•“approval” – the Plans must be accepted by the Service (ultimately the
Director) as meeting the requirements via the eight elements; too many
people, “approval” implies a higher level of scrutiny or review
•“nongame” – standard terminology during the last half of the 20th
century to describe fish and wildlife species that were not hunted or fished
for;it is often thought to have a
negative, and thus constraining connotation; wildlife diversity or
biodiversity are more common terms now used to describe the value of all
wildlife species
•“SWG” – the acronym for the State Wildlife Grants program that is not
widely known by the larger conservation community;the term State Wildlife Grants should be
used whenever possible when describing the program
•“spatially-explicit” – the Guiding Principles suggested that the Plans
should be spatially explicit, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with a
full complement of GIS and other maps, figures, and graphics….so that it can
be used effectively by all partners; many State Plan coordinators struggle at
the outset with how much spatial-explicitness will be appropriate and useful
•“authority” and “all species” – some States have stated their
reluctance to Plan for species for which they have no authority; at every
turn IAFWA and the Service have reiterated that the Plans are to address a
broad range of wildlife and their habitats, and across jurisdictions; the
intent of SWG is to fund “nongame”, though a few States may not feel they
have the authority to do so
•“guidance” – some States feel “guidance” is equivalent to rules,
rather than suggestions; typically the Work Group has felt it necessary to
use the word, but also to explain additionally that much of the guidance is
only advisory in nature
•“strategic” – many wildlife conservation planners have differences of
opinions as to what should be included in a strategic plan versus an
operational plan; the CWCP is to be strategic, but include enough detail so
that it may easily be implemented during the operational planning phase