Importance/Issues
Beginning in 1989, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) Park Office worked with individual state Natural Heritage programs to identify the locations of rare, threatened, and endangered species and rare or exemplary natural communities within the A.T. corridor. The inventories included descriptions and maps of each species, as well as threats and management recommendations to protect them.

The inventories documented more than 1700 occurrences of rare, threatened, or endangered (RTE) species and nearly 300 rare or exemplary natural communities. Approximately 330 of the occurrences are identified as G1 (critically imperiled), G2 (imperiled), or G3 (vulnerable) by NatureServe. While the largest number of G1 - G3 species are found along the AT from Virginia southward, the Presidential Range of New Hampshire, the Mt. Rogers-Whitetop area of southwest Virginia, and the Roan Mountain area along the North Carolina-Tennessee border harbor particularly high concentrations of G1 - G3 species

Strategy
Since the inception of the program the A.T. Park Office has pursued this objective through an agreement with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) whereby the ATC organizes a large number of volunteers to monitor high priority occurrences.

In 2009, a revised monitoring protocol was introduced that addressed weaknesses in the previous methodology. Documentation and consistent training were improved.

Objective
Through monitoring, the A.T. Park Office wants to ensure that rare species and unique communities found on the A.T. remain viable. If impacts or other detrimental factors are reported, managers recommend actions to resolve the problem(s).