Wildlands Network Design - Core Wildlands and High Biological Significance Lands

This Wildlands Network Design establishes the location and extent of existing core protected areas, proposed core areas, and areas of high biological significance. Core protected areas are highly-irreplaceable areas of concentrated conservation value and are therefore intended to be managed with biodiversity values as the primary objective. Areas of high biological significance (HBS) are lands that we have identified as having significant conservation value based on the analysis. In general, these areas had somewhat lower conservation value at a regional scale than either existing or proposed core areas, although they are vital to achieving overall conservation goals. Additional study will be needed to determine the precise conservation designation for these lands. Wildlife linkages have been included in the HBS category.

To establish the location and extent of the network design elements, we used three major sources of information:

The total proposed network would encompass 181,519 km2 (44,835,112 acres) or about 47% of the Greater Northern Appalachian region. All existing core protected areas, currently 24,661 km2 (6,091,267 acres; 6.4% of the region), are captured in the proposed network.

An additional 42,053 km2 (10,387,010 acres) in proposed core areas are identified (10.6 % of the region), along with an additional 114,805 km2 (28,356,835 acres) of lands of high biological significance (29.5% of the region). Of the total proposed network, about 14% is in existing core protected areas, 23% is in proposed core areas and the remaining 63% is in high biological significance lands. About 33% (60,235 km2 or 14,878,045 acres) of the proposed network is in status/gap 3 or Public/Crown lands, and about 53% (96,623 km2 or 23,865,800 acres) remains privately held and subject to potential development.

When implemented over the course of many years, the wildlands network design for the Greater Northern Appalachians should contribute to the protection and restoration of ecological integrity in the region. The strength of this design is its capacity to identify the major terrestrial conservation "nodes" in this region and the potential linkages among them.

From a regional perspective, 13 high-priority conservation areas are identified, including the Gaspe Peninsula, northern and western Maine, the Chignecto Isthmus of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the southern Lake Champlain valley, and the Green Mountains (Vermont)/Sutton Mountains (Quebec) region.
The current analysis demonstrates that even smaller-scale threats can have a broader regional effect. By providing a big picture overview, this study aims to help focus conservation efforts on the places and issues, at various scales, with the greatest conservation need. While this network design should be seen as a living document, to be refined as new data and resources become available, it does provide insights into the major regional patterns of high terrestrial conservation value and landscape linkages. Regardless of future adjustments, it is unlikely that concentrated areas of the most highly-irreplaceable conservation features at the regional scale identified through this analysis will vary significantly.

Read the Full Report:
Reining, C., K. Beazley, P. Doran and C. Bettigole. 2006. From the Adirondacks to Acadia: A Wildlands Network Design for the Greater Northern Appalachians. Wildlands Project Special Paper No. 7. Richmond, VT: Wildlands Project. 58 pp.