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.
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.
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 … Read more
The Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP), formed in 1996, brings together 19 public and private partners to conserve and restore the longleaf pine ecosystem and unique aquatic resources of northwest Florida and southern Alabama.
After the completion of the Waterbird Conservation Plan in 2024, EGCPJV staff were excited to share the effort with our many partners, while also learning what challenges they face when planning and implementing conservation actions for priority waterbird species like King Rail, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Plover and American Oystercatcher.
Dr. Phil Darby with the University of West Florida (UWF) began his collaboration with the EGCPJV in 2015 when he initiated a long-term wintering waterfowl survey in the Pensacola region.