Appendix 6
Reference Document 6-2
Summary The Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) is a regional conservation partnership that was started in 2011 by the states of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) and the federal agencies of the Southeast Natural Resource Leaders Group. Governed by an executive-level joint party committee of SEAFWA, SECAS brings together state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, private landowners and businesses, Tribes, partnerships, and universities around a shared vision: a connected network of lands and waters that supports thriving fish and wildlife populations and improved quality of life for people. To achieve this vision, SECAS develops and supports the Southeast Conservation Blueprint, a living spatial plan that identifies priority areas across the Southeast and Caribbean for that connected network of lands and waters. The Blueprint is based on a suite of natural and cultural resource indicators representing terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. It also includes a connectivity analysis that identifies corridors that link coastal and inland areas and span climate gradients. The Blueprint is updated annually to reflect the best available science, changing on-the-ground conditions, and input from partners like the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NC WRC). So far, more than 2,500 people from over 650 different organizations have actively participated in developing the Southeast Blueprint— including more than 30 NC WRC employees. The NC State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) Coordinator requested help from SECAS staff to identify new Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) for the 2025 NC SWAP update. COAs are intended to serve as priority areas for conservation action to sustain Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and as a non-regulatory tool to rally partners around places capable of supporting multiple co-benefits. This document describes the methodology collaboratively developed by SECAS staff and the NC WRC to identify COAs. It is meant to ensure the data and approach are transparent, replicable, and understandable. Overall approach The results of the COA analysis are classified into three tiers of priority based on the known presence of SGCN and established aquatic focus areas, ecological connectivity, and regional conservation priority. In the top tier, this analysis calculates the number of unique plant and animal SGCN observed within cores of intact natural habitat in North Carolina. Associating species observations with intact habitat cores serves to a) generalize point locations to avoid
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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