The State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is a strategic and cost-effective strategy for preserving the state's wildlife resources for the future. Recovering species that have reached threatened or endangered status is typically more costly than preventative actions that keep species populations from reaching such declines. Proactive management actions identified in the SWAP are intended to keep species from becoming threatened or endangered or to aid in the recovery of those that are already listed.

The Division of Fish & Wildlife has revised our 2005 Wildlife Action Plan as required by Congress to continue receiving federal State Wildlife Grants. More importantly, New Jersey's revised Plan will serve as a blueprint for conserving our wildlife heritage over the next decade. The Plan identifies priority actions that we, as a conservation community, can implement over the next five to ten years to address the myriad threats facing our wildlife populations and their habitats.

New Jersey's State Wildlife Action Plan (2018) was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July, 2018. The Plan was the work of the NJDFW with over 50 stakeholder organizations, and included input from the public review period in late 2017.

What is a State Wildlife Action Plan?
State Wildlife Action Plans are proactive plans created by virtually every state and U.S. territory that assess the health of each state's wildlife and habitats, identify the problems they face, and outline the actions that are needed to conserve them over the long term. The New Jersey Wildlife Action Plan identifies both priority species and habitats, assesses the threats they face and outlines actions to take to improve or stabilize their condition.

New Jersey's 2018 Plan identifies species of greatest conservation need in New Jersey, as well as 107 focal species that are of the highest conservation priority. We expect the revised SWAP to continue to provide a guide to actions that will protect our species of greatest conservation need.

What are State Wildlife Grants?
Essentially, State Wildlife Grants (SWG) fund state programs that serve as "preventive medicine" for at-risk species, in effort to avoid federal (Endangered Species Act) listings. SWG-funded programs are based on the cooperation of partners from the public and private sectors through voluntary collaborative efforts. These efforts bring about mutually desirable, effective projects focused on fish and wildlife species as well as habitats of greatest conservation need. SWG funds must be matched with state or private money.
State Wildlife Grant Reports

The entire plan can be viewed and downloaded at www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/wap/pdf/wap_plan18.pdf (pdf, 34mb).