Natural areas represent a significant resource for many countries. In the U.S. natural areas can be defined as conservation lands set aside for preservation or restoration, such as city or county park, private woods, state or national park, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, or other areas [1,2]. In many cases these areas are utilized for recreation, ecosystem services or other non-agricultural purposes [3,4]. Given this broad definition, natural areas encompass a huge portion of the land mass of the United States and represent incredible biological diversity. According to the U.S. National Vegetation Classification in 2012 there are 8 major classifica‐ tions in the U.S. with 430 groupings and over 6100 associations [5]. Some of the more common ecological communities include deciduous temperate forests, temperate coniferous forests, grasslands, and wetlands such as swamps, tidal marshes, and riparian zones.