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The National Park Service (NPS), in conjunction with the Biological Resources Division (BRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has implemented a program to "develop a uniform hierarchical vegetation methodology" at a national level. The program will also create a geographic information system (GIS) database for the parks under its management. The purpose of the data is to document the state of vegetation within the NPS service area during the 1990's, thereby providing a baseline study for further analysis at the Regional or Service-wide level. The vegetation at Mount Rushmore was mapped using 1:16,000 scale U.S. Forest Service Color Aerial Photography acquired August 28, 1993. The mapping classification used two separate classification systems. All natural vegetation used the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) as a base. The vegetation classifcation was created after extensive on site sampling and numerical analysis. The vegetation map units were derived from the vegatation classification. Other non-natural or cultural mapping units used the Anderson Level II classification system. The mapped area includes a buffer around the Memorial boundary.