The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking data on species status assessments for use in updating New York’s State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) for 2025-35. A wildlife action plan serves as a state’s guiding document for managing and conserving species and habitats before they become too rare or costly to restore.
Congress created the State Wildlife Grant and Tribal Wildlife Grants funding programs in 2002 to provide funding for the management of fish and wildlife diversity and requires states and territories to develop a SWAP and update it every 10 years.
The New York Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy was completed in 2005 and revised into the New York State Wildlife Action Plan in 2015. The 2025 update to New York’s SWAP is currently underway.
To be eligible for funding, the states and territories must develop a SWAP. These plans must identify a Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) list, with the rest of the plan focused on identifying the habitats SGCN require, the threats that must be addressed to ensure the conservation of SGCN within the state, and recommended actions to address those threats.
SGCN are species native to New York State currently experiencing threats likely to jeopardize the future of their populations if action is not taken within the next 10 years.
States may only spend grant funds on SGCN identified in their SWAP. Each SGCN listed in the 2015 action plan has a species status assessment (SSA) updated for the 2025 SWAP.
DEC is seeking public input on additional sources of information on the status and distribution of New York’s SGCN, including new information on threats to these species.
Draft revised SSAs are available to download from this DEC website. The public can nominate a new SGCN, or propose a species be removed from the list.
Anyone interested in providing data, updates, or other comments pertaining to the nomination of a new SGCN can download copies of a blank form from the website, populate one form per species, and send to nyswap2025@dec.ny.gov by June 17, 2024.
DEC will provide an opportunity for public comment on the draft SGCN list for the 2025 SWAP later this year. In addition, there will be an opportunity for public review and comment of the updated SWAP prior to its submission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
All input and data are due by June 17, 2024, and may be submitted by email to nyswap2025@dec.ny.gov. Include “SGCN Feedback” in the subject line. Information may also be sent by mail to:
SWAP Coordinator
Division of Fish and Wildlife
NYSDEC
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-4754
Questions about the status assessment process can be sent to the SWAP Coordinator at nyswap2025@dec.ny.gov or by phone at (518) 402-8858.
For more information on New York’s State Wildlife Action Plan, visit this DEC website.
Photo: American Woodcock, a listed Species of Greatest Conservation Need, which is also legally hunted in New York State (photo by Rich Sajdak).
