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Data Access: The Appalachian NatureScape study identified five highly essential conservation design elements; regional cores, local cores, regional connectors, local connectors, and other important areas.

Maps & Data: Well-connected landscapes are necessary to sustain many of the natural and cultural resources important to the Appalachian region today and into the future. If these landscapes are to endure and be resilient to impending environmental changes, it will require a collaborative effort involving many organizations and reaching across jurisdictional and political boundaries. Conservation planning - a process of spatially identifying and prioritizing lands and waters important for functioning ecosystems and biodiversity - is well suited to address the many large-scale biodiversity challenges facing the region and lead to conservation outcomes that link pristine and natural lands into an interconnected landscape for plants, animals, and humans.

Process: Key steps in developing this collaborative conservation design and applying it to inform decision making.

NatureScape Process: Key steps in developing this collaborative conservation design and applying it to inform decision making.

Conservation Planning and Design Report: Conservation planning is concerned with spatially identifying and prioritizing lands and waters important for functioning ecosystems and biodiversity. It is a science utilizing geographic information systems and large datasets to generate scenario-based maps of conservation potential. These scenarios can balance social, economic, and regulatory constraints with processes that occur over time and space. The planning process itself, as well as final products, helps practitioners prioritize where and when to take conservation action.

Technical Resources: The Appalachian LCC is dedicated to building capacity for using tools and other technical resources to aid in landscape conservation. By providing valuable training, the Appalachian LCC is working to integrate emerging science and decision support tools at multiple scales. This ensures resources are used in the most efficient manner possible to conserve landscapes capable of supporting self-sustaining populations of fish and wildlife.

Phase 2 Consultations: The Appalachian LCC enhanced our NatureScape Conservation Design through consultations with experts to refine elements of the initial products from the effort, as well as delve further into themes regarding aquatic integrity, biota, ecosystems, and representative databases of the region. Experts helped the LCC identify appropriate frameworks for assessing aquatic integrity, as well as conservation targets and threats to aquatic ecosystems.

NatureScape Map: Map shows integration of key aquatic connectivity areas with terrestrial significant habitats throughout the Appalachians to guide conservation planning and decision making.

NatureScape Map: Map shows integration of key aquatic connectivity areas with terrestrial significant habitats throughout the Appalachians to guide conservation planning and decision making.

CumberlandRiverBasin.org: The Cumberland River Compact and The Nature Conservancy of TN have launched two new resources to help partner's achieve their goals and connect basin professionals and residents with available resources.

A National Experiment in Manager-Scientist Partnerships to Apply an Adaptation Framework: Forest managers across the U.S. are faced with implementing adaptation strategies in the face of severe droughts, wildfires, and other climate-related impacts.

NatureServe Enhances LandScope Chesapeake Conservation Tool with New Data and Content: With support from the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC), NatureServe recently completed a project to expand LandScope Chesapeake, a web-based mapping platform designed to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Welcome Aboard: Greg Sheehan Appointed as FWS Deputy Director: Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced on June 5 that Greg Sheehan, Director of Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources, has been appointed to serve as Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Synthesis of Appalachian Fire History Webinar: Join us for a presentation from Charles LaFon (Texas A&M University) on how fires shaped Appalachian forests before the fire exclusion era.