A conservation strategy for wildlife in Washington, DC
The District of Columbia is home to thousands of species of fish, wildlife, and plants. The District’s Wildlife Action Plan provides a comprehensive framework for managing and conserving our diverse animal and plant wildlife and important habitats. The Wildlife Action Plan can be used by any government agency, conservation organization, or resident who wishes to help conserve wildlife.
DC’s Wildlife Action Plan is one of 56 plans produced by states, territories, and the District of Columbia that identify species of greatest conservation need, habitats important to wildlife, key threats, important conservation actions, and research and monitoring plans. To receive federal funding through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program, every state, territory, and the District of Columbia must review and revise their Wildlife Action Plan at least every ten years. The District published its first Wildlife Action Plan in 2005 and updated the plan in 2015.
Request for public comment on the Draft 2025 Update to the District of Columbia Wildlife Action Plan
DOEE is currently reviewing and revising the District of Columbia Wildlife Action Plan and seeks public comment on the draft plan. The updated plan is based on over 20 years of research, monitoring, and conservation actions by DOEE and others and incorporates input from several technical advisory committees, District and federal agencies, stakeholder organizations, and the public.
The 2025 draft plan documents are available below:
- Front Matter
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Strategic Wildlife Action Planning
- Chapter 3: District of Columbia Lands and Waters
- Chapter 4: Species of Greatest Conservation Need
- Chapter 5: Habitats (coming soon)
- Chapter 6: Threats (coming soon)
- Chapter 7: Conservation Actions (coming soon)
- Chapter 8: Monitoring and Adaptive Management (coming soon)
- Chapter 9: Opportunities for Public Engagement in Conserving Urban Ecosystems
- References (coming soon)
- Appendices (coming soon)
DOEE will be accepting public comment on the Draft 2025 Update to the District of Columbia Wildlife Action Plan from Friday, May 15, 2026, through Sunday, June 14, 2026.
DOEE will be a hosting a virtual public meeting about the draft plan during the public comment period. Attendees must register for the event in order to receive a WebEx meeting link that will allow them to join.
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Meeting date and time: Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 2:00 pm
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Once the presenter has concluded their remarks at the meeting, attendees may use the "raise hand" function to be called upon and unmuted. Attendees may also interact via chat. If an attendee is a bad actor, they will be immediately muted and ejected from the webinar.
Parties wishing to provide comments on the document may be submitted via the following methods:
- Send an email to [email protected] with the subject “Draft 2025 Update to the District of Columbia Wildlife Action Plan”.
- Submit comments via mail or hand delivery to the following address:
DOEE Fisheries and Wildlife Division
Attn: Sophie Moore, Draft 2025 Update to the District of Columbia Wildlife Action Plan
1200 First St. NE, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20002
All comments received by the deadline will be considered by the Department in updating the District of Columbia Wildlife Action Plan. All comments will be treated as public documents and may be made available for public viewing on DOEE’s website.