Natural Areas Association (NAA) is an association of scientists and practitioners focused on the management of ecologically significant natural landscapes with the intent to protect biodiversity for current and future generations. Natural Areas News is your trusted resource for current events, reliable science, conservation success, emerging challenges, best practices, and achievements of those who work daily to preserve natural areas.

NAA is excited to welcome Tara Cornelisse, Ph.D., as the new editor of the Natural Areas Journal effective January 1, 2025. As the Lead Zoologist at NatureServe, Tara brings a wealth of experience in academic and natural areas science and collaboration to advance biodiversity knowledge that informs conservation actions.

Tara succeeds Eric Menges, Ph.D., who retired from this position after serving as the lead editor of the Natural Areas Journal for almost a decade. NAA is grateful to Eric for his valuable contributions not just to the Journal but to conservation science. Thank you, Eric! May retirement bring you the opportunity to spend more time in nature.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced new regulations to protect freshwater wetlands across the state. The changes will expand protection to around 1 million additional acres of marshes, swamps, sloughs and bogs. The newly adopted regulations define new key terms, revise the classification of freshwater wetlands in the state and explain changes to the department’s jurisdiction.

The Biden administration announced the designation of two new monuments, which will establish the largest tract of protected land in the continental U.S. Vast forests, desert land and even a volcano are among the landscapes included in what is now the largest corridor of protected land in the United States -- which will also protect numerous rare and threatened plant and animal species that live within the region.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont launched the Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund, a new grant program created to support land protection projects in priority regions across the state. This initiative will help fund projects that maintain regional forest connectivity, support biodiversity, and grow Vermont’s climate resilience. TNC aims to award $1 million to projects in Vermont in the first year of this newly established fund.

Vital programs for conserving bird habitats and ecosystems across the country were reauthorized with President Biden signing into law the America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act, also known as the ACE Act. With its passage, the ACE Act reauthorizes key wetland conservation programs in the Chesapeake Bay and reauthorizes the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, a popular program that conserves and restores wetlands and associated habitats.