The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. As of 31 January 2008 (2008 -01-31), according to the United Nations Environment Programme, the U.S. had a total of 6,770 terrestrial nationally designated (federal) protected areas. These protected areas cover 2,607,131 km2 (1,006,619 sq mi), or 27.08 percent of the land area of the United States. This is also one-tenth of the protected land area of the world. The U.S. also had a total of 787 National Marine Protected Areas, covering an additional 627,830 km2 (242,410 sq mi), or 67 percent of the total marine area of the United States. In addition, the World Commission on Protected Areas' 2009 database has over 10,480 protected areas listed for the U.S., including the state level protected areas.
Some areas are managed in concert between levels of government. The Father Marquette National Memorial is an example of a federal park operated by a state park system, while Kal-Haven Trail is an example of a state park operated by county-level government.
Read more about Protected Areas Of The United States: Federal Level Protected Areas, State Level Protected Areas, Local Level Protected Areas
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