Natural areas of land under distinct protective or potentially protective management are referred to as Managed Areas. A Managed Area is usually under some formal or legal level of protection and may be managed in accordance with some unified set of management plans. Managed Areas may be established through legislative actions or administrative orders to protect natural areas. They may also be established as the practical outcome of projects to protect formally designed Sites.
A Managed Area is defined by its management (not by its ownership), and has legal boundaries defined by component Tracts; it is distinct from a Site whose boundaries are ecologically determined. A record should not be created for a Managed Area until it has been formally established. Until then, any information concerning the prospect of a future Managed Area should be entered in a Site record.
A Managed Area may be divided into units with special management requirements (e.g., a Ranger District, a Research Natural Area in a National Forest). In such cases, a Managed Area record should be created for each unit, and the unit record should indicate that it occurs within a larger Managed Area (i.e., a major Managed Area).