FAQs

The following information was provided to the public via EngageCPW in June 2024.

Colorado’s 2025 SWAP Guiding Philosophy and Purpose

Colorado’s SWAP history mirrors what has happened across the country. Our first plan was produced  in 2005 with the first revision published in 2015. We want to improve the SWAP with each revision making it more applicable and impactful. For 2025, the planning process began with considering how the 2015 SWAP has been used and what changes are desired for the 2025 SWAP. 

Planning Process Guiding Philosophy

CPW started with contemplating 4 A’s - awareness, alignment, access and action - and created a guiding philosophy to steer us through the process. 

• Use the planning process to raise awareness of the SWAP internally and externally

• Consider how to bridge the implementation gap between planning and action including development of dynamic resources

• Improve equity in process - ask those closest to decisions for solutions and involve those that may not have been before (e.g., subject matter experts; socially culturally, economically diverse communities)

• Be solutions oriented - research shows that talking about what is working or promising leads to more constructive tones, seeing better options and building agency all of which leads to meaningful change. In practice that looks like being evidence-based, talking about limitations and what we don't know, seeing problems as decisions that are integrated as systems and asking “what if?”

• Compliment and leverage other conservation planning initiatives

2025 SWAP Purpose

The 2015 SWAP has been considered a critical resource for understanding which species in the state are most vulnerable and the potential threats and actions associated with their conservation. The 2025 SWAP will continue to be the authority for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in Colorado. The SWAP will be a work plan for SGCN and addresses that specific suite of species, however, this will not limit CPW or our partners from continuing existing programs or developing new efforts to address other species. 

What are desired changes for this revision of the SWAP and its implementation?

The 2025 SWAP will be elevated in CPW programs and resource allocation decisions as well as promote collective action for SGCN through increased use as a ‘Call to Action’ with our partners. To support these efforts, we will increase relevance by building robust Elements through more meaningful inclusion of additional taxa (i.e., rare plants and invertebrates), climate change and adaptability to emerging threats. We have also added a new category of SGCN, a subset of species known as Species of Greatest Information Need (SGIN) which are species believed to be of conservation concern, but we are lacking enough information to confirm their status. It will be a more proactive planning document that drives CPW’s work, leverages other plans, work groups and data and is structured so that our successes and challenges can be assessed over time.

Vertebrate Species of Greatest Conservation Need

CPW and CNHP have developed draft SGCN selection criteria and are now looking for public feedback on this part of Element 1 of the SWAP regarding the identification of the species of greatest conservation need. 

This presentation on the SWAP revision was provided to the Parks and Wildlife Commission in August 2024. 

• A summary of feedback received can be found here. 

• CPW appreciates all input and used comments to update the scoring Criteria. In addition, species suggested for the Potential list were all added for consideration during scoring meetings. 

• The vertebrate scoring meetings were often long but our staff and partners commented: “That was the most fun 8 hour Zoom ever!” and “ I thought the process was super organized, easy to follow, and deliberations were thoughtful and thorough.”

• The Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) is part of the NatureServe Network made up over over 60 programs throughout the United States and Canada. The network shares data and works collaboratively to rank the imperilment of species and maintain a shared database of tracked species’ locations and status. 

• Ranks run from critically imperiled (1) to (5) secure and are applied to a Global rank (G) and State rank (S) to indicate imperilment at two scales. CNHP is responsible for ranking species endemic to Colorado. If a species is found in multiple states, NatureServe looks at data across a species range to make a determination with input from natural heritage programs. 

• Assigning ranks is a standardized repeatable process based on the following factors such as range extent, area of occupancy within a species’ range, population size and trends as well as critical threats. 

• For vertebrates, the G and S ranks were used to develop the Potential SGCN list. Our Criteria were then used to score over 300 species on the Potential list to determine the SGCN.

• CNHP consistently updates the ranks for plants in Colorado. All species listed in the 2015 SWAP have been assessed in the last 5 years. For plants, the ranks were used to determine SGCN. All G1 and G2 species are SGCN and a subset of G3 species were evaluated for inclusion. 

The SWAP will be a work plan for SGCN and addresses that specific suite of species, however, this will not limit CPW or our partners from continuing existing programs or developing new efforts to address other species.

No. SGIN are a subset of SGCN and will be treated the same as the Tiers. They have been identified as species where the critical need/action is more information. The intent is to direct researchers looking to address gaps in scientific knowledge to these species.

• Ten more years of data, taxonomic changes, updated selection criteria and the addition “Species of Greatest Information Need (SGIN)” has resulted in many changes to the vertebrate and plant SGCN. 

  • The current selection criteria should be used to understand which species are included as SGCN for the 2025 SWAP.

  • Some changes are a result of moving species considered Tier 2 in 2015 to SGIN for 2025. In most cases, these species were Tier 2 in 2015 due to a lack of scientific knowledge - they are now SGIN to recognize this need. 

• In 2015, there were 150 SGCN vertebrates. Fifty-five species were identified as Tier 1 SGCN, including 2 amphibians, 13 birds, 25 fish, 13 mammals, and 2 reptiles. The Tier 2 SGCN list of vertebrates contained 95 species, including 8 amphibians, 48 birds, 2 fish, 23 mammals, and 14 reptiles. 

  • The draft 2025 list includes 170 species. Sixty-four species are identified as Tier 1, including 2 amphibians, 17 birds, 25 fish and 20 mammals. The Tier 2 list contains 35 species, including 1 amphibian, 23 birds, 2 fish, 7 mammals and 2 reptiles. The SGIN list contains 70 species, including 3 amphibians, 30 birds, 7 fish, 17 mammals and 13 reptiles. 

• In 2015, there were 117 “Plants of Greatest Conservation Need (PGCN)” of which 43 species were Tier 1.

  • For the 2025 SWAP imperiled plants will be referred to as plant Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). 

  • The draft 2025 list includes 195 species of which 65 are Tier 1, 69 Tier 2 and 61 SGIN.