About Us

The Division of Refuge Planning is part of the National Wildlife Refuge System within the Mountain–Prairie Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service, a Federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, has divided the United States into eight geographic regions. Region 6 is the Mountain–Prairie Region and covers Service programs in eight States: Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The Division of Refuge Planning is in the regional headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado.

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a Service program and is the only network of Federal lands devoted specifically to wildlife conservation. Refuge System lands in the Mountain–Prairie Region cover more than 5 million acres within 125 national wildlife refuges and 24 wetland management districts.

Mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Our mission is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

Mission of the Refuge System
The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management and, where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

We do conservation planning for Service lands within the Mountain–Prairie Region. To carry out the full complement of planning, we have four programs: (1) comprehensive conservation planning; (2) land protection planning; (3) writing, editing, and publishing; and (4) Geographic Information System and mapping.

Mission of the Division of Refuge Planning
We bring excellence to planning and decision-making in Region 6 to shape the future of fish and wildlife conservation.

Managers of national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts use comprehensive conservation plans to carry out their land management responsibilities.

Division staff members prepare these plans by working with the refuge and district staffs and our conservation partners. We guide the planning process: collect current information, use cutting-edge technology to analyze data, involve the public and others, and present alternative solutions to Service decisionmakers. We prepare the documentation for the environmental analysis and the planning process for each plan.

Find out more about comprehensive conservation planning in Planning Overview.

Mission for comprehensive conservation planning
Through collaboration, we create comprehensive conservation plans to fulfill the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System for the benefit of wildlife first. These plans are innovative, meaningful, and useful to enhance the refuges and the ecosystems in which they reside.

Plans for the Mountain–Prairie Region
You can find completed plans and plans in progress for the Mountain–Prairie Region in Comprehensive Conservation Plans. Select the link to a specific plan in progress and find out plan status, contacts, and opportunities for public involvement.

We use land protection plans to analyze and make recommendations about (1) expansion of existing refuge and district lands, (2) establishment of new refuges and district lands, and (3) strategies for landscape protection.

Division staff members prepare these plans by working with Service staffs and our conservation partners. We guide the planning process: collect current information, use cutting-edge technology to analyze data, involve the public and others, and present alternative solutions to Service decisionmakers. We prepare the documentation for the environmental analysis and the planning process for each plan.

Find out more about land protection planning in Planning Overview.

Mission for land protection planning
We bring leadership, through sound science and innovation, to the process of protecting habitat for the long-term sustainability of Fish and Wildlife Service trust species.

Plans for the Mountain–Prairie Region
You can find completed plans and plans in progress for the Mountain–Prairie Region in Land Protection Plans. Select the link to a specific plan in progress and find out plan status, contacts, and opportunities for public involvement.

A professional writer–editor writes parts of our planning documents and thoroughly edits these documents. We use the Style Manual of the United States Government Printing Office. We also refer to up-to-date references including general and scientific dictionaries, usage guides, and style manuals.

We prepare graphics and layout for all planning documents. In partnership with the Government Printing Office, we print and distribute plans and other documents.

Our writer–editor manages this Web site and prepares planning documents for Web site publication.

Mission for writing, editing, and publishing
Ensure quality writing and presentation to produce clear and meaningful products that support the mission of the Division.

We use GIS to analyze complex scientific information, for example, the locations of habitat types and the relationships between them as they occur on a refuge and the surrounding lands. These analyses are important to planning efforts. Service decisionmakers look closely at this information.

We develop, distribute, and archive the map products for comprehensive conservation plans, land protection plans, and realty projects.

Mission for GIS mapping
We support the latest GIS technologies to ensure that all maps are clear, usable, and readable. Where appropriate, these technologies assist in analyzing complex scientific information used for decisionmaking.