USDA’s new framework for migratory big game conservation

In June 2026 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published Migratory Big Game: A Framework for Conservation Action.

Bringing together federal, state, Tribal, and local partners across 17 western states, the Framework corresponds with and is supported by the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA). Taking an integrated approach, the Framework focuses on aligning resources and conservation practices across public and private lands to address threats to big game like elk, mule deer, and pronghorn.

Migratory Big Game: A Framework for Conservation Action

Connectivity Roadmaps: Planning Documents for Connectivity

To accomplish this, the Migratory Big Game Framework establishes a strategy to coordinate Farm Bill and other USDA resources to ensure that state and Tribal wildlife priorities are translated into effective, on-the-ground action across all big game habitats. This includes Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), as well as the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which has the potential to connect thousands of acres.

The three main strategies outlined to address threats to big game like elk, pronghorn, and mule deer include:

Protecting Habitat and Connectivity: Voluntary conservation easements and CRP contracts help keep working lands intact, preventing fragmentation from development and securing movement corridors for future generations.
Reducing Barriers to Movement: Modernizing fences is a centerpiece of the strategy, replacing hazardous designs with wildlife-friendly alternatives and, where possible, removing fencing entirely. The Framework also highlights emerging solutions like virtual fencing, which reduces conflicts between livestock management and wildlife migration while lowering costs for producers.
Improving Habitat Quality: Actions include controlling invasive annual grasses, removing encroaching conifers, restoring mesic (wet) habitats, and improving forest health to boost forage and habitat quality on summer and winter ranges. These steps strengthen rangeland resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and maintain reliable water and forage sources critical to livestock and wildlife alike.

States include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Several initiatives and policies provide the foundation for this Framework, including:

Working Lands for Wildlife (WLWF) – USDA’s premier approach for conserving America’s working lands to benefit people, wildlife, and rural communities through voluntary, incentive-based conservation
Three existing Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) frameworks in the Sagebrush Biome, Great Plains Grasslands, and Northern Bobwhite, Grasslands and Savannas
Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) Wildlife Movement and Connectivity Initiative
Western Governors’ Association Resolutions (such as 2024-03, 2021-03, 2019-08, and 07-01) to establish a regional mandate for protecting connectivity.
2024 USDA-WAFWA Memorandum of Understanding to establish a formal relationship between state-led conservation priorities and federal program delivery
Secretarial Order 3362 “Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors”

Please note: This digest is intended to provide up-to-date information on policy development from a neutral, unaffiliated position as it relates to connectivity and corridor science and management.

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Hampshire	2026	SB592	Enables regional, conservation, and energy resource planning for habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors
New Hampshire	2019	SB200	Requires the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to consider fish and wildlife crossings and mitigation measures in all future road and culvert projects
New Hampshire	2016	SB376	Requires the fish and game department to identify existing and needed wildlife corridors connecting wildlife habitats in the state and to make recommendations for legislative changes

State	Year	Policy	Description
Maine	2023	LD258	Appropriates $7.5 million to Department of Transportation to improve roadways with potential adaptations for wildlife
Maine	2023	LD1881	Establishes compensation fee program relating to fish and wildlife habitats and associated corridors, including compensation paid by solar energy development
Maine	2023	LD508	Requires Department of Environmental Protection to review its permitting laws concerning climate change, habitat connectivity, ecological resilience, and coastal environments

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Jersey	2025	S3618	Directs state agencies to develop a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Jersey	2024	S3916/A5486	Expands eligibility for existing wildlife fencing programs by including farmers leasing farmland
New Jersey	2007	NJAC7:13	Requires the state to incorporate wildlife crossings or a natural bank for terrestrial threatened and endangered species and/or species of concern when a new bridge or culvert project would cause habitat fragmentation

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Mexico	2023	SB72	Appropriates money to new Wildlife Corridors Fund for implementation of wildlife crossing projects under New Mexico Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Mexico	2022	HB 2	Allocates funding for projects to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and allows the Department of Transportation and Department of Game to implement their Wildlife Corridors Action Plan
New Mexico	2019	SB 228	Requires the creation of a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan that includes comprehensive guidance to agencies for identifying, prioritizing and maintaining important areas for wildlife movement

State	Year	Policy	Description
Washington	2023	HB1216/SB5196	Requires Department of Ecology to prepare environmental impact statements for clean energy projects that consider impacts to habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors
Washington	2022	SB5689	Provides funding for US 97 Wildlife Crossing Improvements project
Washington	2019	SEO 1031.02	Recognizes the effect of roadways in creating barriers to wildlife movement, breeding, and migrations; the Washington State Department of Transportation will promote and support Practical Solutions and Planning and Environmental Linkages to integrate habitat connectivity and biodiversity plans; will make use of the highway prioritization map known as Habitat Connectivity Investment Priorities; and will corporate and coordinate with other agencies involved in wildlife habitat protection, specifically along highways

Connecting Science to Conservation

USDA’s new framework for migratory big game conservation

Migratory Big Game: A Framework for Conservation Action

Connectivity Roadmaps: Planning Documents for Connectivity

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About the Author: Rebecca Boslough King

State	Year	Policy	Description
Vermont	2023	Act59	Vermont's 30x30 law that commits to conserving and maintaining an ecologically functional landscape that sustains biodiversity and maintains landscape connectivity
Vermont	2016	Act 171	Primarily focuses on timber harvesting regulations, but calls for a study of necessary revisions to planning statutes that protect contiguous areas of forestland from fragmentation and promote habitat connectivity between forestlands

State	Year	Policy	Description
Florida	2024	SB1638	Dedicates annual funding to land purchases, conservation easements, and trail maintenance within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	HB1379	Creates annual appropriation to acquire lands that complete certain linkages and are under high population stress within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	SB2500 sec.146	Provides funding to buy Ocala to Osceola (“O2O”) Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2021	SB976	Tasks state agencies with maintaining wildlife connectivity and designates Florida Wildlife Corridor as an existing physical, geographically defined area
Florida	2021	SB2500	Appropriates $300 million to acquire lands to conserve Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2019	SB7068	Creates a "Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance Program" that includes protection of wildlife corridors as an intended benefit
Florida	2008	SB542	Amends Florida Forever Act statues to include goals of connecting linkage corridors
Florida	2001	SB1468	Amends Florida Forever Act to establish that land acquisitions should include complete landscape linkages and corridors
Florida	1999	S908	Creates Florida Forever Program, with increased protection of lands that protect threatened or endangered species and plans to create a statewide system of connected landscape linkages