Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
Appendix 3
Reference Document 3-1
White Paper 1 Wildlife Action Plan 2025 Revision Process Ranking Criteria for Prioritizing Wildlife Species for Conservation, Research, and Management
Introduction States use federal funds generated by excise taxes provided by the Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson), Sport Fisheries Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson), and the Wallop-Breaux Act to support the conservation and management of game fish and wildlife species. The State Wildlife Grants (SWG) program was established by the U.S. Congress to provide funding for nongame species not traditionally covered under most previous federal funding programs. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has oversight of the SWG program and gives states the authority to determine how they identify these priority species. To qualify for SWG funds, each state is mandated to develop conservation strategies with a focus on Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). In North Carolina, SGCN have been defined as species that are currently rare or have been designated as at-risk of extinction; those for which we have knowledge deficiencies; and those that have not received adequate conservation attention in the past. In addition to these species for which there is high conservation concern, SGCN may also include those species for which we are unable to determine true status in the state and are therefore a priority for research due to these knowledge gaps. Species that may be vulnerable to local threats; species of recreational, commercial, or tribal importance that are vulnerable; and those identified as having high management needs or for which there are management concerns are referred to as priority species. Work related to priority species may be funded from sources other than the SWG program; however, eligibility for SWG funds is restricted to SGCN which include conservation concern and knowledge gap priority species. 2015 Species Evaluation Process In mid-2012, an Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) Teaming With Wildlife (TWW) work group developed voluntary best-practice guidance for use by states during revision of their SWAPs (AFWA 2012) . The AFWA-TWW guidance includes a recommendation to use clearly defined procedures for assessing conservation status and setting conservation priorities (AFWA
1 Developed by Wildlife Action Plan Revision Technical Team Ranking Criteria Work Group (DH Allen, SK Anderson, JC Fuller, RB Nichols, C Simpson, VF Stancil, KC Weeks)
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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