Austin is a small rural municipality of 3,646 citizens in the heart of Quebec's Eastern Townships, located in the critical linkage between Mount-Orford Provincial Park and Mount Chagnon's forest core, within SCI's Northern Greens linkage. In 2012, the municipality initiated a strategic planning process with conservation partners (Memphremagog Conservation Inc. and Appalachian Corridor) to collect and analyze detailed ecological data, especially as it relates to wildlife connectivity. As a result of years of collaboration, the innovative revised urban plan includes three specific zoning types:

The new standards include fence restrictions, limited length of access roads, and prevention (as much as possible) of the conversion of sensitive natural areas to preserve ecological connectivity. Appalachian Corridor is delighted that Austin has set such a great precedent and plans to share this inspiring example with other municipalities, encouraging and supporting them to undertake similar initiative. For further information, see Austin's Urban Plan   (in French only) or   contact Mélanie Lelièvre.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NH DOT), working in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, is restoring aquatic connectivity and enhancing terrestrial wildlife passage at a road-stream crossing in northern New Hampshire, thanks in large part to a $138,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's New England Forests and Rivers Fund.The grant covers a portion of the estimated $340,000 project cost to enlarge the crossing to better accommodate wildlife and improve passage for fish.  The crossing is situated within an area identified by scientists as highly connected for the movement of mink, otter, and fisher. Wildlife camera monitoring has confirmed that the crossing is currently used by a number of critters. NH DOT will advance project design and permitting over the next year in preparation for construction in 2019. For more information,  contact Pete Steckler.

In late October, SCI partner Appalachian Corridor hosted an extremely successful "Conference on Road Ecology and Climate Change Adaptation," in Quebec City. SCI partners from Quebec, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire attended and presented on a range of connectivity topics. Thanks to simultaneous translation, the conference was fully accessible in English and French. Over 200 people attended, with nearly half representing local and provincial government agencies in Quebec. The event demonstrated the energy and innovation of NGO, academic, and government partners working collaboratively to address the combined challenges of roads and climate impacts for people and nature. It was a great opportunity for sharing work across the border, networking with a broad array of new partners, and engaging with members of the NEG-ECP Connectivity Working Group to advance their understanding and awareness of the great work taking place across the region. Thanks to Appalachian Corridor and the many presenters from across the Northern Appalachians for their tireless efforts to make this conference a resounding success. The conference organizers will be meeting soon to solidify next steps to build on this excellent event.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont recently conserved two forested parcels to help protect habitat connectivity across US Route 7 in Pittsford, the most significant barrier in the Greens to Adirondacks linkage. The parcels, encompassing 119 acres and 272 acres, complete a corridor of permanently protected lands on the east side of the highway that links land owned by the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (Pomaineville Wildlife Management Area) with TNC's Sugar Hollow Preserve. TNC will hold conservation easements on these lands, and plans to sell the properties to private conservation buyers. SCI's objectives for this top-priority road corridor are to link TNC's High Pond Preserve to the west of US 7 across to the Sugar Hollow Preserve to the east and beyond to the Green Mountain National Forest, and to replace a small, existing culvert with a larger one capable of being used by a variety of wildlife to move safely under the very busy highway. For more information, contact Phil Huffman.

A white paper was recently released documenting wildlife camera uses, best practices and lessons learned from around the region. Information was collected at an SCI wildlife camera summit held at last year's Northeastern Transportation and Wildlife Conference, organized by Jessie Levine (SCI coordinator), Jens Hilke (VT Fish and Wildlife), and James Brady (VTrans). The summary was prepared by Alissa Rafferty (TNC-NY) with support from James Brady, David Patrick (TNC-NH), and Jens Hilke and can be found on the  Staying Connected Initiative website.

As our understanding of connectivity has gradually become more inclusive, there are increasingly new ways to apply Vermont's online mapping tool, BioFinder, to take into account the network of connected lands and waters in addition to the diversity in the physical landscape. As we know from TNC's climate resilience research, not only do these places of diversity exist today, but they also likely will exist in the future, even as the mix of species changes. The conservation design included in BioFinder is able to get at both current biological diversity as well as resilient landscapes into the future, weaving together habitat connectivity and physical landscape diversity into a practical approach to maintaining ecological function.  For more information, visit  BioFinder  or contact Jens Hilke.