Ensuring the sustainability of priority bird populations, their habitats, and the communities of which they are a part.
East Gulf Coastal Plain JV
The East Gulf Coastal Plain Joint Venture (EGCPJV) is a voluntary public‐private partnership that seeks to strategically advance the conservation of birds and bird habitats in the East Gulf Coastal Plain area. The EGCPJV covers portions of 6 states and partners include state and federal agencies, non-governmental agencies, universities and additional organizations which share our vision of bird conservation. The partnership is currently focused on advancing the science of bird conservation, restoring high priority habitat types, increasing the capacity for prescribed fire, and using effective communications to ensure that the partnership can achieve its vision.
Where We Work
The EGCPJV is a critical link for continental‐scale bird conservation and management. The region provides important breeding, migratory, and wintering habitats for a diversity of species of conservation concern, with over 300 bird species using the region during some portion of their annual cycles.
Over 180 bird species are known to breed in the EGCP. The region supports acreages of longleaf pine and maritime communities and extensive bottomland hardwood forests. These habitat and community types are among the highest priorities for conservation attention in the United States.
Priority Species & Habitats
Since our formation, we have completed the East Gulf Coastal Plain Landbird and Waterbird Conservation Plans, which identify high priority bird species. Our habitat priorities include upland hardwood and pine-hardwood woodlands and forests, eastern interior grasslands, pine dominated woodlands, and savannas, freshwater and coastal wetlands, and eastern scrub shrub.
The EGCPJV is a critical link for continental‐scale bird conservation and management. The region provides important breeding, migratory, and wintering habitats for myriad species of conservation concern, with over 300 bird species using the region during some portion of their annual cycles.
Prescribed Fire
Prescribed burning is an integral part of the cultural heritage of the Southern coastal plains going back to pre-colonial times. Prescribed fire is “good fire” that limits the risk of catastrophic wildfire, so its smoke is a signal that safety measures are taking place.
In The News
Welcome Eric Soehren, Newest Member of the Mangement Board
June 2, 2026
The EGCPJV welcomes Eric Soehren as a new member on the Management Board. Eric is a Biologist with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) with 29 years of public service.
Blue Jean Burning: Working Together to Manage Lands in Southwest Alabama
June 2, 2026
Much of the East Gulf Coastal Plain is defined by landscapes that depend on fire, which historically were started by lightning and Native Americans. Today, land managers and landowners use prescribed fire to maintain healthy, productive ecosystems and support pollinators like monarch butterflies, game species such as deer and turkey, numerous songbirds, and a variety of reptiles and amphibians.
Tracking Across JV Borders – The King Rail Telemetry Project
June 2, 2026
King Rails are an iconic secretive marsh bird species – seldom seen, occasionally heard – as they creep through the dense, tall vegetation in remnants of emergent marsh. Since the 1960’s, populations have declined an estimated 85%. Twelve states classify them as threatened or endangered; they are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in over