Maps and Data | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Overview

The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) of 1982 and subsequent amendments established the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System
Learn more about the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System, which was established under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act in 1982.

Learn more about John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). The CBRS consists of relatively undeveloped coastal barriers coastal barriers
Learn more about coastal barrier landforms.

Learn more about coastal barriers and other areas located the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico coasts. The CBRS currently includes 588 System Units, which comprise nearly 1.4 million acres of land and associated aquatic habitat. There are also 282 "Otherwise Protected Areas," a category of coastal barriers that are mostly held for conservation and/or recreation purposes that include an additional 2.1 million acres of land and associated aquatic habitat. The CBRS units are identified and depicted on a series of official maps entitled “John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System.” These maps are controlling and indicate which areas are within the CBRS. The maps are maintained by the Department of the Interior through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A spreadsheet containing metrics on the CBRS (including acreage and shoreline miles) by state is available here.

CBRS Mappers

Official and draft maps can be obtained by opening the mappers below. These mappers are best viewed by maximizing your browser window.

Screen capture of the Coastal Barrier Resource System mapper.

Image Details

Existing Units: CBRS Mapper

Use this mapper to view the existing CBRS units.
Use the "CBRS Validation Tool" in this mapper to produce documentation that indicates whether a location is within or outside of the CBRS.

*Note: Data last modified August 16, 2023

Screen capture of the Coastal Barrier Resource System projects mapper.

Image Details

Draft Revised Units: CBRS Projects Mapper

Use this mapper to view DRAFT revised CBRS units.

*Note: Data last modified August 16, 2023. The revised units depicted in this mapper are not currently effective.

Digital CBRS Boundaries

Geospatial CBRS boundary data is available in a variety of formats (see Accessing CBRS Maps and Digital Data fact sheet). These data are representations of the CBRS boundaries shown on the official CBRS maps referenced in 16 U.S.C. 3503(a). In general, these digital boundaries can be considered accurate to within approximately 20 feet of the actual CBRS boundaries as shown on the official maps. Before using the data, please read the metadata for additional information.

Additionally, because CBRS units extend seaward out to either the 20- or 30-foot bathymetric contour (depending on the location of the unit), the true seaward extent of the units is not shown. The Service is not responsible for any misuse or misinterpretation of this digital data set, including use of the data to determine eligibility for federal funding or financial assistance.

Learn more about obtaining an official determination of whether or not an area or specific property is located within the CBRS.

Learn more about project consultations.

Download Shapefile(s)

The CBRS data are available for download as three separate shapefiles; compressed by using the .zip format. The shapefiles can be viewed using ESRI's free software, among others. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) metadata for the shapefiles are included in the zip file and are also available below. Shapefile users are encouraged to subscribe to the CBRA Listserv to receive notifications when boundary changes are made.

View the user guide for CBRS data to learn about the contents of each shapefile and how to use it.

Download

Metadata

Metadata or "data about data" describes the content, quality, condition, and other characteristics of data. Metadata are used to organize and maintain investments in data, to provide information to data catalogs and clearinghouses, and to aid data transfers. The Federal Geographic Data Committee approved the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata on June 8, 1994. Since that time, many organizations within and outside of the Federal Government have adopted the FGDC metadata standard and are using automated indexing and serving mechanisms to provide access to their holdings through the Internet.

View/download CBRS Metadata file for the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) Polygons:
CBRS-Polygons-Metadata.txt

View/download CBRS Metadata file for the CBRS Prohibitions:
CBRS-Prohibitions-Metadata.txt

View/download CBRS Metadata file for the CBRS Buffer Zone:
CBRS-Buffer-Zone-Metadata.txt

The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) of 1982 and subsequent amendments established the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). The CBRS consists of relatively undeveloped coastal barriers and other areas located the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, U.S. Virgin Islands, and...

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