SECAS brings together public and private organizations around a bold vision for the future of our region. We're connecting the lands and waters of the Southeast and Caribbean to support healthy ecosystems, thriving fish and wildlife populations, and vibrant communities. With a data-driven spatial plan and an ambitious regional goal, SECAS helps accelerate conservation action in the places where it will make the biggest impact.
From the blog
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SECAS staff are starting to explore improvements to corridors methods in the Southeast Blueprint (version 2025 pictured here). Taking a closer look at corridors in the Southeast Conservation Blueprint
Landscape connectivity and wildlife corridors are emerging as an important topic in conservation. We spend a lot of time talking about the indicator layers that drive the identification of priority areas in the Blueprint, but we don’t always spend as much time sharing information about the corridor analysis that is included in the Blueprint.
As a part of the Blueprint, we include a corridor analysis that covers the 15 states and 2 U.S. Caribbean territories that make up the SECAS region. As with the other parts of the Blueprint, we regularly update the corridor analysis to incorporate new and improved data.
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Rivercane near Tahlequah, OK managed by Roger Cain of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. Indigenous people have had a close relationship with rivercane for countless millennia and have long managed rivercane as part of shaping their homelands. Photo by Jennifer Byram. SECAS steps up efforts to promote rivercane restoration with a new indicator in the Blueprint
For the past few years, SECAS staff have been working to find a way to include river cane within the Southeast Conservation Blueprint. It took a while for us to get here, but through a lot of conversations, the work of our three Fellows (Alyssa Quan, Levi West, and Jennifer Byram), and a lot of help from our partners (especially Roger Cain, Ryan Spring, Michael Fedoroff, and the Rivercane Restoration Alliance) river cane restoration is a part of the Blueprint and our regional strategy for connecting lands and waters.
We still have work to do, but we welcome river cane restoration to our indicator family!
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Reviewing the Southeast Conservation Blueprint, as pictured here at a meeting of the Caribbean Community of Practice in Christiansted, St. Croix, is one of the many ways that members of the conservation community have contributed to its development over the last 10 years. 10 years of the Southeast Conservation Blueprint
As I was looking back on the 2025 Blueprint changelog, I realized that 2025 marked the 10th version of the Southeast Conservation Blueprint. 10 years with a new version of the Blueprint every year. It made me think about all the ways the more than 2,500 people from over 650 different organizations that have actively participated in developing the Southeast Blueprint have shaped its past and future.
If you want a broad overview of how the Blueprint has changed, the website has a nice section on the history of the Blueprint. I was originally going to write about those changes. Then I got to thinking about a key ingredient in the impact of the Blueprint—the people.
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Visit the SECAS blog for a full archive of posts.