The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has revised its list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need, which is used to focus conservation resources where they're most urgently needed. The draft final list contains 372 species.
The list is part of developing the State Wildlife Action Plan, which enables New York to be eligible for federal funding through the State Wildlife Grants Program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
High priority species needing swift intervention include black rail, loggerhead shrike, piping plover, eastern hellbender, Blanding's turtle, and Atlantic sturgeon.
Since 2010, New York has received an average of $2 million per year in these funds which have supported projects to restore many species.
All species evaluated in the review process and the results can be found in the SGCN list (PDF) (174 KB).
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
