State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs)
An Agenda for Conservation Success in Every State: In order to receive funds through the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program and the State Wildlife Grants Program, Congress charged each state and territory with developing a wildlife action plan. These proactive plans, known technically as “comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies,” assess the health of each state’s wildlife and habitats, identify the problems they face, and outline the actions that are needed to conserve them over the long term.
All 50 States and five U.S. territories developed a State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) in 2005. State Wildlife Action Plans outline the steps that are needed to conserve wildlife and habitat before they become too rare or costly to restore. Taken as a whole, they present a national action agenda for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered.