7 Ways State Wildlife Action Plans Save Species

From butterflies to bald eagles, wildlife in every U.S. state are confronting increasing challenges. Nationwide, more than one-third of all plant and animal species face heightened risks of extinction.

State Wildlife Action Plans provide a blueprint for addressing this wildlife crisis, and 48 states and territories will publish their once-a-decade updates this year. These action plans outline states’ strategies to proactively conserve species, rather than waiting for populations to decline to the point where they need Endangered Species Act protections.

Wildlife action plans are a critical conservation policy tool because they:

1. Take a broad look at species & habitats at risk in each state

Wildlife action plans provide a comprehensive assessment of the status of states’ wildlife populations, key habitats, and strategies to keep these populations strong.

At the heart of each plan is each state’s list of “species of greatest conservation need.” Collectively, these lists include more than 12,000 plant and animal species. The plans outline the steps necessary to recover them, which can include anything from reintroducing wildlife to places where they used to live, restoring damaged habitats, controlling harmful invasives, or managing wildlife diseases.

2. Facilitate partnerships with landowners, businesses, universities, zoos and more

State fish and wildlife agencies spearhead the development of these plans, but a wide array of public and private partners also contribute perspectives and collaborate on the implementation.

Using the plans as a framework allows more groups to engage effectively. For example, fishers—a forest-dwelling carnivore in the weasel family—were once extirpated from the state of Washington. In addition to working with conservation groups to reintroduce fishers, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife brought more than 60 landowners on board with an agreement to continue timber operations in concert with recovery efforts. Early results show promising signs for Fisher populations’ reestablishment in the state.

3. Boost the impact of limited funding

It’s far more cost-effective to proactively conserve a species than to rescue a population once it has reached the brink of extinction. The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program, created in 2000, is the only federal source of funding for implementing the state wildlife action plans.

Congress typically allocates somewhere between $50 and 100 million a year for this program—which is a good start, but not nearly enough to systemically address the needs of 12,000 at-risk species across the country. Most state fish and wildlife agencies are largely dependent on hunting and fishing license revenue as well as excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear.

A proposal called the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act aims to provide reliable federal funding for states to meaningfully implement their action plans, but it has not yet passed Congress, despite strong bipartisan support.

4. Focus on evidence and science-based solutions

Biologists with knowledge about the ecosystems in their state spearhead the development of the wildlife action plans. They start by assessing available information about the distribution, abundance, and trends for the species found in their states. Finally, the plans are reviewed by experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

5. Put states in the drivers’ seat

Though wildlife action plans do need to meet some federal requirements, each state sets its own priorities and conservation strategies. Having the people most familiar with their states’ habitats, species, and policies in charge of writing and implementing these action plans increases their effectiveness. States can set their own criteria to identify vulnerable species—some take a broad brush while others focus on producing a fairly narrow list. Many states also use a tier system to further categorize species’ needs.

6. Provide opportunity for public input

Before finalizing the action plan, each state provides an avenue for people to review and comment on the draft. Some states offer more opportunities for engagement than others, but getting involved with the plans’ development is one way citizens can advocate for the species and places they care about.

7. Have a track record of success

Wildlife action plans have facilitated conservation and recovery projects in every state over the past 20 years.

Once common throughout the Great Plains, swift foxes had disappeared from all but 10% of their historic range by the early 1990s due to habitat loss and unintentional poisoning and trapping. But today the population has stabilized, because states and tribes have collaborated on efforts to protect grassland habitat, launch reintroduction campaigns, and gain a deeper understanding of swift fox ecology and best management practices. Those efforts continue today, with eight states prioritizing swift foxes in their wildlife action plans.

Most states will submit new plans this year and priorities outlined in those documents will define their conservation efforts for a decade. America’s wildlife are already facing a crisis—these species are counting on people to get the next ten years right.

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