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.
Successful conservation planning processes are typically interactive and inclusive of multiple stakeholders and local expert inputs. These steps are critical to the transparency and adoption of models produced by the planning exercise. This process includes generating actual conservation targets with discrete goals that are important to regional cooperators (such as the Appalachian LCC Steering Committee).
The report begins with an executive summary and management recommendations that detail the major findings and conclusion that came out of this research. The report then digs into more detailed information about the research, which can be found within the sections of background, process of assembling and interacting with technical teams for priority resource selection, priority resources used for conservation planning, modeling outputs, framework for cultural resource mapping, and conclusion.
