NH Wildlife Action Plan
Taking Action For Wildlife
How does NH Fish and Game and its many conservation partners around the state prioritize actions for wildlife and land management? How do you, as a member of your community and a landowner, become part of the movement to conserve and maintain New Hampshire’s natural environment? The entire state has a plan that guides conservation actions, so that you, your community, university researchers, biologists, land trusts, and other organizations are all working towards NH’s most important conservation goals. This is the New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan. This Plan first became available in 2005, and has now been completely updated and approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 2015 Wildlife Action Plan is a blueprint for conserving Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and their habitats in New Hampshire. New Hampshire's Plan identifies 169 SGCN, which represent a broad array of wildlife, and it focuses on the 27 habitats that support these species, such as lowland spruce-fir forest, salt marsh, shrublands, warm water lakes and ponds, vernal pools, and many others. Each SGCN and habitat has an individual profile that includes information about the population, threats, and actions needed to conserve these features in New Hampshire. The many actions listed in the Plan include activities like on-the-ground habitat work and research, land conservation, habitat management, collaborating with many conservation partners, and providing public education. It will take active participation by all Granite staters to implement the actions in the Wildlife Action Plan, and the Taking Action for Wildlife program is the best place to start.
2015 Wildlife Action Plan Downloads
Read the Executive Summary
List of SGCN and Habitats
Introduction, Table of Contents, Acknowledgements and other front pieces
Chapter 1: Public Participation
Chapter 2: NH Wildlife and Habitats At Risk
Chapter 3: NH Wildlife Habitat Conditions
Chapter 4: Wildlife Risk Assessment - Introduction
- Residential and Commercial Development
- Agriculture and Aquaculture
- Energy Production and Mining
- Transportation and Service Corridors
- Biological Resource Use
- Human Intrusions and Disturbance
- Natural System Modifications
- Invasive and Other Problematic Species and Genes
- Pollution
- Climate Change and Severe Weather
Chapter 5: Conservation Actions
Chapter 6: Monitoring, Performance Evaluation, and Adaptive Management
Chapter 7: Implementation
Wildlife Action Plan Appendices
A: Species Profiles
B: Habitat Profiles
- Habitats
- Table of Habitat Types and Associated Species
- Individual habitat profiles can be found on the Habitat Types and Species webpage
C: Crosswalks between Wildlife Action Plan Habitats and other habitat classification schemes
D: Rare Plants Species and Wildlife Habitats
Templates and Other Materials for Development of the Wildlife Action Plan:
E: Identifying and Ranking Risks
F: IUCN Categories and definitions
G: Evaluating Change in Risk Rank 2005-2015
H: Species and Habitat Profile Template
I: Regulatory Definitions
Public Input:
J: Key Informants Interviews Report
K: Wildlife Stakeholder Input Session Report
L: Web Survey Report
M: Media Coverage
N: Partner Participation
Success of the 2005 Wildlife Action Plan
2005 Wildlife Action Plan Performance Evaluation
Eight Required Elements of the Wildlife Action Plan
The US Fish and Wildlife Service requires eight elements be included in state Wildlife Action Plans. These include:
Where are they now?
Current distribution and abundance of wildlife species. See Chapter 2 and the Species Profiles.
How are they doing?
Location and condition of habitats critical to species' survival. See Chapter 3 and the species and habitat profiles.
What is threatening their survival?
Identifying problems that may harm wildlife species and habitat, and priority research needed to adequately address conservation actions. See Chapter 4 including the individual risk assessments and the species and habitat profiles.
What can we do?
Actions and strategies for conserving wildlife species and critical habitats. See Chapter 5 and the species and habitat profiles.
How do we know what we are doing is working?
Monitoring of wildlife populations and habitats and success of prescribed conservation actions. See Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, and the species and habitat profiles.
Do we need to make some changes?
Assessment of the Plan at intervals not to exceed ten years. See Chapter 6.
How are other agencies going to be participating in the planning process?
Involvement of federal, state, local agencies and Indian tribes that manage lands or programs affecting wildlife. This is incorporated throughout the plan, but is specifically addressed in Chapter 1, Chapter 5 and Chapter 7.
How is the general public participating?
Public participation is imperative for successful completion and implementation of the Plan. NH had a series of public input sessions and surveys; See Chapter 1 and Appendices J through N.