The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) facilitates the listing and conservation of threatened and endangered species in California. It is state policy to conserve, protect, restore, and enhance listed species, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is charged with conducting scientific reviews of species petitioned for listing, administering permitting programs to authorize take of listed species, and conducting periodic status reviews of listed species. While CESA provides protection for listed and candidate species, until recently, CDFW has had neither the funding nor the authority to prepare recovery plans providing a conservation roadmap and delisting criteria for those species. In 2019, CDFW was given authority to produce recovery plans and, in 2021, was provided funding for positions to coordinate recovery planning. Future recovery plans will provide recovery frameworks and criteria for numerous CESA-listed plants and animals, many of which have no current federal recovery plan or conservation strategy. Our first steps include creation of recovery panning guidelines to ensure consistency and prioritization of species which are most likely to benefit from a recovery plan. Recovery planning will involve collaboration with multiple partners including local, state, and federal agencies, academics, conservation organizations, landowners, and the public.