Comparison of marine and terrestrial protected areas under federal jurisdiction in the United States

There is a significant disparity in the protection of terrestrial and marin e environments in the United States. Despite the considerable literature de dicated to the subject of protected areas, both terrestrial and marine, in the United States, we are not aware of work explicitly describing this dich otomy. We compared marine and terrestrial areas under federal jurisdiction to provide a quantitative assessment of the differences between the conserv ation of land and sea in the United States. Specifically, we compared natio nal marine sanctuaries (including sanctuary preservation areas and ecologic al reserves) with national parks, national forests, and national wildlife r efuges (including national wilderness preservation areas). Our results sugg est that marine sanctuaries are fewer in number, smaller in total area, and smaller in percentage of area covered than are terrestrial protected areas .