2025 State Wildlife Action Plan for Massachusetts

03:31PM / Saturday, July 12, 2025Print Story | Email Story

The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) is announcing the Draft 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) for Massachusetts is ready for public review and comment. An approved State Wildlife Action Plan is required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in order to be eligible for State Wildlife Grants, a key federal funding source for states to conserve plants and animals of greatest conservation need and the habitats on which they rely. Plans must be revised every ten years to evaluate the health of rare, declining, and vulnerable species and to identify opportunities to conserve these species and their habitats.

Participation by conservation partners and the public is critical to updating the SWAP and putting its recommendations into practice to proactively conserve vulnerable species and their habitats. MassWildlife is hosting an information session on Thursday, July 17 at 3 p.m. on Zoom to provide an overview of its revisions to the SWAP, demonstrate how the public can review its major components, and explain how to provide feedback. Click here to register for the information session, which will be recorded and posted on MassWildlife's website following the event.

What's new for 2025?

MassWildlife developed its first State Wildlife Action Plan in 2005 and updated it in 2015. We are now sharing our draft revisions to the 2025 SWAP with some exciting new highlights. The 2025 Massachusetts SWAP:

Is available entirely online;
Builds off of BioMap, which is an online tool that guides the strategic protection and stewardship of lands and waters that are most important for biodiversity conservation in Massachusetts;
Features 619 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) with an updated dashboard and fact sheets;
Describes 35 habitat categories containing 106 natural communities that are essential for conserving SGCN in Massachusetts; and,
Identifies key actions needed to help conserve and restore SGCN.

Public comments on the Draft 2025 SWAP will be accepted from Thursday, July 17 through Monday, August 18 online via a feedback form or in writing by mail to: MassWildlife Re: SWAP Public Comment, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.

American Sign Language (ASL) and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioning, as well as live interpretation, including in Español, Português, ??, Kreyòl Ayisyen, and Ti?ng Vi?t, will be provided automatically for attendees who wish to use it at the SWAP Information Session on July 17, 2025. MassWildlife will also make every effort to provide other languages as requested to ensure equitable access. Please contact Susan Sacco at susan.sacco@mass.gov to request interpretation in another language by 12:00 p.m. on Monday, July 14, 2025.

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Pittsfield Council Revisiting DEI Office Restructure

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:11PM / Tuesday, October 13, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The conversation about the DEI office renaming that was halted by a charter objection will resume on Tuesday.

The City Council will discuss a request from Mayor Peter Marchetti to restructure the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

It proposes to rename the DEI office to the Office of Equity, Access, and Opportunity and merge the Human Rights Commission and Affirmative Action Committee into an Equity, Access and Opportunity Commission.

The Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee supported the changes in August, and in September, Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham delayed the vote with a charter objection.

Pittsfield's City Code prohibits charter states that "if a single member present objects to the taking of the vote, the vote shall be postponed until the next meeting of the city council." It also stipulates that at least four members must object if it is an emergency measure.

Cunningham also submitted a petition, which was referred to O&R under Rule 27, to replace the DEI Office and the Human Rights Commission with an equity, access, and opportunity coordinator in the Department of Community Development, with formal complaints and Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action functions assigned to Human Resources.

At the last meeting, he spent more than an hour querying the mayor and chief diversity officer about functions and effectiveness of the department, wanting more quantitative data. Cunningham proposed an ordinance that he says keeps Pittsfield's commitment to equity, access, and opportunity, "refocuses it on measurable results for our residents, and delivers it at a fraction of the current cost."

Under this petition, the equity, access, and opportunity coordinator would be a $60,000 to $80,000 per year position.

The DEI Office's fiscal year 2027 budget was about $200,000 after cuts during budget season; $106,700 for the chief diversity officer and $58,000 for the administrative assistant. The coordinator would be appointed by the director of community development and the mayor.

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