Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative

 

The Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative spans 12 states in the south-central U.S., encompassing 180 million acres.

The geography includes most of the mighty Mississippi River and its life-giving wetlands, along with some of the last vestiges of longleaf pine forests. From south to north, coastal dunes and marshes give way to grasslands, forested interior highlands and karst topography.

Thanks to an ecological treasure trove of diverse habitats and relatively low-density development, the GCPO is home to species found nowhere else in the world. Those include a long list of freshwater mussel, snail and fish with names like the plicate rocksnail and the Ouachita kidneyshell. Other endemic species include the Louisiana black bear, red-cockaded woodpecker, cerulean warbler, Mississippi sandhill crane, gopher tortoise, pitcher plant, Fourche Mountain salamander, and Ozark cavefish.