Idaho Department of Fish & Game

State Wildlife Action Plan Species

The Idaho State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) provides a framework for conserving Species of Greatest Conservation Need and the habitats upon which they depend. It is the state’s guiding document for managing and conserving at-risk species. An integrated approach to implementing this strategy across all Fish and Game programs will reduce potential listings under the Endangered Species Act.

The current version of the SWAP identifies two levels for species of special consideration:
Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN):

• SGCN are species known to be experiencing declines or are at-risk due to various stressors or emerging issues, and for which reasonable (and testable) hypotheses can be devised concerning the role of these stressors.

Species of Greatest Information Need (SGIN):

• SGIN are species potentially at-risk but for which current scientific knowledge and expert understanding are lacking. These are species we believe meet the SGCN criteria, but we lack adequate data to confirm it; conservation actions for SGIN are to fill these knowledge gaps.

More information on the criteria used for classifying species as SGCN or SGIN can be found in our Idaho State Wildlife Action Plan