Revising Vermont's Wildlife Action Plan for 2025-2035
Dear friends of Vermont’s wildlife and wild places. It is time again to revise Vermont’s Wildlife Action Plan.
Wildlife Action Plans must be revised every 10 years to receive State Wildlife Grants funds from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service—a small but vital federal fund dedicated to keeping wildlife from becoming endangered…and recovering those that are.
Actions Plans must identify Species of Greatest Conservation Need, their habitats, threats to SGCN and their habitats, monitoring and research needs and conservation actions. Coordination with conservation partners and public engage are also required.
Action Plan revision is an opportunity evaluate implementation efforts over the past decade; reassess the status of our wildlife and their habitats and investigate emerging issues.
With this revision, due September 2025, we want to further emphasize the Vermont Conservation Design—our vision for an ecologically functional and connected landscape as a cost-effective and holistic approach to conserving Species of Greatest Conservation Need and their habitats.
We also want to make the 2025 Action Plan even more accessible and useful to conservation partners, landowner and others interested in wildlife conservation.
Revision Timeline
September-October2024: a draft list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need out for review and comment by conservation partners.
November 2024-April 2025: Taxa and Landscape Teams identify threats, actions and monitoring strategies.
May 2025: A draft Wildlife Action Plan will be released for public review and feedback.
July-August 2025: Review of feedback, adjust Wildlife Action Plan as needed.
September 2025: Submit the Wildlife Action Plan to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
October 2025 and beyond…implement the Wildlife Action Plan.
Questions/Comments? Please contact our Action Plan Coordinator at anr.fwwildlifeactionplan@vermont.gov
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A plan to conserve all Vermont’s wildlife and the habitats they depend on.
As a wildlife conservation guide for the entire state—not just the Fish & Wildlife Department—the Wildlife Action Plan includes strategies that almost any individual or organization can implement. The most common strategies proposed here to alleviate problems impacting Species of Greatest Conservation Need also aren't new: they include habitat restoration; the provision of education and technical assistance to landowner and land managers; providing financial and economic incentives and encouraging wildlife-compatible resource use.
The Action Plan's recommendations underscore the need for proactive, cost-effective conservation efforts and increased collaboration, coordination and sharing of data and expertise among all those interested in wildlife conservation.
Read the 2015-2025 Wildlife Action Plan
The 2015-2025 Action Plan is available as a single document and in separate chapters through the links below (all files in PDF format unless otherwise noted).
Wildlife Action Plan (complete report - 42MB)
- IV. Appendices
- A. Species of Greatest Conservation Need Assessment Summaries
- B. Habitat & Community Conservation Summaries
- C. Threats & Strategy Definitions
- D. Vermont Climate Vulnerability Assessment
- E. Implementing Vermont's First Wildlife Action Plan (SWG Summaries)
- F. Vermont Conservation Design (webpage)
- G. Mapping Vermont's Natural Heritage
- H. VFWD Big Game Plan (2010-2020)
- Plant SGCN by Habitat Type
- Wildlife Habitat Management- A Landowners Guide (webpage)