Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs)

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA, has
played a key role in the recovery of tule elk.
Credit: USFWS

The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires that every refuge develop a CCP and revise it every 15 years, as needed.

Science underpins all aspects of refuge planning, but the development of CCPs is citizen-centered government at its best.  Developing these long-term plans relies on public participation and input. Local communities, volunteers and Friends of refuges, state conservation agencies, and such partners as the National Rifle Association and Defenders of Wildlife help guide refuge management through the development of each CCP.  CCPs also provide an opportunity to improve and increase recreation critical to connecting people, particularly children, with nature. 

CCPs ensure that each refuge unit is managed to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was established. Completed CCPs allow refuge managers to take actions that support State Wildlife Action Plans, improve the condition of habitats and benefit wildlife. The current generation of CCPs will focus on individual refuge actions that contribute to larger, landscape-level goals identified through the Landscape Conservation Design process. 

Refuge Planning - by Region

Click on a region to learn the status of Comprehensive Conservation Plans for individual refuges and other units of the Refuge System.