Oregon’s lands and waters from coastal forests to sagebrush steppe provide habitat for hundreds of species of fish and wildlife. Our state’s unique wildlife — ranging from the western meadowlark and the American pika to less well-known species such as the Oregon chub and coastal tailed frog — is being threatened by habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, and pollution.
That is why the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is revising the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), formerly called the Oregon Conservation Strategy, to make sure we take action now to prevent species decline and extinctions. Every ten years, this important plan is revised to set Oregon’s conservation goals for the next decade. The SWAP identifies conservation priorities and strategies to protect species of greatest conservation need and their habitats.
The revision is also incredibly important because it keeps Oregon eligible for federal conservation funds from the State and Tribal Wildlife Grant program. The revised plan must be submitted by ODFW to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on October 1, 2025.
The SWAP revision process officially started in 2023. ODFW completed an extensive internal review and began public outreach with a series of presentations to partner groups and events. We also completed a survey about the current SWAP (2016 version) and what partners would like to see updated. Our staff worked hard to incorporate the feedback to produce the first drafts of revised sections.
In January 2025, we kicked off a community meeting to connect with both our technical experts (federal, state, local agencies, tribes, and conservation organizations) and the general public, who are passionate about learning and getting involved in conservation. Then, starting in February 2025, a series of technical workgroup sessions began, diving into specific topics and sections of the plan until May 2025.
Once we complete the revision process, a final draft will be submitted to Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission for review this fall.
You can learn more and get involved in fish and wildlife conservation by visiting our SWAP revision page at https://dfw.state.or.us/SWAP-Revision. Sign up for our email list, send a comment, join a meeting or review recordings of topics most important to you.
