Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§2903 Conservation plans

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 49— - FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION › § 2903

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A State's conservation plan must give the State agency picked for the job the main responsibility for making and updating the plan. The plan must list nongame fish and wildlife and any other species the agency thinks the public values for ecological, educational, aesthetic, cultural, recreational, economic, or scientific reasons. For those species the plan must say how big their populations are, where they live, and how they are spread out, and it must describe the important habitats and their condition. The plan must name major threats, set conservation actions and priorities, monitor species and how well actions work, review and revise the plan at intervals no greater than 3 years, let the public comment during planning and implementation, and have the agency consult with Federal and other State agencies as needed to avoid duplication and share the best information.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §2903

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The conservation plan for any State must—

(1)provide for the vesting in the designated State agency of the overall responsibility for the development and revision of the conservation plan;

(2)provide for an inventory of the nongame fish and wildlife, and such other fish and wildlife as the designated State agency deems appropriate, that are within the State and are valued for ecological, educational, esthetic, cultural, recreational, economic, or scientific benefits by the public;

(3)with respect to those species identified under paragraph (2) (hereinafter in this section referred to as “plan species”), provide for—

(A)the determination of the size, range, and distribution of their populations, and

(B)the identification of the extent, condition, and location of their significant habitats;

(4)identify the significant problems which may adversely affect the plan species and their significant habitats;

(5)determine those actions which should be taken to conserve the plan species and their significant habitats;

(6)establish priorities for implementing the conservation actions determined under paragraph (5);

(7)provide for the monitoring, on a regular basis, of the plan species and the effectiveness of the conservation actions determined under paragraph (5);

(8)provide for plan review and revision, if appropriate, at intervals of not more than 3 years;

(9)ensure that the public be given opportunity to make its views known and considered during the development, revision, and implementation of the plan; and

(10)provide that the designated State agency consult, as appropriate, with Federal agencies, and other State agencies during the development, revision, and implementation of the plan, in order to minimize duplication of efforts and to ensure that the best information is available to all such agencies.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 2903

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73