Fish And Wildlife Species Restorations
There have been several major success stories of wildlife restoration in New York:
- wood duck were once at very low levels, but are now common
- wild turkey were absent from New York from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, but numbers are now around 180,000 statewide
- the bald eagle was downlisted from endangered to threatened in NY-see the Conservation Plan for Bald Eagles in NYS (PDF)
- peregrine falcon has been returned to many areas of NY
In response to interest in moose several years ago, the DEC proposed speeding the return of moose to Northern New York. While biologically feasible, there was not adequate public support for an active restoration program. Instead, moose are returning naturally. Find out more about the moose research project (leaves DEC website).
There are currently restoration efforts for:
- river otter in Western New York
- bog turtle in the Hudson Valley
- round whitefish, lake sturgeon, and paddlefish
Recovery Plans
Sauger-in 2014 DEC began a 5-year stocking program to establish a population of this fish in the Allegheny watershed. A stocking program to restore the Lake Champlain sauger population is currently being developed.
Karner blue butterfly-has exceeded recovery goals in the Albany Pine Bush population.
Spruce grouse-In 2002, NYSDEC funded a study to determine reasons for this declining species' decline. Check out the spruce grouse recovery plan to see what actions DEC has outlined.
Cricket frog-a recovery plan for the species was released in 2015 to protect and manage remaining northern cricket frog populations and habitats.
