State Fish and Wildlife Agencies are charged with managing wildlife for the benefit of the public. Numerous federal agencies share management responsibility across state boundaries. Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) dedicated to conserving specific species and landscapes act regionally and nationally in coordination with State and Federal Agencies. Without strong coordination, it is impossible to realize the full benefit of these varied efforts. Coordinating successful conservation efforts among all involved parties across North America requires the resources to bring state agency leaders to the table. Many state agencies whose resources are focused on internal, state-focused efforts (often inadequate for that purpose) would be unable to participate in these efforts without external funding support. Related to this is the necessity for dedicated resources to foster, maintain, and grow relations between state agencies and industry. The latter is responsible for excise tax contributions to the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration funding programs, which are significant contributors to agency budgets. When state agencies and industry are not actively meeting and coordinating, there is a high risk of misunderstanding and dysfunction. Opportunities to coordinate with industry exist at specific events and at most other conferences and meetings where NGO industry representatives are present. Centralized communications ensure that relevant issues are brought to light, and state fish and wildlife agencies and their partners can debate and discuss the best solutions to cross-jurisdictional, national, and regional wildlife management issues. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) website is currently not 508 compliant. Section 508 compliance is important for websites because it makes them more accessible to a broader audience, including AFWA’s members. State fish and wildlife agency leadership in landscape conservation is essential to the long-term sustainability of fish and wildlife. In 2018, AFWA passed a resolution on landscape conservation that acknowledged the importance of landscape conservation and the need for collaboration between state fish and wildlife agencies and the US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) because of their unique roles and authorities over fish and wildlife. Three of the four fish and wildlife regional associations (Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies) have established regional landscape conservation collaboratives with support from the FWS. The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is leading several individual landscape conservation initiatives. A full-time national landscape conservation coordinator is needed to

1. provide professional staffing of the AFWA/FWS Landscape Conservation Joint Task Force;
2. support coordination between regional fish and wildlife association landscape conservation collaboratives;
3. support the implementation of the recommendations of the AFWA President’s Task Force on Shared Science and Landscape Conservation and the State Wildlife Action Plan Landscape Conservation Framework;
4. and serve as a liaison between the states, federal agencies, landscape conservation partnerships, and NGOs working in the landscape conservation space to foment communication and raise awareness and secure resources for regional fish and wildlife association landscape conservation priorities.

The FWS and regional fish and wildlife associations provided funding over the past two years to hire a part-time national landscape conservation coordinator. Funding for the part-time position will end in September 2023. This proposal seeks funding for a full-time coordinator for one year. Additional funding will be sought in the future to continue this coordination capacity. This proposal will allow for coordinating conservation across the United States by state, regional, territorial, and provincial fish and wildlife agencies (including Canadian leadership involved in US conservation efforts). This coordination will lead to better policy, greater efficiency, and the most effective conservation efforts.