                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

WILDLIFE CORRIDOR ACTION PLAN; ADOPTION (§ 29.1-579)

A. The Department, in collaboration with the Department of Transportation, the
Department of Forestry, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, shall
create a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan.

B. The Plan shall:

   1. Identify wildlife corridors, existing or planned barriers to movement along
   such corridors, and areas with a high risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions. The
   Plan shall list habitat that is identified as of high quality for priority
   species and ecosystem health; migration routes of native, game, and migratory
   species using the best available science and Department surveys, including
   landscape-scale data from the ConserveVirginia database or a similar land
   conservation strategy database maintained by the Department of Conservation
   and Recreation; lands containing a high prevalence of existing human barriers,
   including roads, dams, power lines, and pipelines; areas identified as of high
   risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions; habitat identified by the Department as
   being occupied by rare or at-risk species; and habitat identified as Critical
   Habitat under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, P.L. 93-205, as
   amended.

   2. Prioritize and recommend wildlife crossing projects intended to promote
   driver safety and wildlife connectivity. The Plan shall describe each such
   project and include descriptions of wildlife crossing infrastructure or other
   mitigation techniques recommended to meet Plan goals.

   3. Contain maps utilizing the ConserveVirginia public portal, or a similar
   land conservation strategy public portal maintained by the Department of
   Conservation and Recreation, and other relevant state databases that detail
   high-priority areas for wildlife corridor infrastructure and any other
   information necessary to meet the goals of the Plan.

C. The Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the Secretary of
Transportation shall jointly submit the Plan to the Chairs of the House
Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources no later than
September 1, 2022, and shall jointly submit an updated version of the Plan every
four years thereafter.

D. The Department shall assist state agencies and political subdivisions, and by
request any federal agency, in considering and incorporating, where applicable,
wildlife corridors and the recommendations of the Plan when developing any
governmental strategic plan, map, or action. The Department shall publish the
plan and any subsequent updates on its website.

HISTORY: 2020, cc. 323, 672; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 401, 498.