Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy

Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy
Name	Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy
Type	Regional conservation and climate adaptation plan
Region	Southeastern United States
Established	2013
Partners	South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative; Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy partners

Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy is a regional initiative designed to align conservation planning with projected climate change impacts across the southeastern United States. It synthesizes scientific assessments, prioritizes vulnerable Everglades, Okefenokee Swamp, Apalachicola River, and coastal systems, and coordinates actions among federal agencies such as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Geological Survey. The strategy builds on collaborations with non‑governmental organizations including the The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, and World Wildlife Fund to integrate landscape conservation, wildlife management, and coastal resilience.

Background and Objectives

The initiative emerged from partnerships among the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability, and the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy stakeholders to address vulnerabilities identified after events like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and multiyear droughts affecting the Mississippi River Delta and Florida Keys. Primary objectives include conserving biodiversity hotspots such as the Appalachian Mountains, restoring aquatic connectivity in basins like the Chattahoochee River, enhancing resilience of coastal habitats along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, and informing management under statutes including the Endangered Species Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Geographic Scope and Ecosystems Covered

Geographic scope spans multiple states including Florida, Georgia (U.S. state), Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, encompassing ecoregions such as the Southeastern mixed forests, Piney Woods, Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Barrier islands off North Carolina. Ecosystems prioritized include tidal marshes of the Chesapeake Bay watershed influence zone, cypress swamps of the Okefenokee Swamp, longleaf pine savannas linked to Conecuh National Forest, freshwater springs like those in Ichetucknee Springs State Park, and estuaries such as Apalachicola Bay critical for species managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Threat Assessment and Climate Projections

Threat assessment integrates downscaled projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, sea level rise estimates from NOAA tide gauges, and temperature trends from NASA and National Climatic Data Center records. Modeled impacts include increased hurricane intensity as observed with Hurricane Michael, saltwater intrusion affecting the Florida Everglades, altered fire regimes in Savannah National Wildlife Refuge and shifts in species distributions documented for Red-cockaded woodpecker and Gopher tortoise. The assessment cross-references findings from the U.S. Global Change Research Program and regional vulnerability analyses conducted by the Southeast Climate Science Center.

Conservation and Adaptation Actions

Actions combine habitat restoration, managed retreat, and assisted migration informed by prior work in the Santee Basin and restoration programs such as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Typical measures include restoring hydrologic regimes in the Okefenokee Swamp, reestablishing longleaf pine through collaborations with the U.S. Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service, creating living shorelines following techniques used in Chesapeake Bay Program projects, and establishing corridors connecting reserves like Great Smoky Mountains National Park to lower elevation refugia. The strategy also recommends implementation of conservation easements with partners such as Land Trust Alliance and deploying decision-support tools developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and USGS.

Implementation Framework and Governance

Governance is coordinated via a consortium model involving federal agencies (USFWS, NOAA, USGS), state agencies such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Georgia Department of Natural Resources, tribal governments including Seminole Tribe of Florida and Chickasaw Nation when relevant, and conservation NGOs like The Nature Conservancy and Sierra Club. The framework employs memoranda of understanding patterned on agreements used in the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative and leverages policy mechanisms under the National Environmental Policy Act for project permitting. Regional working groups mirror the structure of the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy implementation teams.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Adaptive Management

Monitoring protocols draw from established programs such as the Long Term Ecological Research Network, National Estuarine Research Reserve System, and bird monitoring by the Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Performance indicators track metrics used in State Wildlife Action Plans and fisheries metrics under NOAA Fisheries stock assessments. Adaptive management cycles use scenario planning approaches promoted by the U.S. Geological Survey and iterative evaluation methods applied in Everglades Restoration projects to recalibrate actions based on outcomes, new climate model outputs, and stakeholder feedback.

Stakeholder Engagement and Funding Sources

Stakeholders include federal partners (USFWS, NOAA), state agencies (Florida Department of Environmental Protection), academic institutions like University of Florida and Duke University, tribal nations, local governments including Miami-Dade County, and NGOs (The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society). Funding sources combine federal appropriations from agencies such as Department of the Interior and National Science Foundation, competitive grants from foundations like Kresge Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation used historically for resilience, mitigation funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and private philanthropy and mitigation banking investments. Collaborative funding models emulate initiatives supported by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and state resilience bonds.

Category:Conservation in the United States Category:Climate change adaptation