The california department of fish and wildlife (cdfw) will continue a big game and carnivore genetics assessmentproject to help monitor big game and carnivore populations, analyze species taxonomic…

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $986,162 Formula Grant to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to continue a multi-year Big Game and Carnivore Genetics Assessment Project. This project, under the Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education (CFDA 15.611) grant program, will help CDFW monitor big game and carnivore populations, analyze species taxonomy, and identify management and conservation units based on genetic variation. The project will support CDFW's wildlife conservation and management priorities by developing a genetic sample archive to facilitate future research. This award covers the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which is year 10 of the larger multi-year initiative, and provides CDFW the resources to expand the project's scope to include a greater diversity of species as needed.

The california department of fish and wildlife (cdfw) will continue a big game and carnivore genetics assessmentproject to help monitor big game and carnivore populations, analyze species taxonomic status, identify managementand conservation units based on neutral and adaptive genetic variation, and develop an archive of referencegenetic samples to facilitate future research. This project will greatly assist cdfw s wildlife conservation andmanagement activities and priorities. This narrative outlines the activities to be performed during the 2025 2026 fiscal year (i.e., year 10) of alarger multi-year project, phased in each successive year with annual 12-month objectives deliverables. IT willsupport the cdfw wildlife branch s needs for large mammal and carnivore focused genetic research and management, with the full implementation over years to include a greater diversity of species, as the need and funding areavailable.