Agency Special Status Species

Part of streamlining ESA processes like section 7 is working toward proactive management of declining species and either avoiding need for ESA protections in the first place, or have management in place prior to listing to minimize impacts to ongoing programs and projects in a post-listing land management environment. For example, BLM and Forest Service in Colorado and Wyoming each maintain lists of special status species (aka sensitive species) and afford them special management attention due to concerns for their decline. In many cases, there is considerable overlap in these species across the agencies' lists and lands we manage. Opportunities likely exist to increasingly leverage limited resources and the scope of conservation efforts across larger landscapes for these species. On this page are examples of current policies governing management of these special status species by agency, the lists of these species for cooperative planning purposes, and other examples of existing conservation plans, strategies and agreements involving our special status species.

Bureau of Land Management

• BLM Wyoming sensitive species policy and list (2010)
• BLM Colorado sensitive species (2023)

Forest Service

• FSM 2670 - Threatened Endangered and Sensitive Plants and Animals
• Regional Forester Sensitive Species (R2) (2023)

National Park Service

• National Park Service policies for special status species

BLM / USFS shared sensitive species

Many opportunities exist for field personnel across the agencies to explore collaborative conservation projects and leverage resources for our common special status species. These are just the shared species and not the full lists for each agency, which are provided above.

• Crosswalk of BLM/USFS shared sensitive species (Feb 2024)

Conservation Assessments

• USFS species conservation assessments
• BLM species conservation assessments

Conservation Plans, Strategies, and Agreements

Some available conservation plans, strategies and agreements.

Candidate Conservation Agreements

Greater Sage-grouse

• Wyoming Statewide Umbrella CCAA/CCAs for the Greater Sage-grouse

This webpage hosted by the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association has a wealth of materials related to the CCAA/CCAs for private lands and lands managed by the BLM and Forest Service in Wyoming.

Gunnison sage-grouse

• Gunnison Sage-grouse CCA for the Gunnison Basin, CO
• Biological assessment for the Gunnison Basin CCA
• Conference opinion for the Gunnison Basin CCA
• Adoption of the Gunnison Basin Candidate Conservation Agreement Conference Opinion as the Final Biological Opinion

State Wildlife Action Plans

• Colorado Action Plan (2015 revision)

  The Colorado Parks and Wildlife have completed a comprehensive revision of their plan that should be released soon.

• Wyoming Action Plan (2010 revision)
  • Bird species of greatest conservation need
  • Mammal species of greatest conservation need

Other Multi-species Conservation Plans

• Colorado Conservation Plan for Grassland Species (2003)

Taxa- or Species-specific Plans, Strategies & Agreements

Bats

The species-specific reports and conservation agreements presented here were not necessarily developed by the streamlining agencies, although members may have contributed to development of some. They are provided for awareness.

• Colorado Bat Conservation Plan  (Ellison et al. 2004)
• A Conservation Plan for Bats in Wyoming (Hester and Grenier 2005)
• Conservation Strategy for the Townsend's Big–eared Bat (ID Fish & Game 1999)

Boreal Toad

• Conservation Plan and Agreement for the Management and Recovery of the Southern Rocky Mountain Population of the Boreal Toad (Boreal Toad Recovery Team 2001)

  This plan is currently in revision (2016) by the recovery team.

Burrowing Owl

• Status Assessment and Conservation Plan for the Western Burrowing Owl in the United States (2013)
• North American Conservation Action Plan for the Western Burrowing Owl (CEC 2005)

Cassin's Sparrow

• Cassin’s Sparrow (Aimophila cassinii) Status Assessment and Conservation Plan (Ruth 2000)

Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse

• Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse Conservation Plan for Northwest Colorado (Hoffman, ed. 2001)

Cutthroat Trout

• Colorado River cutthroat: Status Assessment (2013), Conservation Agreement (2006), and Conservation Strategy (2006) (CPW webpage)
• Rio Grande cutthroat: Conservation Agreement (2013), Conservation Strategy (2013), and Rangewide Reports (2008 - 2014) (CPW webpage)

Ferruginous Hawk

• North American Conservation Action Plan for the Ferruginous Hawk (CEC 2005)

Greater Sage–grouse

• BLM site for Greater Sage-grouse Plan Amendments
• USFS site for Greater Sage-grouse Plan Amendments
• Wyoming Greater Sage-grouse site w/ Governor's core area strategy

Lesser Prairie–chicken

• Rangewide Conservation Plan for the Lesser Prairie-chicken (WAFWA 2013)
• A Grassland Conservation Plan for Prairie Grouse (Vodehnal and Haufler 2007)

Long–billed Curlew

• Status Assessment and Conservation Action Plan for the Long–billed curlew (Numenius americanus) (Fellows and Jones 2009)

Mountain Plover

• Conservation Plan for the Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) (Andres and Stone 2009)

Prairie Dog

Black-tailed

• A Multi-State Conservation Plan for the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, Cynomys ludovicianus, in the United States (Luce 2003) and The Black-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Assessment and Strategy (Van Pelt ed. 1999) (WAFWA webpage)
• North American Conservation Action Plan for the Black-tailed Prairie Dog (CEC 2005)

Gunnison's and White-tailed

• Colorado Gunnison's and White-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Strategy (Seglund and Schnurr 2010)

Swift Fox

• Conservation Assessment and Conservation Strategy for Swift Fox in the United States (Stukel, ed. 2011 update)