The Department of Environmental Conservation is Accepting Comments Now on the Draft SWAP
A federal grant program provides funding for the preservation and management of fish and wildlife diversity. To be eligible for funding, states must develop a State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) that includes a list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), and identifies the habitats SGCN require, threats that must be addressed to ensure their conservation, and recommends actions to address those threats. Each state’s SWAP must be updated every ten years. The draft 2025 update to New York’s SWAP has been released by the Department of Enviromental Conservaiton (DEC) for public comment. The deadline to submit public comments is September 20, 2025. Go to the bottom of this page for information about how to submit a comment.
The first step in the SWAP update is preparation of a Species Status Assessment (SSA) for each species that is or may be imperiled in the State and which is proposed for inclusion on the SGCN list. DEC’s draft SSA list published in 2024 included many mammal species . In June 2024, PROTECT submitted comments on DEC’s draft SSA’s, focusing on four mammal species (Canada lynx, cougar, moose and wolves) and four bird species (American three-toed woodpecker, bay-breasted warbler, Bicknell’s thrush and red-headed woodpecker). Our comments focused on the possible presence of Canada lynx, cougar and wolves in New York state due to the confirmed presence of Canada lynx in nearby areas of Vermont, the confirmed presence in New York of dispersing gray wolves from Canada and the Great Lakes region, and the suitability and prey densities in the Adirondack Park that are capable of sustaining populations of all three of these species that were once native predators in New York.
Wolves are listed as endangered species in New York and should be included on the SGCN list.
DEC’s list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need leaves off wolves, cougars and Canada lynx
DEC subsequently released revised SSAs and a proposed SGCN list at the end of 2024 that inexplicably excluded Canada lynx, cougar and wolves. The list for mammal species is available on DEC’s website. In January 2025, we again submitted comments urging DEC to include Canada lynx, cougar and wolves on the SGCN list. We also sent another comment letter to DEC in February 2025 about the fact that the states of Maine and New Hampshire included both Canada lynx and wolf on their draft SGCN lists and that Vermont’s draft SGCN list included Canada lynx, cougar and wolves. Further, a biologist in Maine stated that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife expects to document a wolf pack in Main within the next ten years.
Comments are due by September 20, 2025!
The draft SWAP that has been released by DEC for public comment continues to exclude Canada lynx, cougar and wolves. The draft SWAP states that the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy document approved in 2006 included wolves, cougars and lynx as SGCN, but now DEC is choosing “not to include” them, stating that “restoring them is not a conservation priority for DEC”. However, reintroducing these large carnivores is not the only management action that DEC could take. DEC can point to existing protections for the habitat that already exists. DEC can provide better training and education for hunters, trappers and the public. DEC could undertake a systematic monitoring effort focused on ascertaining whether these species are located in the State and/or are traveling here from nearby states. Rather than identifying any management actions that could be taken, and excluding them from the SWAP and the SGCN list, DEC is sending the wrong signal to the public that there is no potential for naturally re-establishing breeding populations of these species in New York.
We urge the public to submit comments to DEC asking that DEC include these three species in the SWAP, making these three points:
- Not including Canada lynx, cougar and gray wolf in the SWAP sends the wrong message to the public that there is no potential for these species to re-establish populations in New York. In fact, the scientific data have consistently shown (and DEC has acknowledged) that suitable habitat and prey densities exist for all three species, thus providing a clear opportunity for re-establishment of these species in New York.
- DEC can fulfill the SWAP requirement that strategies for conservation be identified for Canada lynx, cougar and gray wolf by pointing to existing constitutional and statutory protections for the millions of acres of Forest Preserve lands providing suitable habitat and the prey species, and stressing that those protections will be maintained as the foundation of the conservation strategy for these species.
- Cougar and gray wolf are listed by DEC as endangered species and they should therefore be included in the SWAP. Many other states, including Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont, include all state-listed endangered and threatened species on their SGCN lists, and New York should do the same.
Having these species in the SWAP will ensure that DEC recognizes these species as having the potential to re-establish populations in New York. It is important that these species are not simply erased from public discussion and from DEC’s consideration. The deadline to submit public comments is September 20, 2025.
Submit Your Public Comment Today
Public comments are due by September 20, 2025. Please write your own comment letter to the DEC or you can use the form below to send an automatic comment.
Scroll down to send an automatic email.
Comments to DEC must be submitted in writing and can be mailed or emailed to nyswap2025@dec.ny.gov with the subject line “Draft SWAP Comments” or mailed to the following address:
SWAP Coordinator
Division of Fish and Wildlife
NYSDEC
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-4754
