A critical step to habitat management and protection is making sure that status and distribution information on species of greatest conservation need (sgcn) are available to managers and regulators…

This five-year, $8.25 million Formula Grant from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 will support the collection, management, and screening of data on species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) through the New York State Wildlife Action Plan. Funded under the State Wildlife Grants program, the primary goals are to maintain accurate status and distribution information for SGCN, with emphasis on state-listed endangered and threatened species as well as other high-priority SGCN. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation will partner with the New York Natural Heritage Program through a memorandum of understanding. NYNHP will enter new data on protected species into its Biotics database for use by agencies and the public. Data products will include spatially-explicit datasets compatible with state GIS systems and web-accessible platforms to enable informed management decisions. This award will allow New York to strengthen habitat protection efforts through improved data supporting the conservation of at-risk wildlife.

A critical step to habitat management and protection is making sure that status and distribution information on species of greatest conservation need (sgcn) are available to managers and regulators for informed decision making. This project will focus on three main needs of a comprehensive sgcn program. These needs include data collection, data management and data screening (e.g. the presentation and review of data to assist in decision making). This work will enable the department to maintain accurate data on the status and location of sgcn, with a focus on high priority sgcn and state endangered and threatened species as identified in the new york state wildlife action plan. Work will be accomplished through an MOU with the new york natural heritage program(nynhp). Nynyhp will enter all new data on state listed species and high priority sgcn into their biotics database. This data will then be made available to state agencies and the public through project reviews and through the provisioning of data tools, including geographically explicit data coverages compatible with state GIS systems and public, web-accessible platforms.