Available in summer 2025, the Washington Habitat Connectivity Action Plan builds upon Washington’s leadership in connectivity science. It brings together the scientific information that has been produced over the last couple of decades to identify clear priorities for on-the-ground projects to connect Washington’s landscapes for wildlife.
The Action Plan targets habitat connectivity across roads and across the broader landscape.
For roads, we identify priority locations along highways for wildlife crossing construction projects. Going through this process helps Washington agencies and tribes apply for the unprecedented amount of federal funds available through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program.
Across the broader landscape, we identify priority locations to improve connectivity with interested landowners and conservation partners through habitat protection and restoration. Local government planners can use the Action Plan as they update their comprehensive plans as required by Washington’s Growth Management Act.
The Action Plan has three components:
- Mapping Connectivity: Existing connectivity maps and data combined into a single tool
- Identifying Priority Locations: A short list of statewide priority areas and a framework to allow users who work at more local scales to identify their own priorities
- Recommending Action: Conservation actions for priority locations and connections to resources to help
Action Plan Development Team
Action Plan development is led by the Core Team, which includes staff from WDFW, the Washington Department of Transportation, and Conservation Northwest as well as contractors from the Conservation Biology Institute, TerrAdapt, and the Wildlife Connectivity Institute.
The Technical Advisory Group is made up of subject-matter experts on certain species, ecosystems, and/or landscape modeling approaches. These experts provide input on technical mapping decisions like which data layers to include and how to parameterize connectivity models.
The Implementation Advisory Group is made up of conservation practitioners who do on-the-ground connectivity conservation work and who will use the Action Plan. This group provides input on their values, priorities, and the types of data and tools they need to be successful in their work, ensuring that the Action Plan will be useful to and used by its intended audience.
The Technical Advisory Group and Implementation Advisory Group include representation from Washington state agencies, tribes, federal land managers, local government, academic researchers, and conservation organizations.
Tribal engagement
One of the goals of the Action Plan is to reflect tribal connectivity priorities and support tribes pursuing federal grants and other connectivity work. WDFW staff invited the 29 federally recognized tribes within Washington to participate in Action Plan development as their interest and capacity allows and sought input about wildlife movement or connectivity data they would like to contribute.
Timeline
The Action Plan will be completed in summer 2025. The development team will host two public webinars with project updates. Sign up for the mailing list above to receive webinar announcements.
Resources
Visit our partners’ websites:
- WSDOT ; WSDOT Wildlife Habitat Connectivity
- Conservation Northwest; Conservation Northwest Connecting Habitat Landing Page
- Conservation Biology Institute
- TerrAdapt
- Wildlife Connectivity Institute
Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group
Explore previous wildlife connectivity analyses performed by the Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group. These analyses are being evaluated as potential inputs into the Action Plan’s combined connectivity map, and many of the Working Group’s members serve on the Action Plan’s Technical Advisory Group.