Documents

This spreadsheet explains all the tables in the import spreadsheet, fields that we need to collect and what values are accepted.  These tables include SGCN, Action, Threat, and Associated Habitats.  In the actual import spreadsheet the Associated Habitats are split into their own tabs and listed by their Habitat Class name.  The spreadsheet also includes helper tabs for the accepted Action Class, Threat Class, Habitat Classes/Types, and Taxons and Subtaxons.

The SWAP Import Templates contains each of the tables that need to be filled out for importing.  The SWAP Import Templates spreadsheet has blank sheets with the column names labeled for you.

A nine-page summary report of the Northeast Regional Conservation Synthesis for 2025 State Wildlife Action Plans.

Anderson, M.G., Clark, M. and A. Olivero. 2023. Conservation Status of Natural Habitats in the Northeast. The Nature Conservancy, Center for Resilient Conservation Science. Newburyport, MA.

The Status Assessment for the Eastern Box Turtle in the Northeastern United States provides information that will allow the reader to build a solid understanding of the ecology of the eastern box turtle (subspecies woodland box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina) in the northeast, understand the threats to the species, and relevant research conducted to date. This is meant to be a complimentary document to the Conservation Plan for the Eastern Box Turtles in the Northeastern United States, which provides recommendations to address and reduce the threats and a framework to increase the potential for the long-term persistence of the eastern box turtle.

The Northeast Xeric Habitats for Pollinators project involved 20 sites from Maryland to Maine in a joint effort to measure the response of vegetation and bee communities to different habitat treatments. Bee and moth communities were also surveyed to correlate diversity and community composition with site conditions and characteristics. Although xeric sites in the region differ due to environmental factors, all sites share the habitat objective of maintaining lower percent cover of woody plants than most habitats in the northeast. A high-quality xeric habitat in the northeast U.S. typically has well-drained soils and fire-adapted vegetation with open tree canopies, abundant floral resources, and patches of bare soil. Depending on the vegetation, these habitats are referred to as sandplains, barrens, woodlands, and grasslands.

Based on the contributed information from all 20 sites, 279 plant species were identified, 262 species of bees and 1447 species of moths were collected, and we learned several important things about xeric habitats in the Northeastern U.S.:

1. Even among sites that are self-described barrens or woodlands, environmental characteristics were important determinates of vegetation community and structure, and bee and moth communities.
2. Habitat management is effective at restoring and/or maintaining the rare obligate species that were the target of this study. Management treatments including canopy thinning, mowing, and fire resulted in decreases in total, tree, shrub, and woody vegetation and increases in early successional flowering plants, pollinator host plant taxa, and overall plant diversity.
3. Bees and Moths were more diverse in colder, drier sites, but moths were more diverse at sites with higher % cover, while bees were more diverse at sites that were managed for more open conditions.
4. Bees and moths showed a slight increase in species diversity during the timeframe of this project. Reflecting longer term benefits, sites with a history of habitat management and objectives that align with maintaining quality barrens conditions had higher plant and bee species diversity and management was successful in increasing the abundance of plants that are known to be important to pollinators. In contrast long-term management was associated with lower moth richness and abundance.
    

The Conservation Plan for the Eastern Box Turtle in the Northeastern United States aims to facilitate collaborative conservation at the regional level that addresses the numerous challenges facing the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) that were identified within the Status Assessment for the Eastern Box Turtle in the Northeastern United States (Erb and Roberts 2023). The fundamental goal of this Conservation Plan is to support the persistence and adaptive capacity of the eastern box turtle in the northeastern United States from Maine to Virginia.

Terminology Conventions and Data Framework for State Wildlife Action Plans

State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) are comprehensive conservation blueprints that guide diverse partners to restore Species of Greatest Conservation Need and their habitats. To fulfill this role at a regional scale, SWAPs must provide consistent terminology to support comprehensive multi-state information compilation and assessments. This need was recognized prior to the 2015 federally required 10-year revision, when the Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ Fish & Wildlife Diversity Technical Committee (NEFWDTC) pioneered The Northeast Lexicon: Terminology Conventions and Data Framework for State Wildlife Action Plans in the Northeast Region. The resulting consistency in terminology among SWAPs served as a gateway to regional coordination and tool development such as the Northeast SWAP Database. Subsequently, this database has been used by the NEFWDTC to derive multistate priorities for landscape-level collaboration. In 2022, the NEFWDTC SWAP Subcommittee updated the Northeast Lexicon, incorporating current best practices and considering new opportunities for collaboration prior to 2025 SWAP updates. The 2022 Lexicon provides a data framework for the first five federally required Elements (i.e., species, habitats, threats, actions, monitoring), meets U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expectations for SWAPs, aligns with national voluntary SWAP best practices, and prioritizes data fields needed for the Northeast SWAP Database and regional conservation planning analyses. While maximizing consistency, the Lexicon provides flexibility to realize the value of innovation and the need for SWAPs to be state-driven.

The primary objectives of this project were to advance conservation efforts for Blanding’s Turtles in the northeast by working with state biologists to:

1. Identify and facilitate action on site-specific conservation needs at select sites within the Blanding’s Turtle Conservation Area Network,
2. Develop and distribute outreach materials about Blanding’s Turtle Best Management Practices (BMPs),
3. Help format and contribute to a site action tracking database,
4. Develop or update site-specific conservation plans for selected sites, and
5. Participate in monthly conference calls with the Northeast Blanding’s Turtle Working Group and other discussions with state biologists, conservation groups, and other stakeholders.
    

The objectives of the Wood Turtle (WT) project were to advance conservation efforts for the Wood Turtle by identifying, prioritizing, and facilitating the implementation of high-priority actions within Focal Core Areas in the Northeast, tracking the progress of these actions by all partners, revising and distributing Best Management Practices, conducting technical assistance trainings, seeking additional funding, and performing surveys in data deficient geographic locations.

Between January and March 2019 (Quarter 1 of the grant period), six spotted turtle sampling sites were identified using data from the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, land managers, and local biologists. The sites (abbreviated for data sensitivity reasons) included: WR (Sussex County), BC (Warren County), DR (Somerset County), AC (Monmouth County), CW (Burlington County), and BN (Ocean County). Permission to conduct spotted turtle surveys was sought and obtained for all the sites. Reconnaissance surveys were conducted to identify key habitat areas and delineate/map 400 m diameter sampling plots as per the regional sampling protocols.

A standardized pollinator protocol was developed for the 2018 season of the Xeric Grassland, Barren, and Woodland Pollinator Conservation Project anticipated to improve the ability of Northeast states to implement cost-effective habitat management to benefit native pollinators and Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need that depend on these priority habitats. A network of twelve organizations (state, federal, and not-for-profit), representing eight states (VA, MD, NJ, NY, MA, NH, VT, ME) enrolled to participate in the first year of this project. The sites were located in seven ecoregions within the eastern United States. All participants received the necessary equipment to collect and mail bee specimens to a central lab at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to be processed and identified. Through a webinar, all participating sites were provided training on how collect bees using bee bowls (pan traps) and hand netting. Each site received a copy of the RCN pollinator protocol to assist in their collection efforts. An undergraduate student was hired as a summer intern to help process bees in the lab. Over the course of the season a total of 3237 bees representing 5 families, 25 genera, and 125 species have been identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Three species listed on State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAP) were collected. Baseline bee datasets developed from these surveys will help guide future treatment and management activities to create and restore xeric grasslands, barrens, and woodland communities.

This document summarizes the innovative and strategic approaches to conservation that have been developed collaboratively with Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ Fish and Wildlife Diversity Technical Committee and its key partners. Together, the Northeast states have created a regional conservation planning framework enabling the systematic development of common terrestrial and aquatic habitat classifications, identification of Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need, integrated monitoring framework for species and their habitats and regional assessments of species and habitat condition. Recent conservation efforts for Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (such as New England cottontail and Blanding’s turtle) highlight how the states are applying this regional conservation planning framework across state lines to preempt federal listing by implementing on-the-ground conservation.

Northeast Wildlife, Vol 54, 1999.