U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceDefinition This indicator identifies accessibility gaps to green space and outdoor recreation in populated areas relative to demographic and environmental metrics within the Midwest Landscape. It prioritizes areas based on population density, community health, pollution burden, and more. Pixels can take the following values: 1 - Lower park need, not a natural asset 2 - Lower park need, natural assets 3 - Medium park need, not a natural asset 4 - Medium park need, natural assets 5 - High park need, not a natural asset 6 - High park need, natural assets Selection This indicator was chosen as a targetable, important feature of the MLI goals that will be used to track conditions over time and prioritize areas for conservation. Indicators were defined through elicitation and prioritization exercises with federal and state participants. Criteria for the indicators includes 1) actionable, 2) measurable, 3) relevant to multiple groups across the region, and/or 4) representative of other social and/or environmental values. Input Data & Mapping Steps This indicator originates from the Trust for Public Land's ParkServe dataset. To create this layer, MLI partners, members, and staff completed the following mapping steps: projected all input data to NAD83 (2011) UTM Zone 15N, erased existing parks and 10-minute walk service areas from the Park Priorities data, converted the resulting Park Priorities polygons to a 30m raster, and emphasized natural assets within Park Priority areas. The final raster had the following values: 1 - Lower park need, not a natural asset, 2 - Lower park need, natural assets, 3 - Medium park need, not a natural asset, 4 - Medium park need, natural assets, 5 - High park need, not a natural asset, and 6 - High park need, natural assets. Finally, we removed highly altered areas using our Highly Altered Areas Mask. For full mapping details, please refer to the Midwest Conservation Blueprint Development Process . For a complete download of all Blueprint input and output data, visit the Midwest Conservation Blueprint 2026 Data Download.ArcGIS ImageMapLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/4bfd398570b3423aa58743f9f1a8a72cengU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open DataPublicPotential Access to Recreation (Midwest Conservation Blueprint 2026 Indicator) [United States]Web servicesUnited States2026