New York has released its final 10-year wildlife plan, identifying 570 animal species that need conservation attention and setting priorities for habitat protection, restoration and research across the state.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation said Thursday that the 2025-35 State Wildlife Action Plan is now publicly available with its species lists and supporting assessments. It is a planning guide for DEC and conservation partners, not a new regulation or an announcement that every proposed project has been funded.
DEC assessed 920 wildlife species, including species in the 2015 plan and 441 additional ones. It designated 570 as species of greatest conservation need, with 147 in a high-priority category. For the first time, the plan also identifies 269 plants of conservation concern.
The designation covers species native to and still present in New York that face threats likely to drive further declines without conservation work over the next decade. DEC says the high-priority category helps direct research, monitoring and management toward species needing more urgent intervention. Being on either planning list does not itself grant a species legal protection; the state's endangered and threatened species rules are separate.
Federal funding and conservation priorities
States and territories must update a wildlife action plan every 10 years to remain eligible for the federal State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. Federal grant dollars may be spent only on species identified in a state's plan. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved New York's final plan in February, according to the approval letter included in the document; DEC announced its public release Oct. 1.
The plan identifies agricultural and forestry pollution, invasive species, dams and water management, development, and changing habitats among the broad threats of greatest concern. Its goals include protecting and restoring habitat, reversing species declines, improving population monitoring and filling research gaps.
Those are statewide planning priorities, not a promise that each listed action will start immediately. DEC and its partners describe the plan as a guide for choosing feasible work that benefits multiple species, especially high-priority ones.
Lake Ontario watershed among regional focus areas
The final plan's regional priorities include work in the southeastern and southwestern Lake Ontario watershed, which reaches communities in Finger Lakes coverage areas. Proposed or continuing efforts there include restoring routes for migrating American eels, continuing lake sturgeon and lake trout restoration, surveying freshwater mussels and maintaining sea lamprey control. The document does not assign a new local grant or a project start date to those priorities.
For land species, statewide priorities include pollinator habitat, grassland habitat for birds, streamside buffers and surveys of bats and insects. The plan also uses mapped conservation opportunity areas, but DEC cautions that surveys have not covered every part of the state and that changes in mapped observations do not by themselves prove a population increase or decline.
The final species lists, assessments and appendices are available on DEC's wildlife action plan page. Questions about the plan can be sent to nyswap2025@dec.ny.gov or mailed to the SWAP coordinator at DEC's Division of Fish and Wildlife, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754.
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