 20 meter buffer from the RMAP boundary was created as a study area. Two final products are presented, this product that has been clipped to the RMAP boundary with map features designed to meet a minimum size of .25 hectares and a second that includes the 20 meter buffer and has no minimum map unit. Project Reports: 2025 Update |
Riparian Potential Vegetation​
Posted 03/11/2019 | Riparian Potential Vegetation - Potential Riparian plant communities across Forests and Grasslands of the US Forest Service Southwestern Region. Riparian Potential Vegetation is derived from the Ecological Response Units (ERUs) layer. Ecological Response Units (ERUs) facilitate landscape analyses and planning. The framework represents all major ecosystem types of the southwest region, and represents a stratification of biophysical themes. ERUs are used to define historic/reference conditions within a mapping unit by integrating site potential (soil physical and chemical properties, geology, geomorphology, aspect, slope, climate variables, and geographic location), fire regime (historic and contemporary), neighboring vegetation communities, and serial state sequence. |