THE NATURE CONSERVANCY'S CONSERVATION ACTION PLANS FOR THE ST. CROIX BASIN

Kristen Blann
The Nature Conservancy, Cushing MN

The recognition that freshwater ecosystems are among the most important globally threatened habitat types has spurred The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to adopt as a priority the protection and restoration of freshwater habitats and ecosystems. From 2008-2009, The Nature Conservancy developed first iteration Conservation Action Plans (CAPs) for four watersheds in the St. Croix River watershed: the Snake and Kettle River watersheds in Minnesota, and the Upper St. Croix in Wisconsin, and the lower/Middle St. Croix River that forms the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. All four landscapes were identified as areas of biodiversity significance in the Conservancy's Superior Mixed Forest ecoregional plan and the Upper Mississippi River Basin freshwater biodiversity assessment. The CAP process is an iterative landscape-level planning process, rooted in conservation biology, that involves identification and viability assessment of key conservation targets, threat assessment, analysis of strategic actions, and effectiveness monitoring. The goal is to identify and steer conservation actions and resources towards more effective strategies on-the-ground. The poster will summarize and highlight results from the plans as well as present spatial analysis of priority conservation targets.