Reference Document 6-2
Appendix 6
• Reclassify the NC SGCN cores raster to assign the same value to all cores with at least 1 species observation, regardless of total species count. We explored using the species totals to inform the COA tiers, but reviewers preferred equally treating all cores with at least 1 SGCN observation. Assign a value of 4 to all cores with at least one SGCN observation. This is the highest value in the COAs. • Convert to raster the NC WRC 2015 SWAP priority aquatic buffers and assign them a value of 4, the highest value in the COAs. • Convert to raster the hubs from the Southeast Blueprint 2024 connectivity analysis and assign all hubs a value of 3. • Assign all corridors from the Southeast Blueprint 2024 connectivity analysis a value of 3. • Assign all priority areas from Southeast Blueprint 2024 a value of 2. Combine Blueprint layers and remove estuarine areas • Combine the reclassified Blueprint hubs, corridors, and priorities produced above using the cell statistics tool with the overlay statistic maximum. • Clip the resulting combined Blueprint layers to the NC boundary. • Convert to raster the NHDPlus medium resolution catchments. • Remove from the combined Blueprint layers all areas outside the NHDplus medium resolution catchments. This is a proxy for ocean and estuarine areas, which are outside the jurisdiction of the NC WRC. Assign the ocean and estuarine areas a value of 0. Add in the habitat cores • Combine the SGCN cores with the combined Blueprint layers produced above using the cell statistics tool with the overlay statistic maximum. • Assign a value of 1 to all remaining areas within the NC boundary that did not receive a score in the steps above. • Export the resulting raster as a .tif. • Add the legend values to the raster as shown below: o 4 = Tier 1: Cores with at least 1 observed SGCN + river buffers from 2015 NC SWAP o 3 = Tier 2: Southeast Blueprint 2024 hubs and corridors not already captured above o 2 = Tier 3: Additional Southeast Blueprint 2024 priorities not already captured above
o 1 = Not identified as a COA o 0 = Estuarine and Ocean area
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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