The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) geospatial dataset is a publicly available resource that provides detailed information on the abundance, characteristics and distribution of America's wetlands. These data support a multitude of applications for users throughout the Nation. Whether it is wetland conservation or restoration, emergency response, species habitat assessment and population modeling, infrastructure and recreation planning, or other types of decision support, NWI data have been a trusted resource for more than 40 years.
NWI Mapper Use Statistics
The Wetlands Mapper is the primary public interface to the NWI geospatial dataset and is designed to deliver easy-to-use, map like views of the Nation's wetland and deepwater resources. It provides an interactive environment for users to view, query and print wetlands data along with other resource information. The Wetlands Mapper is the Nation's go-to resource for wetlands information as supported by the statistics below.
- More than 525,000 Mapper Views annually
- More than 40,000 datasets downloaded annually
- Nearly 260,000 maps printed last year
- More than 270,000 unique users each year
NWI Use Map Gallery
The maps below provide a spatial representation of where users accessed NWI geospatial data throughout the United States and its territories in federal fiscal year 2020. These maps track valuable information on how the public uses NWI wetland data to inform future projects.
Patterns in data can tell interesting stories. View this Story Map that examines the patterns of wetlands maps printed from the Wetlands Mapper.
NWI Analysis Examples
The NWI provides users with a robust and powerful dataset that is used to address questions and support decision-making in various fields of study.See example applications that utilized NWI data, from habitat assessments, to climate and sea level analysis, to energy and development.
NWI Use Library Searches
- ServCat is an online repository for Service documents, reports, management plans and data. Explore more NWI data uses from within the Service.
- WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content containing collections from over 72,000 libraries worldwide. Explore NWI data uses nationwide.
NWI Use in Web Applications
NWI geospatial data can be displayed on other web applications through our online mapping services. Below are some examples of federal and state agencies that consume NWI geospatial data to enhance their own map viewers.
