The western association of fish and wildlife agencies (wafwa) and the united states fish and wildlife service (hereafter service) seek to establish a regional wildlife health coordination effort to…

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) received a $450,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Adaptive Science federal grant program (CFDA 15.670) to establish regional wildlife health coordination in the Western states from May 1, 2023 through April 30, 2026. Through this funding, WAFWA will provide coordination, planning, and communication services to address emerging disease threats impacting Western wildlife resources. Specifically, WAFWA will administer a Lead Regional Wildlife Health Coordinator position to prioritize wildlife health needs, facilitate information sharing between Western states and federal agencies through WAFWA committees, and coordinate preparedness efforts regionally. The Coordinator will also liaise with state, tribal, federal, non-governmental, and university partners as part of a centralized wildlife health network. This award supports USFWS's Adaptive Science program goal of strategically addressing future wildlife conservation challenges through a science-based framework.

The western association of fish and wildlife agencies (wafwa) and the united states fish and wildlife service (hereafter service) seek to establish a regional wildlife health coordination effort to facilitate the prioritization and assessment of western wildlife health needs and provide national coordination between the service and the other 3 regional associations. This effort will be administered solely through wafwa s executive office under the terms of this agreement which establishes a lead regional wildlife health coordinator position, selected by and operating in service to wafwa members. The purpose of this partnership is to help address the increasing threat of wildlife-related emerging diseases affecting the health of our valued wildlife resources. Such threats demonstrate the critical need for the creation of regional wildlife health coordination within each of the regional fish and wildlife associations (i.e., neafwa, seafwa, mafwa and wafwa). The coordinator position will serve wafwa and work with afwas fish and wildlife health coordinator and wafwa committees and work groups (such as wafwas wildlife health committee WHC) as assigned by leadership to bring wildlife agencies to readiness and voluntarily coordinate their efforts regionally. The assigned regional coordinator and all supporting roles work under wafwa leadership and will provide a central point of communication as a liaison to the fish and wildlife health community of practice, including state, tribal, federal, non-governmental, and university partners.