State Wildlife Action Plan website now available
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Department of Wildlife has released the website for the 2025 State Wildlife Action Planafter the plan received approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ensuring New Mexico remains eligible for millions of dollars in funding to conserve the state's most vulnerable wildlife and habitats.
The State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is a federally required conservation strategy that identifies New Mexico's Species
of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), the habitats they depend on, the threats they face and the conservation actions needed to help sustain those species. The plan serves as the Department's blueprint for wildlife conservation planning and implementation over the next decade.
"The State Wildlife Action Plan gives us a science-based roadmap for protecting New Mexico's incredible wildlife diversity while ensuring that conservation dollars are invested where they will have the greatest impact," Department director Mike Sloane said. "From restoring rivers and grasslands to conserving pollinators and other at-risk species, this plan helps us build healthier ecosystems that benefit wildlife and the people who enjoy New Mexico's outdoors."
The comprehensive revision of the SWAP began in May 2023 and concluded with federal approval in November 2025. The updated plan was developed with input from federal, state, tribal and local partners, as well as universities, conservation organizations and the public. It includes the latest scientific information on wildlife populations, habitats and emerging conservation challenges.
This revision expands the list of species of greatest conservation need to include pollinators, adds updated information on threats to wildlife and their habitats, including climate change, broadens best management practices to emphasize climate adaptation and conservation actions for pollinators
Other major additions include a climate vulnerability analysis for 295 vertebrate SGCN and case studies highlighting climate refugia, which are places where wildlife can find safe and stable conditions as the climate changes, updated habitat descriptions, and Conservation Opportunity Area boundaries, and the identification of Riparian Conservation Opportunity Areas to help prioritize streamside habitat restoration and conservation efforts across New Mexico.
Conservation Opportunity Areas identify landscapes with exceptional biodiversity where habitat restoration and management can simultaneously benefit multiple species.
While the SWAP focuses primarily on species that are neither hunted nor fished, it also includes several harvested species with additional conservation needs or important ecological roles. One such species is the beaver, whose dams improve aquatic habitat, water quality and biodiversity.
Since the first SWAP was approved in 2006, the Department has received approximately $1 million annually through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's State Wildlife Grant Program to support wildlife research, habitat restoration, species recovery efforts and biological surveys throughout New Mexico.
Beginning in fiscal year 2025, the Department has received approximately $2.7 million annually through the state's Land of Enchantment Legacy program to support conservation projects that benefit SGCN. The following fiscal year, the Department also began receiving Government Results and Opportunity funding that has allowed for the hiring of eight new staff members, as well as the expansion of on-the-ground conservation and habitat restoration projects across the state.
The complete 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan is available on the Department's website.
