Assessing the landscape context and conversion risk of protected areas using satellite data products Leona K. Svancara a, ⁎, J. Michael Scott b , Thomas R. Loveland c , Anna B. Pidgorna d a University of Idaho, Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game,121 Sweet Avenue, Moscow, ID, USA b U.S. Geological Survey and University of Idaho, Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 975 W. 6th Street, Moscow, ID, USA c U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Data Center, 47914 252nd Street, Sioux Falls, SD, USA d University of Idaho, Environmental Science Program, Moscow, ID, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 30 November 2007 Received in revised 24 November 2008 Accepted 26 November 2008 Keywords: Conversion Landscape context Land cover Parks Refuges Satellite data products Risk National Park Service National Wildlife Refuge System U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Since the establishment of the first national park (Yellowstone National Park in 1872) and the first wildlife refuge (Pelican Island in 1903), dramatic changes have occurred in both ecological and cultural landscapes across the U.S. The ability of these protected areas to maintain current levels of biodiversity depend, at least in part, on the integrity of the surrounding landscape. Our objective was to quantify and compare the extent and pattern of natural land cover, risk of conversion, and relationships with demographic and economic variables in counties near National Park Service units and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges with those counties distant from either type of protected area in the coterminous United States. Our results indicate that landscapes in counties within 10 km of both parks and refuges and those within 10 km of just parks were more natural, more intact, and more protected than those in counties within 10 km of just refuges and counties greater than 10 km from either protected area system. However, they also had greater human population density and change in population, indicating potential conversion risk since the percent of landscape protected averaged b 5% in both groups and human population dynamics are primary drivers of change in many landscapes. Conversion outweighed protection by at least two times (Conservation Risk Index N 2) in 76% of counties near both parks and refuges, 81% of counties near just parks, 91% of counties near just refuges, and 93% of distant counties. Thirteen percent of counties in the coterminous U.S. had moderate to high amounts of natural land cover (N 60%), low protection (b 20%), and the greatest change in population (N 20%). Although these areas are not the most critically endangered, they represent the greatest conservation opportunity, need, and urgency. Our approach is based on national level metrics that are simple, general, informative, and can be understood by broad audiences and by policy makers and managers to assess the health of lands surrounding parks and refuges. Regular monitoring of these metrics with satellite data products in counties surrounding protected areas provides a consistent, national level assessment of management opportunities and potentially adverse changes on adjacent lands. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Forty plus years ago they were emphasized as islands, isolated from surrounding natural and cultural landscapes (Udall, 1962). Today, they form the core of our country's natural resources portfolio and play an integral part in the social, economic, and cultural sectors of surrounding communities. They are protected areas, increasingly recognized and embraced as part of the regions in which they occur (Zube, 1995), and increasingly isolated ecologically. Established in 1916, the National Park Service (NPS) was directed to conserve natural and historical resources within the park system and manage so to “…leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” At the time, the majority of parks were in the western U.S. on essentially uninhabited lands and little thought was given to compatible management among parks and surrounding lands. Today, however, this need is recognized as crucial to the effectiveness of parks as conservation areas and the ability of the NPS to manage for the “unimpaired” mission. Concerns over potential external influences date as far back as 1933 (Wright et al., 1933), and management of adjacent lands has been identified as one of, if not the most, serious challenge facing park managers over the last 25 years (Shands, 1979; NPCA, 1979; NPS, 1980; Buechner et al., 1992). In 1963, the National Academy of Sciences Advisory Committee recommended that specific attention should be given to assessing changes in land use, resource use, and economic activities on areas adjacent to national parks that likely affect those parks (Robbins et al., 1963). In 1993, the National Park System Advisory Board recom- mended that “resource management should be addressed in broader context” and specifically recognized the impact of activities outside Remote Sensing of Environment 113 (2009) 1357–1369 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: leonab@uidaho.edu (L.K. Svancara). 0034-4257/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2008.11.015 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Remote Sensing of Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rse