Science Applications

The Science Applications program is the only federally funded program established to coordinate conservation planning and implementation across jurisdictions. The program works with a myriad of conservation partners across the country to develop regional conservation goals that support local collaborations and decision making. This scaled and collaborative approach to conservation stitches local conservation and planning efforts into larger landscape-scale collaboratives. The following are examples of our regional and national work:

Climate Change Response  

Science Applications coordinates a team of Service staff that created the bureau's Climate Change Action Program (CCAP). The CCAP spans every program and region and provides expertise internally and externally on adaptation, resilience, and climate science tools. The CCAP has mapped out the Service’s necessary adaptation strategies for the next five years. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Climate Change webpage

North American Pollinator Conservation 

The Service’s National Pollinator team, created and supported by Science Applications, is coordinating all Service pollinator work and are actively implementing 15 projects around the country. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pollinator webpage

Wildlife Conservation Initiative

The Wildlife Conservation Initiative (WCI) is a collaborative partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI) focused on advancing the conservation of at-risk and listed species within private working forests. The Service, through the work of the Science Applications, supports WCI field research projects nationwide that are producing information needed to proactively conserve at-risk species and their habitats, including pollinators, turtles, mussels, songbirds and more. The WCI's proactive and collaborative approach to conservation is being recognized as a promising non-regulatory method for conserving species for future generations. The partnership was formalized by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2023. Read the WCI MOU press release here

Landscape Conservation 

Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) 

Science Applications provides technical expertise to the state-led Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy and the corresponding Southeast Conservation Blueprint to design and support a network of connected lands and waters that supports thriving fish and wildlife populations and improves the quality of life for people across the 15 states of the Southeast. SECAS website

Midwest Landscape Initiative (MLI)

Science Applications co-chairs the Midwest Landscape Initiative (MLI) with leadership from the member states of the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA) and provides overall coordination to identify shared conservation and management priorities that require the development of scalable, collaborative solutions to achieve healthy, functioning ecosystems in the Midwest.​ MLI website

Nature’s Network

Identifying the best opportunities for conserving and connecting intact habitats and ecosystems, and supporting imperiled species in the Northeast. Nature's Network website

Grasslands 

Temperate grasslands across the North American Great Plains are among the most imperiled ecosystems on earth. Working in collaboration with the Joint Venture 8 (JV8) and other Service programs, Science Applications will help implement relevant portions of the Central Grasslands Roadmap and help reverse the staggering loss of more than 700 million grassland birds.

Crown of the Continent

The Crown of the Continentis a remote, transboundary landscape encompassing 13-million-hectares that supports at-risk species such as grizzly bear, bull trout, Canada lynx, and wolverine. Science Applications is supporting the collaborative work among 42 partners and stakeholders to develop a Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) for this critical ecosystem. Crown of the Continent website

High Divide Collaborative 

Working with the High Divide Collaborative, a regional partnership of landowners, watershed groups, state and federal agencies and local officials, Science Applications is initiating a Landscape Conservation Design in this area of the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana. The mixed-ownership landscape of the High Divide is a pivotal connectivity zone for multiple at-risk species like grizzly bear and wolverine and supports some of the longest ungulate migratory routes in North America.

Chesapeake WILD

A network in action for wildlife conservation and environmental equity in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Chesapeake WILD webpage

Delaware River Basin Restoration Program

A conservation action partnership that identifies, prioritizes, and collectively coordinates activities in the Delaware River Basin. Delaware River Basin Restoration webpage

Cascades to Coast Landscape Collaborative

The Cascades to Coast Landscape Collaborative is a community-grounded partnership made up of farm and forest owners, non-governmental organizations, tribes, industry, and federal, state and local government agencies who work together to achieve a connected network of functioning, resilient, ecosystems and working lands in the coastal Pacific Northwest.  Cascades to Coast webpage

Maui Landscape Conservation Design

The Maui Landscape Conservation Design is a decision-support framework for wildlife managers in Hawai’i that takes a landscape-scale approach to prioritizing and managing the over 200 species of endemic plants and animals that are at risk of extinction across the Hawaiian Islands of “Maui Nui” (Maui, Moloka’i, and Lāna’i)  Maui Landscape Conservation Design webpage

Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program

The Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program protects threatened and endangered species, ensures clean drinking water, creates outdoor recreational areas and sustains working forests and farms in the 3.4-million-acre Highlands region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. It is administered by the Service's Office of Conservation Investment. Following the act’s 2022 reauthorization, Science Applications created a new landscape conservation design, working with partners to update priorities and creating state-of-the-art maps that reflect them. Highlands Conservation Act webpage