(Note:  Please read all the language reengineering in this article; consider the 'visionary' thinking and what the land 'may' have looked like; the places described are beautiful today, and are also productive and conducive to the human 'quality of life!') From the Nature Conservancy Portfolio Site: Conserving Landscapes in the 21st Century   Ohio's Ecoregions - Chapter Completes Ecoregional Plan for Western Allegheny Plateau Long before humans drew lines on a map, mother nature established natural boundaries based on climate, vegetation and geological features. The resulting natural regions - or ecoregions - stretch for vast distances across state and international lines. In 1996, The Nature Conservancy adopted an ecoregional approach to conservation. This means that the Conservancy identified ecoregional planning units in the United States and internationally, and set about developing ecoregional plans, or conservation "blueprints." Using these blueprints, the Conservancy is working at larger scales with partners, across the "lines on a map" to preserve the patterns and processes that the entire web of life needs to flourish. With this approach, we stand a much greater chance of preserving the most important habitats and ensuring the long-term survival of plants and animals. There are 64 different ecoregions in the continental United States. Four of them cover parts of Ohio: the Great Lakes, North Central Till Plain, Interior Low Plateau, and Western Allegheny Plateau. These ecoregions also touch six other states and Canada. Western Allegheny Plateau Description The Western Allegheny Plateau is a remnant of what the New World once looked like. It is 26.7 million acres in a region that encompasses most of eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, western West Virginia, and parts of western New York and northeastern Kentucky. Just 12,000 years ago, the retreat of Ice Age glaciers revolutionized this vast landscape, leaving rounded hills, ridges and broad valleys in the northern glaciated region. Natural lakes, fens, bogs and marshes abound in this landscape. Further south, the unglaciated region is characterized by high hills, sharp ridges, and narrow valleys. Here large tracts of forest dot the region and numerous rivers and streams make their way to the Ohio River. Although the bison, elk, mountain lion, and timber wolf that once roamed the landscape are gone, much remains. Birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, mussels, and occasional black bear and bobcat still inhabit the region, along with magnificent vegetation that blankets the landscape. This is the lifeblood of the Western Allegheny Plateau ecoregion, providing critical habitat for a diversity of plants, animals and natural communities. Creating the Ecoregional Plan The Ohio Chapter led the efforts to develop the ecoregional plan for the Western Allegheny Plateau with funding from the George Gund Foundation. A science team of Nature Conservancy staff and other conservation partners was formed to guide the planning process. The team identified conservation targets (including all native plant communities, globally rare species, and declining bird species), set conservation goals, reviewed data, identified sites for possible inclusion in the portfolio, and conducted a threats assessment of the sites. The number of conservation targets to be protected were selected based on their range-wide distribution and their distribution within the Western Allegheny Plateau. An attempt was made to select targets across the ecoregion so that the sites include the range of genetic variation and minimize the targets' susceptibility to large scale disturbances which could eliminate all targets simultaneously. There were four filters used to aid in portfolio site selection: 1) plant community data, 2) important aquatic areas, 3) important bird areas, and 4) best occurrence of a plant community or a globally rare species. Selected sites met the following criteria: they either contained two filters, or one filter and a best occurrence of a target species or community, or best occurrence of several targets. Ecoregional Plan Contents Thirty-four sites totaling 6.4 million acres were selected as portfolio sites. Currently eighteen percent of this land is under public ownership. These 34 portfolio sites include 16 important aquatic areas, 25 important bird areas, 10 large forested roadless areas, 166 best occurrences for target species and communities, and 259 viable target species and communities. The design team then prioritized the portfolio sites for implementing conservation. Six landscape-scale sites were selected as high priority sites where conservation action will be implemented in the next 5-10 years - the Elk River; French Creek; Grand River/Pymatuning Creek; Killbuck Creek/Kokosing River/Walhonding River; Little Kanawah River; and Scioto Brush Creek/Shawnee State Forest. Together these sites total 4.3 million acres and include 9 important aquatic areas, 12 important bird areas, 5 large forested roadless areas, and 69 best occurrences for target species. Currently five percent of this land is under public ownership. Threats & Strategies Today, the beauty and diversity of this ecoregion is impacted by agriculture, logging, mining, and urban development, all of which threaten the long-term integrity of the area. Strategies are needed to help protect and restore this region's forests, wetlands, and riverine systems which have sustained both wildlife and humans for thousands of years. Because these portfolio sites cross political boundaries, share common threats, and need common management, the implementation of ecoregional conservation compels The Nature Conservancy to reach out to like-minded partners, leveraging more efficient and effective biodiversity protection. By working with other Conservancy chapters and a wide range of conservation partners, from landowners to local governments, and by sharing resources and expertise, we can effectively mitigate the threats to the landscape. Ecoregional conservation will help us safeguard what is left. It's an approach that will help the Conservancy, its partners and people on the land make a real difference in protecting biodiversity for the generations of  the21st century and beyond. http://nature.org/states/ohio/resources/art2902.html