The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), along with its conservation partners, has completed initial revisions to the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan (AWAP) — a critical roadmap for conserving the state’s most vulnerable species and habitats. The updated draft is now available for public review and comment at www.agfc.com/awap, with feedback being accepted through Sept. 3.
First developed in 2005 and approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007, AWAP serves as a proactive strategy to protect Arkansas’s rich biodiversity. Rather than waiting until species are classified as threatened or endangered, the plan identifies “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” (SGCN) and outlines steps to conserve their habitats before populations reach critical levels.
“Once a species becomes listed as threatened or endangered, it can be much more difficult to work on the habitats that support them, even if it’s to improve that habitat,” said Allison Fowler, assistant chief of wildlife management for AGFC. “By identifying possible candidates for conservation needs, we’re proactively helping those species before they reach those levels that cause alarm.”
The 2025 revision marks the second major update to the plan and includes several first-time features. Nick Goforth, coordinator of the AGFC Wildlife Diversity Program, highlighted new initiatives such as the inclusion of plant species and a more detailed, tier-based system for prioritizing conservation efforts.
“We updated the list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need to include 520 species,” Goforth said. “We streamlined profiles for each species to focus on habitat associations, threats, conservation actions, distribution, and data gaps. This helps us better guide our resources and conservation work.”
Goforth also noted the plan’s previous success in guiding habitat restoration efforts across the state — from grassland restoration that benefits songbirds, wild turkeys, and northern bobwhite, to glade habitat recovery efforts in western Arkansas supporting species like the eastern collared lizard.
Another example includes habitat improvement work at Warren Prairie to aid reintroduced populations of red-cockaded woodpeckers, which also benefits other species. Ongoing statewide surveys of Arkansas’s native bee populations — estimated at over 400 species — are further helping to broaden understanding of pollinators critical to both wild and commercial plant life.
The updated plan also addresses accessibility. The new draft reduces the overall length from over 1,600 pages while preserving detailed species and habitat profiles. A summary “highlights” document and comprehensive index have been added to help users navigate the material.
“The real meat of the plan is in the species and habitat profiles in the appendices,” Goforth said. “We want to make sure the public can engage with this plan and find the information that matters most to them.”
After the public comment period ends on Sept. 3, the final version of the AWAP will be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approval later this year.
To view the draft and submit feedback, visit www.agfc.com/awap.
