Bird Management Plans

North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for coordination and implementation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the foundational bird conservation partnership upon which many others have been built. Efforts are coordinated with the governments of Canada and Mexico through interactions with the North American Waterfowl Management Plan Committee, other Fish and Wildlife Service program areas, Migratory Bird Joint Ventures, and a variety of public and private conservation agencies and organizations. David Gordon is the North American Waterfowl Management Plan coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 Partners in Flight
This broadly based bird conservation initiative has developed songbird conservation priorities and habitat conservation plans for physiographic areas nationwide. Bob Ford, who works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Division of Migratory Bird Management, is the national coordinator for Partners in Flight. Partners in Flight's monitoring, research, planning, and implementation activities benefit bird habitat conservation by providing a scientific and planning base that contributes to ranking and developing habitat priorities. We support Partners in Flight by providing species assessments, project development and review, and national coordination efforts.

 North American Waterbird Conservation Plan
This relatively new initiative focuses on waterbirds across the continent. Primary attention is provided to species that are not currently addressed by other conservation initiatives, and includes grebes, rails, seabirds, terns, and herons.

 U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan
Partners from state and federal agencies, joint ventures, and non-governmental organizations from across the country pooled their resources and expertise to develop a conservation strategy for migratory shorebirds and the habitats upon which they depend. The U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan provides a scientific framework to determine species, sites, and habitats that most urgently need conservation action. Main goals of the plan, completed in 2000, are to ensure that adequate quanity and quality of shorebird habitat is maintained at the local levels. These national assessments were used to step down goals and objectives into 11 regional conservation plans. Plan partners are working with joint ventures to accomplish these goals. The Shorebird Plan is administered by the Division of Migratory Bird Management. Contact Brad Andres for further information on the Shorebird Plan.

Focal Species
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated the Focal Species strategy to better measure its success in achieving its bird conservation priorities and mandates. The Focal Species strategy involves campaigns for selected species to provide explicit, strategic, and adaptive sets of conservation actions required to return the species to healthy and sustainable levels.