Data Standards | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses formally adopted data standards to improve data quality and compatibility. Data standards improve our ability to share, exchange, combine and understand data. Learn more about our data standards through the links at the right and our active data standards in the list below.

FWS utilizes NGDC A-16 Datasets in compliance with the Geospatial Data Act (GDA) of 2018 which directs agencies to use existing Federally approved standards.

FWS Approved Data Standards
Standard Title & Description	Standard Type	Validation Date	Maintained By FWS
Standard Title
Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States The Service's definition and classification system provides standardization of concepts and terms used to describe wetland types found in the United States	Classification System	9/4/2015	FWS
Vegetation Classification The National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) is a widely accepted method that establishes taxonomic groupings and methodology for defining spatial extents.	Classification System	1/18/2011
Calendar Year Four-digit numeric code used to represent the year portion of a calendar date (YYYY) ISO 8601 standard	Data Element	11/29/2013
Fire Unit Identifier Unique five- or six-character codes assigned by the Geographic Area Fire Coordination Centers to identify Government organizational units responsible for managing fire-related incidents or projects and providing resources and logistical services to the wildland fire community.	Data Element	9/12/2013
Digital Orthophoto Quad A DOQ is a digital image that has the properties of an orthographic projection, derived from a digitized perspective aerial photograph or other remotely sensed image data by differential rectification so that image displacements caused by camera tilt and terrain relief are removed.	Data Layer	11/29/2013
Ecosystem Unit Boundaries Digital ecosystem information portraying the location and boundaries of the ecosystem units in several file formats.	Data Layer	9/16/2013
Hydrography (DLG) Digital data input by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) depicting streams, rivers, and related types of features.	Data Layer	1/28/2011
Hydrologic Units Digital data containing hydrologic unit codes, the nationally accepted identifiers for watersheds.	Data Layer	1/28/2011
Riparian Areas Data representing reconnaissance level information on the location, type, and size of riparian riparian Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas. Learn more about riparian and wetland habitats.	Data Layer	9/23/2013
Soils Soil information created and maintained by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).	Data Layer	7/30/2014
Transportation (DLG) Data that depicts transportation items such as roads, railroads, and pipelines	Data Layer	1/28/2011
Wetlands Digital wetland maps created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Ecological Services, Branch of Geospatial Mapping and Technical Support, National Wetlands Inventory.	Data Layer	9/4/2015	FWS
Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1 A core set of 15 metadata elements that can be used to describe any type of physical or electronic resource, regardless of the media format, area of specialization, or cultural origin.	Procedure	3/29/2010
Geospatial Metadata Standard Federal agencies shall document all new geospatial data they collect or produce, either directly or indirectly, using the metadata standard developed by the FGDC (Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata, Version 2, FGDC-STD-001-1998).	Procedure	11/29/2013
Congressional District Two-digit numeric codes that represent congressional districts and similar areas defined for the various Congresses of the United States.	Data Element	1/18/2011
County Name Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) names that represent the counties and other entities treated as equivalent legal and/or statistical subdivisions of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the possessions and freely associated areas of the United States.	Data Element	11/29/2013
County Numeric Code Unique three-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) numeric codes that represent the counties and other entities treated as equivalent legal and/or statistical subdivisions of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the possessions and freely associated areas of the United States.	Data Element	11/29/2013
Dun & Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number A unique nine-digit identification sequence assigned by Dun & Bradstreet to identify each distinct physical location/address of a single business entity or organization, as well as each legal division (such as branch, division, and headquarters) that may be co-located.	Data Element	3/31/2004
Ecosystem Unit Name Official names used by the Service to identify the ecosystem unit boundaries of the United States, which are drawn primarily along watershed boundaries.	Data Element	9/16/2013
Ecosystem Unit Number One- and/or two-digit numbers that represent the ecosystem unit boundaries of the United States, which are drawn primarily along watershed boundaries.	Data Element	9/16/2013
Fiscal Year The 12-month financial accounting period for which the Government plans the use of its funds.	Data Element	11/29/2013
Geopolitical Entity Name and Code Full names and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes for representing the basic geopolitical entities (countries, dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty) of the world and their principal administrative divisions.	Data Element	1/18/2011
IFWS Number A unique one- to six-character code assigned by the Washington Office, Division of Realty, to each organizational unit, area, or project site over which the Service has some type of jurisdiction.	Data Element	1/21/2011
International Telephone Number A number assigned to a person or place for the purpose of communicating by telephone in a geographic area that is not part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP).	Data Element	1/18/2011
Latitude and Longitude A numeric description of a real geographic location on the earth's surface, defined by two coordinate values (latitude and longitude) in decimal degree format.	Data Element	11/29/2013
Literal Code Unique alpha codes assigned by the Washington Office, Division of Realty, that identify the organizational units, areas, and project sites on Service-owned lands.	Data Element	1/21/2011
Mailing Address Format of address used by a Service organization for proper delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service.	Data Element	11/29/2013
Office Names and Acronyms Official names and acronyms used to identify Service organizations.	Data Element	9/13/2013
Organization Type Administrative categories that identify Service organizations by their primary facility function, program activities, specialized duties and responsibilities, and/or operational status.	Data Element	9/13/2013
Real Property Number A unique consecutive number, up to a maximum of eight digits, assigned by a unit manager to each building, structure structure Something temporarily or permanently constructed, built, or placed; and constructed of natural or manufactured parts including, but not limited to, a building, shed, cabin, porch, bridge, walkway, stair steps, sign, landing, platform, dock, rack, fence, telecommunication device, antennae, fish cleaning table, satellite dish/mount, or well head. Learn more about structure , or facility owned or leased by the Service, or over which it has primary jurisdiction, in each State where the unit is located.	Data Element	9/13/2013
Region Number Unique one-digit number assigned to regional offices within the Service that have responsibility for program and/or administrative activities within a geographically-defined area.	Data Element	11/29/2013
State Name and Alpha Code Full State names and unique two-letter Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) alphabetic codes for representing the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas.	Data Element	11/29/2013
State Numeric Code Unique two-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) numeric codes for representing the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas.	Data Element	11/29/2013
Telephone Number A ten-digit number assigned to a person or place for the purpose of communicating by telephone in a geographic area that is part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP).	Data Element	11/29/2013
Wind Direction A standard format for the direction from which the wind is blowing.	Data Element	2/14/2011
Wind Speed The Beaufort Wind Force Scale, a scale of wind velocity or force ranging from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane) and used to represent wind speeds for use on land.	Data Element	2/14/2011
Congressional District Digital information input by the Census Bureau depicting the boundaries of the Congressional Districts.	Data Layer	11/29/2013
Critical Habitat Spatial Data Specifications Draft specifications and procedures to standardize the creation, maintenance, and dissemination of Endangered Species Critical Habitat spatial data by the Service.	Data Layer	6/11/2020
Digital Raster Graphic Digital topographic maps created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).	Data Layer	11/29/2013
Habitat Conservation Plan Spatial Data Specifications Draft specifications and procedures to standardize the creation, maintenance, and dissemination of Habitat Conservation Plan spatial data by the Service.	Data Layer	12/8/2016
Hypsography (DLG) Digital maps created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) depicting contour lines including positional accuracy (hypsography) as defined under ASPRS.	Data Layer	1/28/2011
Political Boundaries (DLG) Data that depict political boundaries such as park, towns, counties or states.	Data Layer	1/28/2011
Public Land Survey System; PLSS (DLG) Public land survey information, such as township, range and section locations, often referred to in legal land ownership descriptions in the United States.	Data Layer	1/28/2011
Biological Metadata Standard A common set of terminology and definitions for the documentation of biological data through the creation of extended elements.	Procedure	11/29/2013
Data Exchange Format for Calendar Date Guidance on the data format to be used when calendar date information is exchanged among information systems (MMDDYYYY)	Procedure	3/3/2010
Minimum Web Map Standards for Internet Map Servers (IMS) Applications This standard identifies and defines the required map elements when developing Web Map Applications on USFWS Internet and Intranet sites.	Procedure	2/4/2015
Minimum Discovery-level Metadata Elements Applicable for Service-wide Use Discovery-level metadata allows a resource (any data assets or information resources or projects related to the use or creation of those resources) to be uniquely identified and indexed by various catalogs. Users attempting to locate a resource rely on discovery-level metadata when searching catalog entries, generally assessing if results are appropriate for their purposes, and potentially accessing more details about a resource. Discovery-level metadata may also provide associations between various resources, such as identifying all data that result from a project.	Metadata Standard	9/21/2023	FWS

FWS Approved Data Standards