We are one of eight university groups participating in a “distributed graduate seminar” to conduct research on the development and implementation of State Wildlife Conservation Strategies in all 50 states and 6 territories. At Michigan, our goal is to gain a synoptic view of state activities related to wildlife habitat conservation in the Northeast U.S. in order to identify emerging conservation priorities, new conservation approaches and tools, and examples of ongoing projects that demonstrate promising directions for accelerating habitat conservation. Our overarching question is: How do conservation science, social and institutional processes come together to set State and regional conservation priorities and the design and implementation of conservation solutions across the U.S.? The project will contribute to increasing awareness and understanding of the state wildlife action plans, describe national and regional conservation trends, and identify examples of innovative and effective conservation programs in the Northeast U.S.