Chapter 4 Habitats
Section 4.5 discusses the 17 river basins as defined in NC Statutes and provides priority conservation recommendations appropriate for statewide implementation as well as priorities for each specific basin.
• Table 4 .1-4 (Appendix 4) provides a list of the 17 river basins and identifies which ecoregions of the state they cross.
4.1.2 Natural Community Priorities The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission’s (NCWRC) land acquisition objectives include consideration for protecting important aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Other objectives include expanding and connecting game lands and land conservation areas; providing the public with opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, and other recreation activities; and protecting wildlife migration corridors and providing connectivity between priority habitats. These and other objectives are outlined in the NCWRC’s Phase I Land Acquisition Investigation Form used to evaluate potential land acquisition sites. The NC Division of Coastal Management (NCDCM) manages the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP), which is a federal funding program that helps protect important coastal and estuarine lands (NCDCM 2007) . In North Carolina, the CELCP Plan identifies coastal and estuarine areas in the 20 coastal counties that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical, or aesthetic values, or that are threatened by conversion from their natural or recreational state to other uses. Priority is given to lands that can be effectively managed and protected and that have significant ecological value. The CELCP Plan identifies wetlands, coastal forests, working lands (agriculture and forestry), waterfront lands (barrier islands, riparian lands), island ecosystems (including beach and dune systems), floodplains and riparian zones, wildlife preserves and game lands, trails and greenways, cultural and historic sites, and marl outcrops as priority areas for conservation. Many of the state’s natural community types cover large areas and are well represented, while others cover less area and may be more at risk from loss of biodiversity when considering local and regional threats (i.e., land use change, development). Given the richness of their biodiversity, the ecosystem services they support, and the benefits they provide to wildlife (including SGCN and other priority species), certain natural community types are of higher priority for land conservation action because they are more imperiled (NCWRC 2012) . These priority habitats are identified in Table 4 .1 -4.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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