Chapter 6 Conservation Goals and Priorities
This first modeling tool was developed through a partnership between the NCWRC and the Biodiversity and Spatial Information Center (BaSIC) at NC State University (NCSU). The BaSIC is a collaborative effort funded by the USGS and NCSU Southeast Climate Science Center to simulate future patterns of urban growth across a nine-state region over the next several decades. The DSTs used GIS modeling to analyze spatial data about species ranges and land cover, with the results linked to conservation action priorities outlined in the NC SWAP. A synopsis of the method used to develop the tool and a summary of how to interpret the model results were included in Appendix Q of the 2020 Addendum 1. The 2015 COA tool was archived in 2024 and is no longer available online. However, the COAs identified by the tool were converted to ArcGIS shapefiles and are available for download from the NC SWAP website www.ncwildlife.gov/plan. They have been incorporated into the 2025 COA method described in the next section. 6.3.1.2 2025 Conservation Opportunity Areas In early 2024, the NCWRC began working with SECAS to update the process used to identify COAs by using the Conservation Blueprint as the foundation for GIS modeling. Using hubs and corridors from the Blueprint connectivity analysis ensures North Carolina’s 2025 SWAP COAs do not become isolated islands of conservation but instead provide opportunities for species movement. This approach is consistent with methods used by neighboring states, as South Carolina and Georgia are also using the Blueprint connectivity analysis to inform their 2025 SWAP COAs. A detailed methodology can be found in Appendix 6 Reference Document 6-2, and Figure 6. 3.1-1 ( Appendix 6 ) shows the connectivity of North Carolina’s COAs with South Carolina’s and Georgia’s COAs. Descriptions of core elements in the COA analysis are provided below. 6.3.1.2.1 Intact Habitat Cores Intact Habitat Cores (cores) is a dataset created by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) to support its Green Infrastructure Initiative. The modeled data represents minimally disturbed natural areas at least 100 acres in size and greater than 200 meters wide (ESRI 2025) . The cores are modeled using 2011 National Land Cover Data and populated with numerous attributes, including number of endemic species, priority index areas, and unique ecological systems as examples (ESRI 2025) . Associating species observation data with intact habitat cores serves to generalize point locations to avoid sharing sensitive data; highlights the habitat patches that support observed species to better identify broad focus areas; and mitigate the influence of older data by focusing on relatively unaltered areas where species are more likely to persist. Based on the 2025 COA analysis, there are 2,953 individual intact habitat cores that are at least 100 acres and contain at least one SGCN observation (plants or animals). Many of these individual cores are adjacent to, or near, one another. There are 8.76 million acres of cores with
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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