A Habitat Conservation Plan for the Upper Cumberland area is taking shape thanks to the work of Hayden Mattingly, Tech biology professor.An HCP is a plan that allows the Upper Cumberland’s to still use the resources while still conserving the habitat for endangered or threatened species.
Mattingly is working to organize species information for the HCP. As a conservation biologist, he is the leader of the Science Advisory Committee.
Sean Blomquist, an associate of Mattingly, helps him to achieve this data. Blomquist’s involvement in the project is to take information from the past and use it to predict the future for a particular species given its current habitat. With this information, Mattingly and Blomquist can help develop a plan for companies to follow so they do not overuse limited resources.
Two HCP’s are currently underway in the Upper Cumberland area: the water resources HCP and the forest resources HCP. According to the Cumberland Habitat Conservation Plan website, the purpose of these two HCPs is to produce greater conservation of rare wildlife and plants on state-owned wildlife management areas.
