The Fish and Wildlife Service Directives System contains the current policy and management directives that affect the daily activities of the FWS and its employees. The Directives system consists of the FWS Manual, Director's Orders, and National Policy Issuances.  All Fish and Wildlife Service Directives are published on the Directives Home Page. You can find out about recent directives issuances by visiting the What's New page.

The Fish and Wildlife Service Manual describes the structure and functions of the Service's organizational units, documents redelegations of the Director's authority, and prescribes the policies and procedures for administrative activities and program operations. We use it to communicate instructions and provide guidance in administrative and program operations. The Manual is the primary source of information on organizational structure, authority to function, policy, and general procedures. Director's Orders are limited to temporary policy, procedures, delegations of authority, emergency regulations, special assignments of functions, and initial functional statements on the establishment of new organizational units. All Director's Orders must be converted as soon as practicable to appropriate parts of the FWS Manual or removed. National Policy Issuances promulgate the Director's national policies for managing the Service and its programs. These policies are necessarily broad and generally require management discretion or judgment in their implementation. They represent the Director's expectations of how the Service and its employees will act in carrying out their official responsibilities.

• What are the procedures for review and approval of FWS Manual chapters? 
• What steps are required for approval of Director's Orders? 
• What are the required procedures for preparing a National Policy Issuance?
• Who are the Regional Directives Officers? 

Department of the Interior policy and management guidance (Secretarial Orders, Departmental Manual, and more) is available in the Electronic Library of Interior Policies.

PDM Contact: Krista Holloway, (703) 358-1914, Krista_Holloway@fws.gov