Threats to At-Risk Species in America’s Private Forests

associated with private forests in the United States are at risk of decline or extinction. This report identi es areas across the conterminous United States where at-risk species habitats in rural private forests are most likely to decrease because of increases in housing density from 2000 to 2030. We also identify areas where the future of forested habitats for at-risk species could be compromised by additional pressures from wild re, insects, and disease. More than 90 percent of the 1,370 watersheds that met our screening criteria support at least one at-risk species. Watersheds where increased housing density in rural private forests is likely to contribute to the decline of the largest numbers of forest-associated at-risk species are located primarily in the East but also in parts of the West and Southwest. Watersheds in which habitats for the greatest variety of at-risk species are likely to be affected by wild re are found in the Southeast, much of the Southwest, and along California’s Sierra Nevada range. Watersheds where private forests providing habitat for the greatest variety of at-risk species are most threatened by insects and disease are located throughout the East and also in the Southwest and in northern California. Conservation actions can reduce impacts on wildlife and plant species already at risk, while supporting compatible development of housing. This report updates methodology and ndings of a previous Forests on the Edge study of development impacts on at-risk species habitats. Key Words: private forests, development, wild re, insects and diseases, wildlife, threatened