Opportunities for black bear corridors through southern Georgia

Loss of natural areas due to urban development is occurring at a rapid rate across the United States. Large predatory species tend to suffer most from the resulting habitat fragmentation because of their wide-ranging nature, naturally lower population sizes, and tendency for human-conflict. In an attempt to help save the states threatened species, the state of Florida has planned a wildlife corridor that will extend to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia. It is essential that Georgia begin planning a corridor extension through the state to account for growing wildlife populations and to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Early identification of high-value natural lands and ideal wildlife road crossing locations will help public and private entities work together to protect Georgias native wildlife. A preliminary identification of southern Georgia wildlife corridors is performed, using the Linkage Mapper and Circuitscape Geographic Information System (GIS) toolkits.