• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Wildlife Refuge System
  Mission Statements
• Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Vision Statement
• Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Goals and Objectives

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Wildlife Refuge System Mission Statements
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Service is the federal agency responsible for managing our nation's fish and wildlife and their habitats, particularly animals that migrate across state or national boundaries and species that are federally threatened or endangered.

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

National Wildlife Refuge System
There are over 545 national wildlife refuges across the country - over 100 million acres of land - administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to benefit wildlife.

National Wildlife Refuge Service Mission
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. back to top

Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Vision Statement
Please note that this is a preliminary draft developed by the staff and has not been reviewed or commented on by the public. Such input will be sought during the upcoming development of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan.

What's at Stake?
The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge works with landowners and other partners to protect the natural diversity of the entire Connecticut River watershed, 7.2 million acres in the heart of New England. Diverse habitats in this watershed include:

• internationally important tidal wetlands;
• riverine habitats valuable to migratory fish, native fish, freshwater mussels and other aquatic species;
• floodplain forests and other riparian habitats valuable to migrating songbirds and many other species of plants and animals;
• sandplain, old field grasslands, and agricultural fields valuable to grassland-nesting birds and early-successional species; and
• a variety of forest types, including large areas of relatively unfragmented northern forest, valuable to nesting migrant birds and many other plant and animal species.

The watershed is also home to over 2.3 million people, whose needs put pressure on these habitats and the associated wildlife. Burgeoning suburbs replace fields and forests; roads and dams fragment habitats; invasive species displace native species; and human recreation sometimes damages vegetation and disturbs wildlife.

What Can We Do?
The Refuge offers a new model within the Refuge system for solving natural diversity and habitat problems on a landscape scale through leadership and diverse partnerships. We use all the tools available to accomplish innovative and effective partnership projects in land protection, cooperative habitat management and species restoration. On priority issues, selected for their importance to wildlife and for the Refuge's ability to have wide-reaching ameliorative effects, we serve as a catalyst to assemble and direct partnerships to work on the issues, encouraging these partnerships to eventually become self-sustaining. Through targeted outreach, we also seek to empower citizens to recognize and resolve local natural diversity issues occurring in their towns.

Our Vision
The health and integrity of the watershed=s many native species, habitats and ecosystems depend on the vigilance of an educated citizenry that holds natural diversity conservation a high priority and recognizes and actively solves local problems. Our vision is that we help inspire, guide and support the citizens of the watershed in this endeavor. Assisted by our leadership, they will act wisely to preserve, undiminished, the wide diversity of healthy habitats and the abundance of native species that characterize this watershed. They will continue to enjoy the special nature of the New England landscape, and pass this distinctive legacy on to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. back to top

Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Goals and Objectives
Please note that this is a preliminary draft developed by the staff and has not been reviewed or commented on by the public. Such input will be sought during the upcoming development of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan.

Goal 1: There is sufficient high-quality habitat in the Connecticut River watershed to support viable populations of Conte Refuge priority species¹.

Objective 1: Establish a Refuge list of priority species and priority habitats² based on the degree of imperilment, existing conservation efforts, and the Refuge's ability to have a beneficial effect.

Objective 2: Delineate the Refuge's role in conservation of priority species and habitats identified in Objective¹.

Goal 2: Refuge lands are managed to contribute to species viability and biological diversity, based on a contextual understanding of historic conditions and appropriate landscape scales.

Objective 1: Design and implement strategic inventory and monitoring that will serve as the foundation for adaptive management.

Objective 2: Prepare and implement habitat management plans that consider:

• Service and Regional priorities;
• Historic and current ecological capability of the Refuge within the broader landscape;
• The role of ecosystem processes in shaping diversity;
• Inventory and monitoring information; and
• Opportunities to protect priority species, and conserve and enhance priority habitats.

Objective 3: Promote Refuge land management as examples of effective conservation to target audiences.

Goal 3: The Refuge actively works with partners to identify research essential to accomplish the priorities under Goals 1 and 2.

Objective 1: Support applied research that advances the fundamental knowledge required to conserve priority species and habitats.

Objective 2: Ensure that Refuge-supported research results are readily available and understandable (e.g. scientific publications, lectures, fact sheets) to target audiences.

Goal 4: Outreach and interpretation are designed to achieve and support Refuge priorities.

Objective 1: Develop and implement focused outreach strategies for each Refuge priority under Goal 1.

Objective 2: Showcase successful examples of Refuge conservation to target audiences.

Goal 5: Wildlife-dependent public use of Refuge lands emphasizes short-term, low-density activities that allow visitors to make connections with and value wildlife resources.

Objective: Visitor Services Plan(s) should:
1) Emphasize conservation messages derived from Goals 1 and 2;
2) Identify opportunities for a range of appropriate and compatible experiences;
3) Account for public safety and access;
4) Minimize facilities and infrastructure; and,
5) Avoid negative impacts to federal trust species and other priority species.

Goal 6: The Conte Refuge is recognized as an effective conservation leader in the Connecticut River watershed.

Objective 1: Cultivate internal and external support for and understanding of the Refuge priorities.

Objective 2: Develop and maintain strong working relationships with partners, conservation groups, research scientists, and local, state and other federal government entities.

Objective 3: Acquire funding and staffing levels to meet and implement Refuge objectives. back to top

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1  Conte Refuge priority species include federal trust species, state listed species, Partners In Flight priority species, and other species recognized as imperiled.

2  In addition to habitats for priority species, priority habitat includes migratory bird stopover habitat, functional grassland communities, early forest succession, and spawning and accessible migration corridors for inter-jurisdictional aquatic species.