Guidance Documents

The mission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) is to “work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.”  To meet this mission, the Service in many instances has developed activity-specific guidance in coordination with partners and industry. These guidance documents are designed to help industry and project developers implement measures to reduce activity-specific impacts to migratory birds. These documents provide important background on the applicable laws and policies, helping clarify standards and expectations, and/or offering suggested best practices to avoid or minimize negative impacts to birds.

The following links contain guidance documents that have been developed for specific industries or species.

• Communication Towers
• Electric Utility Lines
• Oil & Gas
• Wind Energy

Species Specific

• Eagles

Conservation measures - particular measures that can be implemented at a project site to help avoid or minimize take of migratory birds or their habitat - may often times be an element of a guidance document. Some of the guidance documents listed below may include recommended conservation measures or references to documents containing these recommendations. For a growing list of migratory bird conservation measure resources, please visit the Conservation Measures webpage.