Habitat Conservation Framework

Executive Order 2021-18 directs NDOW to collaboratively establish a Nevada Habitat Conservation Framework (HCF). The order aims to reverse the long-term trend of degradation and loss of Nevada’s wild landscapes, which have suffered losses from wildfire, invasive species, conifer encroachment, and habitat fragmentation among other threats. 

The HCF will engage conservation partners, stakeholders, and local, state, and federal agencies to identify and assess the value of high-quality habitats. Together with other responsible and interested parties, the State will use the HCF to evaluate threats, prioritize landscapes, and develop and deploy strategies to restore and conserve at-risk wildlife habitats particularly related to migration corridors and sagebrush habitats. 

Two immediate products will be developed to address threats to Nevada’s sagebrush habitat and wildlife movement corridors. A Sagebrush Habitat Plan (SHP) will seek to collaboratively address the conversion and loss of Nevada’s sagebrush habitats due to, wildfire, invasive species, conifer encroachment, and other threats.

In addition to the creation of the Sagebrush Habitat Plan, NDOW will coordinate the collaborative development of a statewide Nevada Wildlife Connectivity Plan aimed at maintaining migratory corridors for species such as mule deer, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and other species that rely on these corridors to move between their seasonal ranges.

The HCF and all supporting strategies outlined in the executive order make up Nevada’s greatest collaborative effort to conserve, restore, and rehabilitate Nevada’s key habitats and migration corridors.