CHAPTER 4 Conservation Actions Table of Contents Take Action! Get Involved! ................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Background and Rationale ................................................................................................................. 9 Conservation Action Classification System .................................................................................... 11 Conservation Action Description ........................................................................................................ 12 Best Practices for Conservation Actions ............................................................................................. 15 International Conservation Actions ................................................................................................ 15 Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Regional Conservation Actions ........................................................................................................ 19 Regional Conservation Needs Program .............................................................................................. 19 Regional Action .............................................................................................................................. 21 Pennsylvania Conservation Actions ................................................................................................ 22 1.0. Coordination and Administration ................................................................................................ 24 1.1. Coordination and administration ............................................................................................. 24 1.2. Incentives................................................................................................................................ 25 2.0. Direct Management of Natural Resources ................................................................................... 27 2.1. Create new habitat or natural processes ................................................................................. 27 2.2. Dam and Barrier Removal ....................................................................................................... 28 CASE STUDY: Dam Removal as a Habitat Restoration Tool ..................................................................... 29 2.3. Fire Management .................................................................................................................... 30 CASE STUDY: Habitat Restoration Using Prescribed Fire ......................................................................... 31 2.4. Fish and Wildlife Habitat Structures ........................................................................................ 33 2.5. Grazing/farm management ..................................................................................................... 35 2.6. Hazard or infrastructure removal ............................................................................................ 38 2.7. Instream modification ............................................................................................................. 38 2.8. Invasive species control........................................................................................................... 39 2.9. Living shorelines ...................................................................................................................... 40 2.10. Planting/seeding ................................................................................................................... 41 2.11. Vegetation management ....................................................................................................... 41 2015-2025 Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan 2.12. Water management .............................................................................................................. 42 2.13. Wildlife damage management............................................................................................... 42 2.14. Wildlife disease management ............................................................................................... 43 3.0. Data Collection and Analysis ....................................................................................................... 43 3.1. Database development and management ............................................................................... 43 3.2. Research, survey or monitoring - fish and wildlife populations ................................................ 44 3.3. Research, survey or monitoring - habitat ................................................................................. 44 3.4. Research, survey or monitoring – utilization ............................................................................ 44 4.0. Education.................................................................................................................................... 46 4.1. Educator/instructor training .................................................................................................... 46 5.0. Facilities and Areas ..................................................................................................................... 46 5.5. Cooperatively managed areas for hunting ............................................................................... 46 5.6. Fish-Passage Facilities ............................................................................................................. 47 5.7. Fish screening and related facilities ......................................................................................... 48 5.8. Hatcheries ............................................................................................................................... 48 5.15. Wildlife management areas................................................................................................... 49 6.0. Land and Water Rights Acquisition and Protection ...................................................................... 50 6.1. Land acquisition ...................................................................................................................... 50 6.2. Water rights acquisition .......................................................................................................... 50 6.3. Conservation area designation ................................................................................................ 51 6.4. Private lands agreements ........................................................................................................ 51 7.0. Law Enforcement ........................................................................................................................ 52 7.1. Law enforcement .................................................................................................................... 52 8.0. Outreach..................................................................................................................................... 52 8.1. Partner and stakeholder engagement ..................................................................................... 52 9.0. Planning ...................................................................................................................................... 53 9.1. Land use planning ................................................................................................................... 53 9.3. Species and habitat management planning ............................................................................. 54 9.4. State Wildlife Action Planning ................................................................................................. 54 10.0. Species Reintroduction and Stocking ......................................................................................... 55 10.1. Native species restoration ..................................................................................................... 55 10.2. Production and stocking for recreational purposes ................................................................ 55 11.0. Technical Assistance ................................................................................................................. 56 11.1. Environmental review ........................................................................................................... 56 4-2 Table of Contents 2015-2025 Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan 11.2. Technical assistance .............................................................................................................. 57 100.0. Law and Policy ........................................................................................................................ 57 100.1. Legislation ........................................................................................................................... 57 100.3. State Regulations ................................................................................................................ 58 101.0. Species Management .............................................................................................................. 58 101.1. Species management .........................................................................................................