2025 State Wildlife Action Plan for Massachusetts
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.
