Non-Governmental Conservation Organizations
A cursory attempt to develop a list all of the watershed groups, land trusts and other environmental organizations demonstrated that there are hundreds active in the Appalachian LCC. Over 80 land trusts conserve private lands via conservation easements and fee title purchases. As of 2013, two major international conservation organizations are represented on the AppLCC Steering Committee: The Nature Conservancy (http://www.nature.org/) and National Audubon Society (http://www.audubon.org/about-us). Non-government onservation organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society, Trout Unlimited (http://www.tu.org/), Quail Unlimited (now disbanded) and Quail Forever (http://www.quailforever.org/), and the Wild Turkey Federation (http://www.nwtf.org/) have an impressive track records for conserving habitats for rare and priority species, including game species. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (http://www.rmef.org/) is a newer member of the conservation community in Appalachia and is assisting State agencies with reintroduction of elk populations in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Non-government organizations also play an important role in advocating for new guidance, programs, policies and regulations to adapt current government approaches to new conservation challenges or paradigms.
