The Nature Conservancy's Incomplete and ever-expanding List of "Last Great Places"

Subj:   Last Great Places list
Date:   3/19/02
From:   mlipford@tnc.org (Michael Lipford)
CC: mhorak@tnc.org

...list of last great places developed by The Nature Conservancy a couple of years ago. The list is dated but will give you some sense of our last great places focus. 

Many sites have been identified since through our ecoregional planning process as we move toward our goal of developing a blueprint for conservation. 

Sites like Warm Springs Mountain, a recent 9000 acre purchase by Virginia TNC is not on that list, for example, and was identified through our ecoregional planning in the Central Appalachain Ecoregion. 

So the list of last great places is dynamic, not static.

I hope this meets the needs of your request. Best, Michael Lipford

Note:  Below is "the list."  It totals to over 247 "LGPs" and some of these are huge areas, such as the Pocono Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. 

Although the US Fish & Wildlife Service's 'proposed federal wildlife refuge' for my area has been publically withdrawn, please note that the Big Darby area of Ohio has NOT been taken off this Nature Conservancy list!

From the Nature Conservancy: Author, Julian Majot

Title:  THE CAMPAIGN FOR CONSERVATION

The following is a list of priority sites identified through The Campaign for Conservation.  This list is not comprehensive:  The Conservancy's scientific approach to site selection continues to reveal hundreds of priority landscapes worldwide.

~~~Campaign Sites: United States~~~

Alabama

Bibb County Glades
Cahaba River
Grand Bay Savanna (also MS)
Paint Rock River

Alaska

Admiralty Island
Kachemak Bay

Arizona

Lower San Pedro River
Verde River
White Mountains

Arkansas
Big Woods

California

Cosumnes River/Eastern San Diego
Lassen Foothills
Merced Grassland
Mount Hamilton
Sacramento River

Colorado

Aiken Canyon
Arikaree River
Arkansas River Valley
Chico Basin
Lower Purgatorie
Roan Plateau
San Luis Valley
Western High Plains

Connecticut

Berkshires and Taconic Valleys (also MA)
Pachaug Forest
Tidelands of the Connecticut Rivers
Traprock Ridges

Delaware

Delaware Bayshores (also NJ)
Nanticoke River (also MD)

Florida

Apalachicola River Basin
Florida Keys
Lake Wales Ridge
St. Mary's River (also GA)
Upper Kissimmee Valley

Georgia

Altamaha River
Chatahoochie River
Conasauga River
Cumberland Island
Longleaf Pine (also FL)

Hawaii

Hawaiian Forest

Idaho

Owyhee Canyonlands/45 Ranch
Upper Henry's Fork River
Vanishing Rivers

Illinois

The Illinois River Valley
Emiquon
Fox River
Mackinaw River
Spunky Bottoms

Indiana

The Blue River
Kankakee Sands

Iowa

Little Sioux River
Loess Hills
Lower Cedar River

Kansas

Cheyenne Bottoms
Flint Hills
Smoky Valley Ranch
Sunset Prairies

Kentucky

Green River Biosphere (United Nations designation)

Louisiana

Black Bayou
Cat Island
Lafitte Woods/Maritime Island
Persimmon Gully

Maine

Cobscook BayMachias RiverMerrymeeting Bay
Mount Agamenticus
Mt. Washington Valley/Saco River (also NH)
St. John River Project

Maryland

Crescent Preserve
Nanticoke River (also DE)
Nassawango Creek
Sideling Hill Creek

Massachusetts

Berkshires and Taconic Valleys (also CT)
Plymouth Pinelands
Sandplains of the Massachusetts Islands

Michigan

Ives Road Fen
Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Minnesota

Agassiz Beach Ridges
Lake Superior Highlands
Tallgrass Aspen Parkland

Mississippi

Grand Bay Savannah (also AL)
Pascagoula River

Missouri

Dunn Ranch/Pawnee Prairie
Lower Ozarks
Marmaton River Bottoms
Osage Plains/Central Tallgrass
Wah-Kon-Tah Prairie

Montana

Centennial Valley
Montana Glaciated Plains
Rocky Mountain Front

Nebraska

Little Salt Fork Marsh
Middle Niobrara River Valley
Pine Escarpment
Platte River
Rainwater Basin
Rulo Bluffs
Sandhills Lakes and Rivers
Sandsage Prairie

Nevada

Moapa Valley
Stillwater Marsh/Pyramid Lake

New Hampshire

Great Bay Estuary
Mt. Washington Valley/Saco River (also ME)
Ossippee Pine Barrens

New Jersey

Delaware Bayshores (also DE)
New Jersey Pine Barrens
New Jersey Skylands Area

New Mexico

Gila River
Mimbres River
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge

New York

Adirondacks
Alvar Landscapes
Atlantic Beaches and Bays (Long Island)
Eastern Shore of Lake Ontario
French Creek
Neversink River
Peconic (Eastern Long Island)
Shawangunk Mountains
Southern Lake Champlain (also VT)
Tug Hill Plateau

North Carolina

Amphilobite Mountains (Long Hope Valley)
Blue Ridge/Jocassee Gorges (also SC)
Hickorynut Gorge
Lower Cape Fear River
Roanoke River & Albermarle
Sandhills Longleaf Pine
South Mountains
Southeast Brunswick
Upper Tar River

North Dakota

Cheyenne Delta
Missouri Couteau/Sheridan Prairie

Ohio

Big Darby
Edge of Appalachia
Northeast Ohio Project
Oak Openings

Oklahoma

J. T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve
Cucumber Creek

Oregon

Agate Desert-Rogue River Foothills
Sycan Marsh
Upper Klamath Basin Wetlands
Williamson River Delta

Pennsylvania

Poconos
West Branch Wilderness

Rhode Island

Block Island
Pawcatuck Landscape
Quicksand Pond/Goosewing

South Carolina

A.C.E. Basin
Blue Ridge/Jocassee Gorges (also NC)
Carolina Sandhills
Sewee to Santee
South Lowcountry
Southern Blue Ridge
Turkey Creek
Winyah Bay Bioreserve (United Nations designation)

South Dakota

Cascade Creek/Cheyenne River Canyon
Crystal Springs Prairie
Northern Hills Spring Creek (also WY)

Tennessee

Clinch Valley (also VA)
Cumberland Plateau Landscape
Duck River
Hatchie River
Shady Valley

Texas
Chihauhau Woods
Clymer Meadow
Davis Mountains
East Texas Pineywoods
Edwards Aquifer
Laguna Madre (also MX)
Lower Rio Grande Valley
Tallgrass Coastal Prairie
West Galveston Project

Utah

Bar J Ranch Macrosite
Dugout Ranch
Great Salt Lake

Vermont

Southern Lake Champlain (also NY)

Virginia

Chowan Basin
Clinch Valley (also TN)
Green Sea Wetlands
N. Landing River, NW River
Piney Grove, Zuni Barrens
Virginia Coast Reserve

Washington

Columbia River Shrub Steppe
Ellsworth Creek
Greater Skagit Delta
Moses/Beezley

Wisconsin

Mukwango River Project/Lulu Lake

West Virginia

Canaan Valley/Dolly Sods
Cheat Mountain/Shavers Fork
Smoke Hole/North Fork Mountain

Wyoming

Big Horn Mountains
Cheyenne River Canyons
Greater Yellowstone
Northern Hills Spring Creeks (also SD)

Malpai Borderlands Project - AZ/NM border

Northeast Woods Project - Northern New England, mostly Maine

Palmyra - The Pacific Ocean - an atoll in US territory

THE CAMPAIGN FOR CONSERVATION

~~~International Campaign Sites~~~

Asia/Pacific Region

Josephstaal, Papua New Guinea
Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea
Komodo National Park, Indonesia
Lore Lindu National Park, Indonesia
Republic of Palau
Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Southern Choiseul/Northern Isabel, Solomon Islands
Yunnan Great Rivers, China

Canada

Dorechester Cape, Canada
Fishing Branch River, Canada
Manitoulin Island, Ontario
Tallgrass Prairie, Manitoba, Canada

Latin America/Caribbean Region

Andean/Southern Cone
Canaima National Park, Venezuela
Condor Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador
Defensores de Chaco, Paraguay
Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, Bolivia
Galapagos Marine Reserve, Ecuador
Nevados de Chillan, Chile
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia
Pacaya-Samiria, Peru
Paracas National Reserve, Peru
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
Tariquia National Park, Bolivia

Caribbean

Blue Mountain/John Crow Corridor, Jamaica
Exumas Land and Sea Parks, Bahamas
Madre de las Aguas, Dominican Republic
Magens Bay, Virgin Islands
Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica
Parque del Este, Dominican Republic
St. Croix Marine Bioreserve (United Nations designation), Virgin Islands

Brazil

Caatinga, Brazil
Cerrado, Brazil
Guaraquecaba/Atlantic Forest, Brazil
Pantanal, Brazil
Serra do Divisor, Brazil

Central America

Bosawas Natural Resources, Nicaragua
Cerro San Gil Ecological Reserve, Guatemala
Darien Bioreserve (United Nations designation), Panama
Honduran Mosquitia (Rio Platano), Honduras
Maya Forest, Central America/Belize/Mexico
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Sierra de las Minas/ Bocas del Polochic, Guatemala
Talamanca Corridor, Costa Rica

Mexico

Balsas Dry Forest, Mexico
Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve, Mexico
El Triunfo - La Encrucijada, Mexico
Great Maya Reef, Mexico
Laguna Madre (also TX)
Sea of Cortez, Mexico
Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico
Sierra de las Ajos, Mexico