The purpose of this dataset is to fulfill the public and Government’s need to know which agency is managing Federal land in a given area. For example, there may be a need to know what agency is managing a certain tract of land for the purpose of paying permit fees, obtaining licenses, or becoming informed about current laws, regulations, and restrictions governing access to and use of the land.

This dataset serves as a tool to determine and illustrate the boundaries of a particular Federal agency’s “managing” area and to quantify these areas in terms of geographic acreage. These data are public information and may be used by various organizations, agencies, units of government (i.e., Federal, state, county, and city), and other entities.

The geographic acreages contained in this dataset are not derived from legal documents associated with title documents or survey records. Rather, they are computed by mathematical programs and are described in detail in the supplemental section of the definition document referenced at the end of this section.

The data can be used for small scale (1:24,000 and smaller) analysis and cartographic products.

SMA was originally derived from the land dataset produced by the Arizona State Land Dept (ASLD), and the Arizona Land Resource Information System (ALRIS).

The land dataset was initiated in 1984 and updated in the spring of 1988 by the State Land Department Forestry Division and ALRIS. The data was then projected into ARC/INFO format and edited using the procedures from the ASLD Land Status Map Digitizing Procedure guide. The land dataset covers the entire State of Arizona and includes surface management, public land survey system (PLSS) provided by the Department of Transportation (ADOT), and county and state boundaries.