© The Nature Conservancy View/Download: Please click on the link(s) below and you will be given the choice of opening or saving to disk. JPG Download (JPG, 216 KB, Created December 01, 1999)

The Nature Conservancy\'s Ecoregional Planning process forms the foundation of its mission \"to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.\"

The Ecoregions were based on original work by Robert Bailey, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and were modified by TNC in cooperation with the network of Natural Heritage Programs. Any boundary changes must be agreed on by Ecoregional Ecologists on both sides of the Ecoregional Boundary and must be approved by TNC Ecoregional Conservation Scientists. The revisions must be based on sound ecological principles.

Refinement of the ecoregional boundaries has occurred over time. This map show the most recent (August, 1999) delineation of ecoregions. GIS technology helps TNC manage all the ecoregional boundary lines. When a new map is approved, it is distributed in both hard copy and digital GIS form to all TNC and Natural Heritage Offices.

The Division boundaries shown on this map indicate TNC\'s current organization into ten divisions in the lower 48 United States. State boundaries were added to provide a geographic reference to the map reader.