The Mission of the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is to manage California's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public.

To accomplish this mission the DFG adopted a Strategic Plan in 1995 and is systematically linking its annual budget to the goals and strategies of that plan and three major themes. These themes focus on habitat conservation, public service and organizational vitality.

California's 159,000 square miles of area offer many unique challenges for DFG:

• A growing human population of 33.5 million;



• Habitat and wildlife diversity that is unequaled by any other state;



• More than 1,100 miles of coastline;



• 30,000 miles of rivers and streams; 4,800 lakes and reservoirs; 80 major rivers;



• Three of the four North American Desert habitats; and scores of high mountain peaks;



• More than 1,000 native fish and wildlife species;



• More than 6,300 native plant species;



• Approximately 360 threatened or endangered species;

As a member of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Science Consortium the DFG is committed to working collaboratively with other institutions to better serve the public and meet shared goals.