This dataset represents Tier 1 priority areas of the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund's Mitigation Priority Area Conservation Tool (M-PACT). These priority areas include lands and waters identified by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as Resilient and Connected Systems, which are areas that are expected to support biodiversity and maintain function in response to climate change, and those landscape priorities that focus conservation efforts on critical habitats in Virginia. Specifically, the priority areas are based on priority resilient and connected terrestrial, freshwater and coastal networks and the Active River Area (ARA). Areas of high and highest freshwater resilience are prioritized in the M-PACT, and resilient terrestrial sites (including areas important for marsh migration in coastal areas) are considered important as well. The ARA was used to identify riparian corridors adjacent to resilient freshwater streams. The ARA conservation framework provides a conceptual and spatially explicit basis for the assessment, protection, management, and restoration of freshwater and riparian ecosystems. The ARA framework is based upon dominant processes and disturbance regimes to identify areas within which important physical and ecological processes of the river or stream occur.

Areas of highest priority are where there is overlap between terrestrial and freshwater resilience. Further priorities (in order of importance) are high and highest freshwater resilience ARA, high and highest freshwater resilience watersheds (12-digit hydrologic units), resilient coastal sites, terrestrial resilience only, mixed freshwater resilience ARA, and mixed freshwater resilience watersheds.

This dataset represents Tier 1 priority areas of the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund's Mitigation Priority Area Conservation Tool (M-PACT). These priority areas include lands and waters identified by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as Resilient and Connected Systems, which are areas that are expected to support biodiversity and maintain function in response to climate change, and those landscape priorities that focus conservation efforts on critical habitats in Virginia. Specifically, the priority areas are based on priority resilient and connected terrestrial, freshwater and coastal networks and the Active River Area (ARA). Areas of high and highest freshwater resilience are prioritized in the M-PACT, and resilient terrestrial sites (including areas important for marsh migration in coastal areas) are considered important as well. The ARA was used to identify riparian corridors adjacent to resilient freshwater streams. The ARA conservation framework provides a conceptual and spatially explicit basis for the assessment, protection, management, and restoration of freshwater and riparian ecosystems. The ARA framework is based upon dominant processes and disturbance regimes to identify areas within which important physical and ecological processes of the river or stream occur.

Areas of highest priority are where there is overlap between terrestrial and freshwater resilience. Further priorities (in order of importance) are high and highest freshwater resilience ARA, high and highest freshwater resilience watersheds (12-digit hydrologic units), resilient coastal sites, terrestrial resilience only, mixed freshwater resilience ARA, and mixed freshwater resilience watersheds.