The DC department of energy and environment, fisheries and wildlife division (DOEE-FWD)implements the districts wildlife action plan (SWAP)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) awarded the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) a Formula Grant of $153,504.09 under the State Wildlife Grants (SWG) Program (CFDA 15.634) for the period October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. This award supports implementation of the District's Wildlife Action Plan, specifically targeting conservation of avian species of greatest conservation need (SGCN). DOEE's Fisheries and Wildlife Division will deliver targeted bird inventorying and monitoring projects, including continued avian surveys at Kingman and Heritage Islands, ongoing winter waterbird surveys, comprehensive avifauna inventory and monitoring at Poplar Point, and inventory efforts responsive to habitat changes from golf course redesign projects in Rock Creek Park, Langston, and East Potomac Park.

The funded work plan aligns with key conservation actions identified in the District's 2015 Wildlife Action Plan, encompassing invasive species management, inventory and monitoring programs, habitat restoration initiatives (including meadow and tidal wetland restoration), enhancement of nesting opportunities through artificial structures, natural resource protection, and citizen science engagement. The award supports the District's revised 2025 Wildlife Action Plan, which identifies 62 avian SGCN species (53 retained from 2015, 7 newly listed, and 6 removed), and advances proactive species protection strategies to prevent species decline prior to endangered species listing.

Key goals of the districts 2026WILDLIFE action plan include: identifying species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) implementing conservation actions to protect these species and associated habitats enhancing knowledge and management of avian species and priority habitats fostering partnerships and citizen participation in wildlife conservation througheducation and outreach strengthening regulatory and conservation frameworks. The districts revised 2025 wildlife action plan, due to USFWS by october 2025, identifies 62AVIAN species: 53 species are retained from 2015, 7 are newly listed species, and 6 species havebeen removed (see appendix a). Jobs set forth in this work plan include information about boththe 2015 approved SGCN list and the 2025 proposed SGCN list. The districts bird inventorying and monitoring projects aim to advance the conservation andmanagement of non-game birds and their habitats. These efforts align closely with keyconservations actions outlined in the 2015 SWAP, specifically targeting: management of invasive species (SWAP 6.1.1), including terrestrial predators (6.1.1.4)and problematic native species (6.1.3) inventory and monitoring programs (6.1.6) habitat restoration initiatives, such as meadow restoration (6.5.1) and tidal wetlandrestoration (6.5.2) enhancement of nesting opportunities through artificial structures (6.5.5) natural resource protection critical to bird habitats (6.5.6) engagement of citizen science program (6.5.7).to achieve these goals, DOEE proposes the following targeted jobs for FY26: continued aviansurveys at kingman and heritage islands ongoing winter waterbird surveys comprehensiveinventory and monitoring of avifauna at poplar point inventory and monitoring of avifauna inresponse to habitat changes from the redesign of rock creek park, langston, and east potomacpark golf courses and implementation of audio surveys targeting cryptic waterbirds, nightjars, and owls.