Comments are due by July 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM

NJDEP Fish & Wildlife completed the comprehensive review of New Jersey’s State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) as required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The SWAP focuses on the conservation actions all New Jerseyans can take to collectively address the threats facing our Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) to prevent them from becoming more rare and costly to protect or restore. The actions taken to address the threats facing our SGCN will also help maintain or improve populations of our more common species, reducing the need to add species to the endangered species list.

The draft plan includes a revised list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need that totals 615 animal and 128 plant species. The plan is organized by nine regions based on geography and habitat types, and with similar types of conservation issues. NJ Fish & Wildlife worked with technical experts to identify and prioritize threats to habitats and species in each region. Conservation actions were written to address each threat and were prioritized. The plan provides actions that can, and should, be taken by those with an interest in maintaining and recovering New Jersey’s most at-risk wildlife and plant communities.

We are asking for public review and comment on this revision of the New Jersey State Wildlife Action Plan. The comment form can be found at the bottom of every section page. Once finalized, this plan will be accessible on the NJDEP website in a format that facilitates easy connections among topics, and ability to search areas of interest – species, habitats, regional priorities, and most importantly, conservation actions to improve New Jersey for rare species. We look forward to hearing from you.