Map of the Southeast Blueprint in shades of purple with multicolored polygons drawn on top of it, representing spatially explicit workshop comments.
Workshop attendees provided 261 feedback polygons in the workshop feedback tool for Blueprint 2024, in addition to many other great ideas and suggestions!

Earlier this month, SECAS finished up yet another round of workshops to review the Southeast Conservation Blueprint.

First, I want to extend a huge, emphatic “thank you” to the 176 people from 85 different organizations who attended. One of my favorite takeaways from this year’s series is that 86 of those people and 26 of those organizations had never been involved in the Blueprint before! We’re thrilled to have reached so many new folks alongside many long-time partners. Whether you just came to listen to the overview, asked questions, or provided detailed feedback, we are really grateful that you took time away from your busy schedule to make your mark on the Blueprint and share your expertise.

Pie chart of attendees by sector, showing 22% federal, 30% state, 30% nonprofit, 1% Tribal, 1% local, 5% private, 4% academic, and 7% partnership.
Breakdown of 2024 Blueprint workshop attendees by sector.

Another fun fact–with this year’s workshops, the total number of folks involved in the Blueprint since its inception has grown to 2,500 people from 600 organizations. Wow!

We received a wide range of feedback on resources ranging from grasslands to coral to park access. Last week, SECAS staff met in a focused retreat to discuss and prioritize Blueprint improvements based on workshop comments, user feedback, existing known issues, newly available data, and more! Next month, Rua will write up a blog summarizing the major themes we heard from workshops and the fixes we intend to tackle in the Blueprint 2025 update cycle. Stay tuned!