Helping fish and wildlife

Wildlife' includes the National Wildlife program, the National Wildlife Ecology program, and Wildlife Research & Development. The national Wildlife Program assists field biologists in attaining the Chief's wildlife priorities and manage wildlife habitat resources from a healthy ecosystem perspective.

Forest Service scientists study fish, wildlife and their habitats in order to inform land management and address existing and emerging threats, such as climate change and habitat fragmentation. Their work focuses on restoration and conservation of wildlife habitats and connectivity across large landscapes; effective management of terrestrial wildlife and their habitats under future climate scenarios; development of innovative protocols for inventory and monitoring of wildlife populations and habitats; and strategies to meet growing demands for water, energy, and other forest‐ and grassland-based commodities while ensuring the sustainability and diversity of wildlife and fish.

Between 2008 and 2015, the U.S. Forest Service and partners removed or upgraded over 1,000 culverts and road-stream crossings for Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) across the country courtesy of the Legacy Roads & Trails Program.  One of the best investments our agency can make to help aquatic ecosystems respond to the stresses of a changing climate is to restore the ability of fish to move freely, including beneath our expansive road system.  Fish need to be able to access many different parts of a stream network to find cold water during the summer, to spawn, and to feed so they can grow larger.  Come explore this story map to see some examples from around the country of some of the outstanding partnership projects that helped the US Forest Service achieve this milestone for fish, aquatic health, flood resiliency and protection of local transportation infrastructure.