Groundcheck now checks whether a property overlaps mapped public land ownership. The new screen uses fee-ownership records from the U.S. Geological Survey's Protected Areas Database of the United States, or PAD-US, and keeps ownership separate from broader park, proclamation, and planning boundaries.
That distinction matters because a parcel can sit inside a national park's authorized boundary while remaining privately owned. The reverse problem is just as important: a listing or parcel map may not make a government ownership record obvious before you spend time on design, financing, or acquisition.
What Groundcheck checks
Groundcheck queries the live PAD-US 4.1 Fee Managers feature service for federal, state, regional, local, and territorial government fee ownership. It intentionally excludes tribal land, nonprofit and private conservation property, easements, and designation or proclamation-only records so those different interests are not mislabeled as public ownership.
For a saved parcel boundary, Groundcheck estimates the percentage and acreage that overlap the returned public-land polygons and shows those polygons on the finding map. If only a property point is available, it runs a clearly labeled approximate check within 30 meters instead of claiming an exact parcel result.
Why public ownership matters early
A material match can indicate that all or part of the parcel is owned by a federal, state, or local government. That can change whether the property is transferable, where a private boundary actually lies, whether access is permitted, and whether the parcel record you started with needs immediate title research.
Groundcheck shows the available owner, manager, unit or designation name, public-access status, source date, and estimated parcel overlap. A national park, national forest, state park, municipal open-space parcel, military property, or water-district holding can therefore appear with more useful context than a simple yes-or-no boundary hit.
- Compare the mapped overlap with the parcel boundary and likely project area.
- Confirm the owner and legal description in recorded land records.
- Contact the named agency or manager about boundary and access questions.
- Do not assume government-owned land is open to public entry.
How Groundcheck treats the result
A material parcel overlap receives high concern because a possible ownership conflict should be resolved before development assumptions move forward. A very small edge intersection receives moderate concern because public datasets and parcel boundaries can contain topology differences. A point-only match also stays moderate because it is approximate.
No match receives low concern, but not a guarantee of private ownership. USGS describes PAD-US as including all federal and most state and local lands, and the completeness and source date of local ownership records vary by jurisdiction.
What this layer cannot prove
PAD-US 4.1 was released in March 2025, but individual records can be older and the live service may be updated independently. The database is a national screening inventory, not a title report, legal boundary survey, or statement of current public access.
Use the result to identify an ownership question early. Recorded deeds, plats, surveys, title work, and confirmation from the responsible agency remain the sources to rely on for a transaction or development decision.
Use the new layer
Check the property you are considering
Groundcheck combines this source with parcel details and other available national, state, and local layers.
Start a property check See every Groundcheck data layerGroundcheck provides early public data screening, not a legal, engineering, surveying, environmental, planning, permitting, or buildability determination. Verify important findings with the responsible agencies and qualified professionals.