Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan (AWAP)

The Plan

As part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grant program, Congress charged each state and territory with developing a comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. Arkansas’s strategy, the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan, provides an essential foundation for the future of wildlife conservation and an opportunity for state and federal agencies and other conservation partners to fit individual and coordinated roles in conservation efforts across the state. As a part of this, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is responsible for requesting and administering State Wildlife Grants to support the implementation of the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan.

State Wildlife Grants are distributed specifically for the protection and management of nongame species in greatest need of conservation identified in the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan.

To ensure that money is applied to projects that most efficiently and effectively address the needs identified by the plan, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and its partners have developed a competitive grant process for State Wildlife Grants.

Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan

Introduction

1. Wildlife Action Plan
2. Species of Greatest Conservation Need
   • Amphibians
   • Birds
   • Crayfish
   • Fish
   • Insects
   • Invertebrates – other
   • Mammals
   • Mussels
   • Reptiles
3. The Ecoregions of Arkansas
4. Terrestrial Habitats
5. Aquatic Habitats
6. Informing and engaging the public
7. Climate Change in Arkansas
8. Appendices

Wildlife Conservation Database

Download the Wildlife Conservation Database (last updated 01/04/2017)

1. S Rankings (State) have been updated for mammals.
2. Database has been reconfigured to accept aquatic habitat data.

Program Overview

As part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grant program, Congress charged each state and territory with developing a state Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Arkansas’s strategy (now referred to as the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan) provides an essential foundation for the future of wildlife conservation and an opportunity for state and federal agencies and other conservation partners to fit individual and coordinated roles in conservation efforts across the state. As a part of this, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is responsible for requesting and administering State Wildlife Grants to support the implementation of the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan.

State Wildlife Grants are distributed specifically for the protection and management of nongame species in greatest need of conservation identified in the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan.

To ensure that money is applied to projects that most efficiently and effectively address the needs identified by the plan, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and its partners have developed a competitive grant process for State Wildlife Grants.

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA)

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is a bipartisan act to provide $1.3 billion per year from existing federal revenue to fund state-based conservation on public and private land throughout the nation. This is an unprecedented opportunity to sustain the benefits of our natural world – water quality, plant pollination by insects, food production, air quality and our booming outdoor recreation industry.

Arkansas Benefits

Arkansas will be eligible for more than $15 million per year for:

• Habitat restoration to benefit game and non-game fish and wildlife;
• Proactive conservation efforts to prevent species from becoming threatened and endangered, and
• Wildlife conservation education and wildlife-associated recreation.

Read More

• More Arkansas Benefits
• Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife