What is "Fiscal Sponsorship"?
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As a public charity that is tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), Southern Conservation Partners can legally and properly conduct a program of support to individuals and nonexempt organizations. SCP assists projects led by others that are deemed by SCP to be in accord with and supportive of its own mission to save, honor, and enhance the natural heritage of the southern United States. SCP can choose to support a project financially, in circumstances when project leaders need a 501(c)(3) public charity sponsor to receive funds and pass them on to the project. SCP must approve each project and will maintain complete discretion and control over funds donated or granted in support of the approved project.
As fiscal sponsor, SCP handles the fiduciary and administrative aspects of managing funds that have been contributed for a project; its leaders can focus on project activities and strategies. Fiscal sponsorship of an approved project will most often be temporary, either for the limited term of the project, or until such time when the project organizers obtain their own tax-exempt corporate status. Occasionally SCP may consider managing the financial affairs of a smaller organization that has already established its own 501(c)(3) public charity corporate status. This sponsorship mechanism enables groups to undertake projects that match the mission of Southern Conservation Partners without having to incorporate. Fiscal sponsorship of endorsed projects is a central program element of Southern Conservation Partners. |
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Current Sponsored Projects
Amphibian Foundation
According to the IUCN, 43% of the world's amphibians are in catastrophic decline or are already extinct. This percentage is higher than declining mammals and birds combined. After the City of Atlanta notified the Amphibian Foundation, whose mission is the propagation and restoration of imperiled amphibian species, that it had to move its operational facilities to a different location by 2026, the Foundation was forced into emergency fundraising to cover the substantial costs of moving its facilities and over 1,000 individual amphibians to a new and more secure location. SCP (which has served as partner and fiscal sponsor since 2022) awarded a grant in late 2025 toward the emergency fundraising campaign. In the second half of 2025 we had received over $100,000 in public and corporate contributions on behalf of the Amphibian Foundation for this fundraising campaign. LEARN MORE. |
At an Amphibian Foundation open house in their new home, December 2025
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Conserve Nashville's Highland Rim Forest
In 2023, Southern Conservation Partners endorsed and began its support for a new project in Nashville, Tennessee. Its mission is to Conserve Nashville’s Highland Rim Forests, linking Radnor, Warner Parks, West Meade, Bell’s Bend, Beaman, and White’s Creek and to protect air, waters, wildlife, scenery, and children’s future. Rising to more than 1,000 feet in elevation, Nashville's Highland Rim arcs around the city to the West and supports centuries-old forests. Exploding population growth, land speculation and development, and aging landownership are fragmenting these forests into smaller parcels. These are considered the largest expanse of forests known in any metropolitan area in the world. Without them, Nashville faces higher summertime temperatures, polluted streams, degraded scenery, and compromised air quality. This project seeks public funding to match private funds to conserve this forest corridor now, with a completion date coinciding with the 2040 time frame outlined in "Nashville Next." Multiple agencies have an interest in parks, wildlife areas, state parks, and state natural areas in this forest corridor. The project will strengthen the alliance of partner organizations and agencies to adopt strategies to conserve conservation easements throughout this corridor. A coalition of shared interests has been formed as the Alliance for the Conservation of Nashville's Highland Rim Forest. Southern Conservation Partners has provided several financial grants matching local donations in support of conservation efforts led by the Swan Conservation Trust. Learn more at the project WEBSITE. <<<<And be sure to watch the video at left! TennGreen partnered with Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show to raise awareness for conserving the Nashville Highland Rim Forest (this is the official music video for Secor's latest release, "Highland Rim") |
Earthseed Land Collective
Southern Conservation Partners is fiscal sponsor for an exciting project in Durham, North Carolina, which advances the goals of "whole people and whole communities" and focuses on engaging and including People of Color in achieving food justice and food sovereignty. Earthseed is a center for community resilience and stewardship. The Collective has dedicated its 48-acre property for purposes of collective subsistence farming, food justice, and land cooperation, healing, and liberation. About half of the property (largely the portion in forest cover) is protected by a permanent conservation easement held with the Triangle Land Conservancy, which safeguards public water resources in the Falls Lake and upper Neuse River watershed. Southern Conservation Partners is a conduit for receiving charitable grant funds supporting this demonstration project.
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Southern Conservation Partners depends on volunteers and donations to finance our sponsored projects. Consider becoming a partner and offering financial support to a project. Donate through our secure online giving page, offered through PayPal (click below, then scroll through project options).
You may also send a check to our address. THANKS! |
RootEd Project: Connecting Students with Communities and Nature
Southern Conservation Partners in 2021 entered partnership and fiscal sponsorship with Constructive Learning Design to conduct the RootEd project, designed to engage students and schools in local parks and other community improvement projects in western North Carolina. The project will build community sustainability and youth engagement through a combination of mentoring and assisting school teachers; developing partnerships among schools and their students with local communities and businesses; and creating and sharing resources, curricula, stories, and opportunities for greater involvement by K-16 students in solving real problems in their communities benefiting people and nature. READ MORE.
Southern Conservation Partners in 2021 entered partnership and fiscal sponsorship with Constructive Learning Design to conduct the RootEd project, designed to engage students and schools in local parks and other community improvement projects in western North Carolina. The project will build community sustainability and youth engagement through a combination of mentoring and assisting school teachers; developing partnerships among schools and their students with local communities and businesses; and creating and sharing resources, curricula, stories, and opportunities for greater involvement by K-16 students in solving real problems in their communities benefiting people and nature. READ MORE.
Save UNCA Woods
SCP is serving as fiscal sponsor for the group of citizens in Ashville, North Carolina, rallying to defend against the proposed removal of 45 acres of mature forest on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), in the heart of that city. The forest is immediately upslope from the university’s botanical garden, and water runoff from the forest flows into the nearby French Broad River, already vulnerable to community-destructive flood events like that from Hurricane Helene in 2024. READ MORE.
SCP is serving as fiscal sponsor for the group of citizens in Ashville, North Carolina, rallying to defend against the proposed removal of 45 acres of mature forest on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), in the heart of that city. The forest is immediately upslope from the university’s botanical garden, and water runoff from the forest flows into the nearby French Broad River, already vulnerable to community-destructive flood events like that from Hurricane Helene in 2024. READ MORE.
Longleaf Pine Forest Preservation Project
Southern Conservation Partners is part of a coalition of efforts to save and restore natural longleaf pine forests across that tree’s original six-state range in the southern U.S. Longleaf once dominated forest cover--93 million acres in the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coastal regions. But surviving tracts of longleaf pine forest have been reduced to less than 3 percent of that original extent. Many of the native plant and animal species endemic to longleaf pine-dominated ecosystems are in danger of extinction. SCP in 2016-2017 was fiscal sponsor for an inventory of surviving tracts of privately owned longleaf pine-dominated forests in the NC Sandhills region and provides ongoing advice on management and conservation of longleaf pine forest tracts. In 2020, SCP conducted a survey of private land conservancies and trusts across the region to learn about their experiences with protecting, restoring, and managing longleaf pine forest habitat. Private land trusts collectively have conserved over a quarter million acres of longleaf pine forest habitat. We produced an online conference workshop and a report on our survey findings for the Longleaf Alliance. In 2021 we partnered again with the Longleaf Alliance to produce another webinar and journal article about land trusts involvement in longleaf forest protection and restoration. See also information on America's Longleaf, a collaborative public/private effort to restore and protect longleaf pine forests.
Southern Conservation Partners is part of a coalition of efforts to save and restore natural longleaf pine forests across that tree’s original six-state range in the southern U.S. Longleaf once dominated forest cover--93 million acres in the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coastal regions. But surviving tracts of longleaf pine forest have been reduced to less than 3 percent of that original extent. Many of the native plant and animal species endemic to longleaf pine-dominated ecosystems are in danger of extinction. SCP in 2016-2017 was fiscal sponsor for an inventory of surviving tracts of privately owned longleaf pine-dominated forests in the NC Sandhills region and provides ongoing advice on management and conservation of longleaf pine forest tracts. In 2020, SCP conducted a survey of private land conservancies and trusts across the region to learn about their experiences with protecting, restoring, and managing longleaf pine forest habitat. Private land trusts collectively have conserved over a quarter million acres of longleaf pine forest habitat. We produced an online conference workshop and a report on our survey findings for the Longleaf Alliance. In 2021 we partnered again with the Longleaf Alliance to produce another webinar and journal article about land trusts involvement in longleaf forest protection and restoration. See also information on America's Longleaf, a collaborative public/private effort to restore and protect longleaf pine forests.
Venus Flytrap Champions
Southern Conservation Partners has joined a coalition of public and private efforts to protect the iconic Venus Flytrap, a carnivorous plant species, and restore more habitat for its survival. Natural populations of the rare and imperiled Venus Flytrap exist only in a few surviving wet pine savanna habitats in the coastal region of North and South Carolina (within a 100-mile ellipse around Wilmington, NC). The Venus Flytrap has long been recognized as a threatened species in the two states, though it was denied for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2023. In addition to illicit exploitation of remnant populations for the rare plant trade, the savanna habitats suitable for Venus Flytraps continue to be destroyed as development pressures accelerate in the coastal Carolina lowlands. While most of the plant’s remaining habitats survive on publicly owned lands, a few populations remain on privately owned properties. A coalition of conservation organizations, Venus Flytrap Champions, recognizes and assists landowners and land managers in the Carolinas who want to care for populations of this rare carnivorous species. Read more on the Champions WEBSITE.
Southern Conservation Partners has joined a coalition of public and private efforts to protect the iconic Venus Flytrap, a carnivorous plant species, and restore more habitat for its survival. Natural populations of the rare and imperiled Venus Flytrap exist only in a few surviving wet pine savanna habitats in the coastal region of North and South Carolina (within a 100-mile ellipse around Wilmington, NC). The Venus Flytrap has long been recognized as a threatened species in the two states, though it was denied for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2023. In addition to illicit exploitation of remnant populations for the rare plant trade, the savanna habitats suitable for Venus Flytraps continue to be destroyed as development pressures accelerate in the coastal Carolina lowlands. While most of the plant’s remaining habitats survive on publicly owned lands, a few populations remain on privately owned properties. A coalition of conservation organizations, Venus Flytrap Champions, recognizes and assists landowners and land managers in the Carolinas who want to care for populations of this rare carnivorous species. Read more on the Champions WEBSITE.
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Introducing . . . A Flytrap Film!
Southern Conservation Partners is fiscal sponsor for the production of a documentary film about conservation efforts to save the iconic Venus Flytrap. The international team producing this film is based in the United Kingdom. Tentatively titled “Flytrap Town,” the film will focus on efforts to save and maintain the carnivorous plant’s few remaining natural habitats in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and will highlight stories of the individuals fighting for the Flytrap’s future. The Venus Flytrap is a “poster child” for the Earth’s imperiled biota; the film is intended to be a wake-up call generating action to preserve our natural world and its biodiversity. Please financially support the creation of this film by donating to Southern Conservation Partners at the PayPal link provided above on this page. |
Some Past Sponsored Projects . . .
North Carolina Biodiversity Project
Southern Conservation Partners provided initial fiscal sponsorship for the North Carolina Biodiversity Project through a limited partnership arrangement. SCP helped secure funds in support of this project. The NCBP team is composed of volunteer conservation biologists, taxonomic experts, nature photographers, and amateur naturalists with decades of experience studying the state’s native fauna and flora. The NCBP is dedicated to increasing public awareness and appreciation for the state’s diversity of species and ecosystems, as well as their conservation needs. To promote these goals, the NCBP has created a series of publicly accessible websites (hosted by the State of North Carolina’s Division of Parks and Recreation) that provide checklists, photo images, life histories, and conservation information for the state’s wide range of species. Each taxonomic website is managed by a team of volunteers. This citizen-science project invites submission of new range information for the native species of North Carolina for vetting and inclusion on the websites. Biodiversity is the variety of all life and their interactions. All life is interconnected. All living things need one another. Now more than ever, we must preserve, defend, and build back biodiversity in our home regions and all around the world. Biodiversity is fundamental not just for human well-being, but for all life on this planet. Over 1 million species of plants and animals currently face extinction worldwide.
Southern Conservation Partners provided initial fiscal sponsorship for the North Carolina Biodiversity Project through a limited partnership arrangement. SCP helped secure funds in support of this project. The NCBP team is composed of volunteer conservation biologists, taxonomic experts, nature photographers, and amateur naturalists with decades of experience studying the state’s native fauna and flora. The NCBP is dedicated to increasing public awareness and appreciation for the state’s diversity of species and ecosystems, as well as their conservation needs. To promote these goals, the NCBP has created a series of publicly accessible websites (hosted by the State of North Carolina’s Division of Parks and Recreation) that provide checklists, photo images, life histories, and conservation information for the state’s wide range of species. Each taxonomic website is managed by a team of volunteers. This citizen-science project invites submission of new range information for the native species of North Carolina for vetting and inclusion on the websites. Biodiversity is the variety of all life and their interactions. All life is interconnected. All living things need one another. Now more than ever, we must preserve, defend, and build back biodiversity in our home regions and all around the world. Biodiversity is fundamental not just for human well-being, but for all life on this planet. Over 1 million species of plants and animals currently face extinction worldwide.
North Carolina Natural Heritage Program assistance
Southern Conservation Partners beginning in 2018 initiated an agreement to assist North Carolina's state Natural Heritage Program. Initially SCP provided financial assistance to aid the NC NHP in the process of formally recording notice of articles of dedication for more than 190 State-owned nature preserves with Counties' Registers of Deeds in 77 (of the 100). In the current phase of our assistance to the NC Natural Heritage Program, SCP is financially subsidizing costs incurred by volunteers in monitoring of some of the more than 530 dedicated nature preserves and registered natural areas across North Carolina. Southern Conservation Partners in partnership with the NC NHP, The Nature Conservancy, NC Botanical Garden and others, co-sponsored a Forum on the Future of Conservation: Biodiversity, Resilience & Equity at the NCBG in Chapel Hill in September, 2022.
Southern Conservation Partners beginning in 2018 initiated an agreement to assist North Carolina's state Natural Heritage Program. Initially SCP provided financial assistance to aid the NC NHP in the process of formally recording notice of articles of dedication for more than 190 State-owned nature preserves with Counties' Registers of Deeds in 77 (of the 100). In the current phase of our assistance to the NC Natural Heritage Program, SCP is financially subsidizing costs incurred by volunteers in monitoring of some of the more than 530 dedicated nature preserves and registered natural areas across North Carolina. Southern Conservation Partners in partnership with the NC NHP, The Nature Conservancy, NC Botanical Garden and others, co-sponsored a Forum on the Future of Conservation: Biodiversity, Resilience & Equity at the NCBG in Chapel Hill in September, 2022.
French Broad River Watershed Protection Partnership: a demonstration project
Southern Conservation Partners in 2017 initiated the process of dialogue among private conservation and environmental protection organizations and federal-state-and local public agencies to form a coalition concerned for protection and restoration of water quality, water resources, and the water-dependent biota and environmental assets of the French Broad River and all its tributary streams in western North Carolina. Diminished water quality in the river and its tributary steams is threatening the basis of that region's economy: its natural capital. Southern Conservation Partners, in partnership with the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water, in 2017 convened 45 people representing 28 public and private organizations for initial discussion about the benefits of forming a coalition for the purpose of protecting and restoring the water resources and conserving lands critical to water quality in the upper French Broad River Basin. The French Broad River Partnership formally organized in 2018 as a coalition of dozens of public agencies and private organizations working together in collaboration to maintain and improve stream health and water quality within the entire French Broad River Watershed, including the upper French Broad, Pigeon, and Nolichucky rivers' watersheds. The Partnership has grown to be a robust and effective coalition taking actions based on its strategic plan. The Partnership (www.FrenchBroadRiver.org )recognizes that the river watershed is the essential source of public drinking water and recreation while supporting biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, and economic growth for the region. We are pleased that this coalition continues to make major advances in protecting water quality and expanding public outreach and education in its ongoing Love Your Watershed endeavors.
Southern Conservation Partners in 2017 initiated the process of dialogue among private conservation and environmental protection organizations and federal-state-and local public agencies to form a coalition concerned for protection and restoration of water quality, water resources, and the water-dependent biota and environmental assets of the French Broad River and all its tributary streams in western North Carolina. Diminished water quality in the river and its tributary steams is threatening the basis of that region's economy: its natural capital. Southern Conservation Partners, in partnership with the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water, in 2017 convened 45 people representing 28 public and private organizations for initial discussion about the benefits of forming a coalition for the purpose of protecting and restoring the water resources and conserving lands critical to water quality in the upper French Broad River Basin. The French Broad River Partnership formally organized in 2018 as a coalition of dozens of public agencies and private organizations working together in collaboration to maintain and improve stream health and water quality within the entire French Broad River Watershed, including the upper French Broad, Pigeon, and Nolichucky rivers' watersheds. The Partnership has grown to be a robust and effective coalition taking actions based on its strategic plan. The Partnership (www.FrenchBroadRiver.org )recognizes that the river watershed is the essential source of public drinking water and recreation while supporting biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, and economic growth for the region. We are pleased that this coalition continues to make major advances in protecting water quality and expanding public outreach and education in its ongoing Love Your Watershed endeavors.
Pitstop for the Birds: Helping Birds and the Environment
Southern Conservation Partners (SCP) was the fiscal sponsor for an effort to help stem catastrophic losses of bird populations and natural habitats. Pitstop for the Birds will integrate nature with transportation infrastructure by creating small wildlife-friendly natural gardens and public environmental engagement features in combination with electric-vehicle charging stations. Pitstop for the Birds is a unique, innovative, and scalable project that can significantly impact bird populations, the environment, and public engagement with the needs of migrating birds. The project is currently in the development phase and is being implemented in North Carolina. Objectives include:
Southern Conservation Partners (SCP) was the fiscal sponsor for an effort to help stem catastrophic losses of bird populations and natural habitats. Pitstop for the Birds will integrate nature with transportation infrastructure by creating small wildlife-friendly natural gardens and public environmental engagement features in combination with electric-vehicle charging stations. Pitstop for the Birds is a unique, innovative, and scalable project that can significantly impact bird populations, the environment, and public engagement with the needs of migrating birds. The project is currently in the development phase and is being implemented in North Carolina. Objectives include:
- Creating best practice standards and indicators
- Launching a marketing and outreach campaign
- Building a collaborative network of partners
- Building a “proof of concept”
Speaking of Trees pilot environmental education film series
In 2024 SCP became fiscal sponsor for the Coastal Plain Conservation Group, which is developing a pilot series of public environmental educational films designed to connect people with nature. Focused on encouraging people to get outside and become more aware and appreciative of the natural world outside their doors, the pilot film series begins with cinematic guided hikes in accessible forests throughout North Carolina. The producers are hosts of a NPR public radio podcast program series that introduces and interprets native habitats and keystone species in North Carolina's coastal region.
In 2024 SCP became fiscal sponsor for the Coastal Plain Conservation Group, which is developing a pilot series of public environmental educational films designed to connect people with nature. Focused on encouraging people to get outside and become more aware and appreciative of the natural world outside their doors, the pilot film series begins with cinematic guided hikes in accessible forests throughout North Carolina. The producers are hosts of a NPR public radio podcast program series that introduces and interprets native habitats and keystone species in North Carolina's coastal region.
VentureLife Films: "The River Runs On" documentary
Southern Conservation Partners was a fiscal sponsor for Asheville-based VentureLife Films, which secured grants and contributions to produce a documentary film about the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. THE RIVER RUNS ON follows conservationists as they struggle to manage two of the most important national forests in America: the Pisgah and Nantahala. The film follows the release of a forest management plan that will dictate how these two forests are managed for the next twenty years. The result is a meditation on our relationship to nature, our role in managing lands and what it may mean for the future. Stream the film.
VentureLife Films: "The River Runs On" documentary
Southern Conservation Partners was a fiscal sponsor for Asheville-based VentureLife Films, which secured grants and contributions to produce a documentary film about the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. THE RIVER RUNS ON follows conservationists as they struggle to manage two of the most important national forests in America: the Pisgah and Nantahala. The film follows the release of a forest management plan that will dictate how these two forests are managed for the next twenty years. The result is a meditation on our relationship to nature, our role in managing lands and what it may mean for the future. Stream the film.
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Other Special Projects We Have Supported
Southern Conservation Partners since 2022 has been able to award small grants in support of meritorious projects that align with our mission and that are recommended by SCP Board members or advisors. We have awarded 4-10 small grants each year, and we hope to be able to continue this program in the future. he following projects have received small seed grants: Bernheim Arboretum and Forest Preserve (KY) The Bernheim Arboretum and Forest Preserve was awarded a small grant from SCP in 2022 to to help create roadside prairie plants display areas along Bernheim's Prairie Roadsides Project. The funds have supported the installation of 5 acres of roadside prairie displays distributed along Bernheim’s Forest Hill Drive. The installations will include prairie species such as blazing star, coneflowers, milkweed, rattlesnake master, and other native pollinator species of conservation and aesthetic value. The roadside planting sites will also contain some areas of bottomland wetland and riparian native plant species. These displays will improve pollinator habitat and habitat diversity within the public section of the 16,140-acre forest preserve and provide interpretive opportunities. Coharie Intertribal Council (Sampson County, NC) In December 2025 SCP awarded the Coharie Tribe a small grant to assist it in implementing plans to install a kiosk and signage at the Star Telephone access point for kayaking and interpretive programs on the Great Coharie River. The grant will also support the tribe's efforts to raise continuing funding for personnel working to educate the public about the river’s environmental assets and the importance of protecting the Coharie River and its ecosystems. Anticipated outcomes include promotion of kayaking, fishing, and nature observation along the river; raising public awareness about the river; growing environmental tourism; engaging local schools and educators in river-related environmental education; and engaging with youth and civic groups to design and build river access points and trails. Cultural Burn Association (NC) SCP in early 2025 awarded grant assistance to the Lumbee Indians-affiliated Cultural Burn Association (southeastern North Carolina), which is employing prescribed burning to help primarily indigenous landowners restore forests and create resilience for threatened ecosystems. Reintroduction of fire in ecologically fire-dependent natural forest communities also serves to rekindle the flame of the Lumbee's ancestral heritage, empowers Native voices, and supports Lumbee landowners in ways rooted in their culture. The goal is to create pathways for regenerative forestry and agriculture, with sustainable economic opportunities that serve to protect the rights and sovereignty of the Lumbee people on their homelands. Davidson Lands Conservancy (NC) SCP in 2023 and 2024 awarded Davidson Lands Conservancy grants in support of DLC’s Learn Works, NatureFest, Freedom School, and World of Wonder programs, in recognition of Davidson Lands Conservancy's exemplary initiatives in engaging its community and youth in appreciating the wonders of nature and responsibilities for stewardship of environmental assets. SCP recognizes Davidson Lands Conservancy for its stellar performance and initiatives in engaging its community and youth in appreciating the wonders of nature and responsibilities for stewardship of environmental assets. Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (NC) SCP’s grant awarded in 2022 to the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association ( in Durham, NC) assisted its efforts to broaden engagement of its community members, predominated by Black and other people of color, with a demonstration project on conserved land in the city. The project of restoring native muscadine and scuppernong grape arbors in ECWA’s Veasey Nature Preserve engaged its neighbors in the culturally diverse neighborhood and provide a gateway for greater community involvement in ECWA’s array of programs including public environmental education, hikes in its preserved areas, natural habitats restoration and removal of invasive species. Friends of Virgin Falls, Cumberland Mountains (TN) SCP awarded a small grant to help the Friends of Virgin Falls coalesce allied interests to create a network of hiking trails connecting conserved and publicly accessible natural areas on over 74,000 acres of public lands in Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountains, including Virgin Falls- Bridgestone Firestone Wilderness Area- Dog Cove nature preserve- Lost Creek nature preserve- Boy Scouts of America Latimer Reservation - Bledsoe State Forest- Fall Creek Falls State Park. SCP’s “seed” grant helped finance initial trail plan maps. Friends of West Meade Hills (TN) Friends of West Mead Hills intended to expand efforts for the protection of an urban forest corridor in west Nashville, Tennessee, with focus on protecting an additional 100-acres of older-growth forests. SCP’s $2,500 “seed” grant was intended to help with project plans and leverage additional public and private funds. In fact, our contribution helped galvanize efforts that formed the Alliance for the Protection of Nashville’s Highland Rim Forest, which is a project endeavor that continues to grow, with continued SCP assistance. Frosted Elfin Population Enhancement (VA) In 2024, Southern Conservation Partners helped launch an exciting project led by the Virginia Natural Heritage Program (VaNHP) to rescue a declining population of Frosted Elfin (Callophrys irus) at the South Quay Sandhills Natural Area Preserve. The small, non-migratory hairstreak butterfly is known from 25 states but is experiencing severe declines in much of its range, including Virginia. The species is under review by US Fish and Wildlife Service for possible listing under the Endangered Species Act. With help from the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in Florida, VaNHP will collect Frosted Elfin individuals from Virginia, rear them at the McGuire Center facility, and then release adult butterflies to the home site to boost the local population at the preserve. VaNHP staff will also work to increase the population of sundial lupine, the butterfly's host plant, at the preserve through active management such as mid-story thinning, prescribed burning, and seed collection and dispersal. Greenway & Trail Networking (northeast TN–southwest VA) Efforts are underway to design and establish a network of greenways and trails that will connect the existing Virginia Creeper Trail (from Damascus and Abingdon, Virginia) to existing and proposed greenway trails in Bristol, VA/TN, and south to the Tweetsie Trail and Doe Mountain trails, Johnson City area greenways, and Roan Mountain in Northwest TN. SCP’s “seed grant" helped finance trails planning. Gulf Coast Eco Center (Gulf Shores, AL) SCP’s grant to the Gulf Coast Center for Ecotourism & Sustainability contributed to this program’s development of a native tree nursery and habitat restoration project (including planting of 13,500 sand pine seedlings) that will engage local schools and youth, community residents, and visitors in hands-on environmental education and conservation. For more information about the exciting Gulf Coast Eco Center visit www.gulfcenter.org Kentucky Natural Lands Trust Kentucky Natural Lands Trust (KNLT) received two small grants from SCP to initiate a research project designed to inventory populations of imperiled bat species residing on the complex of nature preserves along the Pine Mountain Wildlands Corridor, which extends more than 125 miles from Tennessee through eastern Kentucky to Virginia and forms the first (easternmost) of the Appalachian ridges. The project is directed by KNLT in partnership with Lincoln Memorial University. Ultrasonic recorders were placed at select locations to monitor bat foraging activity. Analysis of recorded bat calls aids in species identification and allows for a noninvasive technique to understand the impacts of climate change on sensitive and unique habitats and species. The recorders collected data on eight species of bats. Additionally, SCP awarded a third grant to KNLT in 2024 to expand the research project using ultrasonic recorders designed to inventory populations of bird species along the Pine Mountain wildlands corridor, including resident and migratory bird surveys, winter bird counts, grouse drumming, cerulean warbler surveys, and more. Land Trust for Louisiana SCP continued its grant support for the land trust’s efforts to restore and protect longleaf pine forests in Louisiana, with another small grant in late 2025 specifically to help finance production of a video film to instruct landowners on how to restore a longleaf pine forest, with narrative focused on the vision, importance of longleaf pine, and restoration process. Additionally, the SCP grant will supplement NFWF grant funds (for which SCP had provided its support and endorsement) to conduct a landowners educational workshop series, and to form a prescribed-burning fire coalition. Moore Mountain Longleaf Pine Savanna restoration research project (AL) SCP's small grant awarded in 2024 to Auburn University at Montgomery's department of environmental sciences will help establish a long-term research program at the Moore Mountain preserve, the goal of which is to evaluate the success of different restoration techniques for montane longleaf pine savanna ecosystems, including native understory vegetation. Montane longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests are even rarer than longleaf pine ecosystems found in the coastal plain and are highly threatened by human activities, including fire suppression, conversion to pine plantations, and urban sprawl. Longleaf pine forests have been reduced to a mere 3% of their original range. Restoration of montane longleaf pine ecosystems is of high conservation priority in the southeastern United States. Small-Whorled Pogonia - prescribed burning effects research project (VA) SCP gave a small grant to Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences in support of research on the effects and outcomes of prescribed fire on populations of the federally threatened small whorled pogonia orchid, Isotria medeoloides, in several surviving populations on state protected nature preserves: primarily in the Mount Joy Pone Nature Preserve in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Swan Conservation Trust As part of SCP’s support of endeavors to protect more of the Highland Rim Forest in the Nashville, TN, metropolitan area, SCP provided two grants to the Swan Conservation Trust to contract and pay a part-time project coordinator to develop policies and procedures for establishing the land trust’s conservation easements program, to initiate the process, and to educate landowners to convey permanent conservation easements on private properties near and adjacent to existing parks and preserves in the Nashville Highland Rim Forest. These efforts were in collaboration with the newly formed Alliance for the Protection of Nashville’s Highland Rim Forest (a coalition of conservation organizations and interested parties). |
(Above) A roadside in Bernheim Arboretum & Forest Preserve will be transformed into a prairie display area resembling (Below) native prairie.
Young nature explorers in one of Davidson Land Conservancy's initiatives.
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association grape arbors project.
Virgin Falls, TN
Frosted Elfin on sundial lupine (photo by Darren Loomis)
Hikers on trail in NE Tennessee.
Gulf Coast Center tree planting.
Indiana Bat, an imperiled species to be studied in KY (photo by Mark Gumbert)
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