CCARI's focus region is a 12-county area in the Piedmont of central North and South Carolina. Herpetological research in this region has traditionally been limited in comparison with research conducted in the mountains, sandhills, and coastal plains of the Carolinas. Additionally, the need for conservation in this region is increasingly vital as habitat is being heavily impacted from increasing development and urbanization throughout the greater Charlotte region. CCARI's focus area includes counties in the Catawba River Basin south of Lake Hickory and north of Lake Wateree and counties in the eastern Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin from High Rocks Lake south to the state line, just below Blewett Falls Lake.