The Priority Habitats and Species (PHS) List is a catalog of those species and habitat types identified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) as priorities for management and preservation. Because information on fish, wildlife, and their habitats is dynamic, the PHS List is updated periodically. All information in this list has gone through an extensive expert peer-review process.
Fact sheets are included to provide descriptive information about each priority habitat and species (Figure 1). Each fact sheet summarizes:
- priority area for each species and habitat (i.e., area that can be mapped into the PHS Database)
- criteria by which each species is considered to be a priority
- a distribution map showing where each priority species and habitat is expected to occur
- status of state or federally listed priority species (i.e., whether the species is endangered, threatened, sensitive, or a candidate for one of these classifications)