To ensure conservation programs funded by State Wildlife Grants are designed for maximum benefits to nongame wildlife, Congress mandated that all states must complete a detailed Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS) or State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) by October 1, 2005. The SWAP addresses 8 elements required by Congress for each plan, including identifying species of greatest conservation need, their habitat, threats, conservation actions and more, and will be revised every 10 years.
The primary goal of the SWAP will be to prevent wildlife from declining to the point of endangerment. This goal will be achieved by engaging a broad array of partners in the development process including other government agencies, conservation groups, private landowners, the public, and anyone else who has a stake in fish and wildlife management. It is the intent that the strategic plans from the states will collectively create a nationwide approach to wildlife conservation and turn the tide of species decline.
A team of TWRA wildlife biologists, with assistance from The Nature Conservancy, the nation’s leading conservation planning organization, spent 18 months developing Tennessee’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. The development of the plan became the largest single planning effort the TWRA has ever undertaken. It was a particularly challenging task since Tennessee is considered to be the most biologically diverse state without a coastline boasting seven of the eight most ecologically rich rivers in North America; more than 325 species of fish, ranking the state first among all states in freshwater fish diversity; more than 300 species of birds; 89 mammals; 70 amphibians; 61 reptiles; and more than 2,300 varieties of plants. The process was further complicated by Tennessee’s diversity of habitats ranging from the remnants of Ice Age forests in the highest elevations of the Appalachians to the rich bottomlands of the Mississippi River. Since wildlife populations, obviously, do not recognize state boundaries, coordination between neighboring states is also essential. And because Tennessee has approximately 9,000 documented caves, the TWRA planning team was also required to consider these subterranean habitats.
While the current Tennessee State Wildlife Action Plan boasts many successes, federal guidelines stipulate an update by 2015 for state wildlife agencies to continue receiving funding through the State Wildlife Grants program. TWRA, The Nature Conservancy and other partners began a two-year SWAP revision process in the fall of 2013 that is addressing changing environmental conditions and new conservation issues, such as emerging wildlife diseases and the spread of invasive exotic species. New data from wildlife monitoring and habitat surveys, as well as climate change information, is being incorporated into the updated plan.