The vermont fish wildlife department (vfwd) seeks to enhance its state wildlife action plan (swap) to ensure the long-term persistence of our species of greatest conservation need (sgcn)

The Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife received a $199,089 State Wildlife Grants (SWG) Program (CFDA 15.634) project grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, awarded July 1, 2025, with completion targeted for May 31, 2028. In partnership with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Inc., the department will enhance Vermont's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) by merging wildlife observation data with landscape conservation planning to identify priority areas for species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) protection. The project will conduct a comprehensive analysis integrating Vermont Conservation Design (VCD) priorities with 10.6 million species observation records from the Vermont Atlas of Life (VAL) to identify conservation gaps, assess habitat suitability overlap, and evaluate how effectively VCD priorities protect SGCN habitat under future environmental conditions.

The grant also supports increased engagement with the SWAP by enhancing its utility and accessibility for Vermont stakeholders. Through this dual-objective approach combining coarse-filter and fine-filter conservation strategies, the department will provide science-based direction for on-the-ground conservation efforts while making the plan more actionable for partners and the public. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies will serve as a sub-grantee, contributing specialized expertise in merging wildlife and landscape data for prioritized, efficient wildlife conservation implementation.

In partnership with vermont center for ecostudies (VCE), we will add value and utility to vermonts swap in two ways: 1) bring together vermonts landscape planning framework with powerful species of greatest conservation need (sgcn) observation data to prioritize conservation action, and 2) enhance the utility and availability of the swap for vermonters. Both objectives will enhance engagement with the plan and provide direction for where, on the ground, conservation efforts will have the greatest impact.first, we will perform a groundbreaking analysis using vermont conservation design (VCD) and the 10.6 million species observation records in the vermont atlas of life (VAL). Vermont conservation design is a scientific vision identifying the highest priority lands and waters needed to sustain vermonts wildlife into the future. Vermont atlas of life offers an unprecedented, extraordinarily powerful window into the distribution of wildlife around the state. Together, these two tools offer a unique opportunity to strengthen current and future sgcn conservation by combining coarse filter and fine filter conservation approaches to gain efficiency in sgcn conservation (tingley ET AL., 2014). Specifically, our project will inform wildlife conservation and management by identifying locations where VCD priorities do and do not intersect with known occurrences of sgcn and their modeled habitat suitability, illuminating potential conservation gaps. The project will also assess how well VCD priorities are predicted to conserve sgcn habitat over long-time intervals, as species may shift distributions in response to abiotic pressures. Second, successful sgcn conservation depends on engaging more people in swap implementation. Surveys and conversations with partners suggest the swap must speak clearly to both our traditional partners and new audiences. We will develop a web-hosted action plan with supporting materials allow people to quickly find information relevant to their interests and roles. Key audiences include constituencies that have outsized impacts on vermonts future landscape, but conservation is not their primary role: municipalities, landowners, local representatives, and community scientists. We will foster engagement with more than 20,000 community members that submit observations to VAL. To better reach and engage these audiences, we will provide materials tailored to their level of information need.responsibility for this work will be distributed between principal investigators from two organizations with a decades-long history of demonstrated success in wildlife conservation. This new approach can serve as a model for other states to adapt.