In the face of rapid environmental change, a strategic approach is necessary to most efficiently target conservation actions for the hundreds of fish and wildlife species for which the agencies are responsible. One element in the strategic approach advanced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to select a subset of “surrogate” species that represent the needs of this broader set of species. Selecting surrogate species and establishing population objectives can be used to help answer critical questions about the types, amounts, and locations of conservation actions needed across the landscape. However, selecting species and population objectives is only a first step. For surrogate species concepts to actually benefit fish and wildlife populations, a method for incorporating them into more comprehensive planning processes is needed to target concrete conservation actions. In this project, the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative used an approach not only to compile lists of surrogate species, population objectives, limiting factors, and conservation actions but also to incorporate surrogate species into a collaborative, regional effort to identify Conservation Opportunity Areas reflecting Service and State conservation priority areas for Wildlife Action Plans in the Northeast.
