The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released the updated State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) in October 2025, reaffirming its commitment to conserving California’s diverse wildlife and ecosystems. Updated every 10 years, the SWAP enables California to remain eligible for federal State Wildlife Grant funds from USFWS.

SWAP 2025 identifies the state’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and their associated habitats, while addressing key threats and outlining conservation actions for addressing these threats. In addition to revising the SGCN list and updating all plan content, the SWAP Team improved usability and accessibility, ensuring the plan can serve as a practical tool for conservation partners. A major innovation is the development of a forthcoming web-based SWAP dashboard, designed to enhance access to data and facilitate better SWAP integration into statewide conservation projects. This poster will introduce SWAP 2025, highlighting the update process and walking stepwise through the key components of the plan, including SGCN selection criteria, target habitats, threats and recommended actions, and highlighted conservation tools.

Virginia has worked with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for the past 11 years. As a State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) Coordinator, she is responsible for the current 2025 revision of the SWAP and the development of associated internal and partner engagement along with collaborating with her team on the new SWAP website that will go live in 2026.  Prior to her current position, Virginia was the Education Coordinator at the CDFW Elkhorn Slough Reserve for 10 years.  

Virginia has over 28 years of coastal and marine science education and outreach experience in the Monterey Bay area, developing and presenting programs based in science as a foundation of the learning experience.