The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources’ mission is to:

• Conserve and manage wildlife populations and habitat for the benefit of present and future generations.


• Connect people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities.


• Protect people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts.

The Vision for the Virginia Department of Wildlife is to Lead in wildlife conservation and Inspire people to value the outdoors and their role in nature.

1. Respect for wildlife resources and those that Department of Wildlife Resources serves


2. Responsiveness to customer needs


3. Integrity with honest application of science


4. Accountability through transparency of operations

The primary statutory authority for the activities of the Department of Wildlife Resources is described in Title 29.1 of the Code of Virginia. The Department of Wildlife Resources exists to provide public informational and educational services related to fish and wildlife and to administer and enforce the rules and regulations of the Board of Wildlife Resources, Title 29 and other related legislative acts. Title 29 Chapter 3 provides the authority for the Department to collect revenue through the sale of licenses which bestow the privilege to hunt, fish or trap in Virginia. Title 29 Chapter 7 provides the authority for the Board of Wildlife Resources to register and title watercraft, promulgate laws affecting watercraft use, provide educational programs for boating safety, and cause to be enforced the laws and regulations controlling boating in Virginia.



Additional funding and program authority is a described in Title 58. in Chapter 3 for the non-game wildlife voluntary contributions and Chapter 6 for the watercraft sales and use tax and the allocation of the sales tax based on the U. S. Fish and Wildlife National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (HB38 funding).

The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is the comprehensive wildlife and boat agency which strives to connect people to quality outdoor experiences through hunting, fishing, boating, wildlife watching, education, and other recreation opportunities. The Agency plans to continue providing quality access to the land and waters of the Commonwealth so more people can enjoy the full natural diversity of the state.

Customer service must be available when and where our customers demand it through technology or partnership with others. The challenges of the changing Virginia demographics, to a more urban population that is increasingly removed from wildlife, motivates the Agency to educate all our customers so we can support our new vision and mission in a safe and lawful manner. Agency permitting and enforcement operations will protect the wildlife resources and habitats and will be uniform and consistent throughout the state and use the latest tools such as K9 units, geospatial information systems, mobile applications, thermal imaging and other technological advancements.

The Agency’s policies and regulations will be science-based to protect and improve the biological diversity of the state. This protection also requires response to threats from disease, invasive species, and competing use of public lands. It is imperative that DWR monitors, anticipates, and responds to these threats.

In order to deliver on these goals, the Agency must establish a sustainable financial model. DWR’s FY 2022 revenue model consists of 37% from license sales, 26% from federal grants, 27% from special designated fund transfers, 6% from boating, and 4% from other miscellaneous funds. Our current revenue distribution is unsustainable if maintained as we have seen continuing declines in annual license revenue and inconsistent funding in other revenue sources over the past ten years. With the implementation of an internal agency strategic vision and new priorities, DWR hopes to find additional operational efficiencies with a focus on R3 (Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation) efforts and achieving greater relevancy with all Virginians. Working with administrative, legislative, and constituent groups, DWR seeks to foster general public support for its mission and programs so as to remain a primarily self-funded agency.

The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is committed to providing effective and high quality technology initiatives internally and externally. DWR constituents are increasingly tech savvy and expect to find many services online. The department’s award winning customer centric and integrated Go Outdoors Virginia and boat registration solution is a major online initiative that is expected to reduce costs and increase exposure to, and efficiencies of, agency services to the public. Go Outdoors Virginia has reduced boat application and renewal processing times; increased online sales transactions; allows customers to carry their hunting and fishing licenses electronically; and has given the Agency a reference point for customer and sales related data that is an important driver for our business and outreach efforts, which was not readily available in years past.

During FY 2022, DWR continued upgrading its technology infrastructure to the most current platforms for servers and end user PCs, and while realizes efficiencies were able to remove two servers.

The Commonwealth’s transition to a modern ERP system (Cardinal HCM) also provides the agency with opportunities to revamp and revitalize its internal financial and human capital systems. DWR is analyzing the integration of enterprise shared services for procurement and human resource management along with budgeting and expenditure functionality found in Cardinal.

DWR recognizes the need to constantly look for ways to enhance and expand agency services offered to constituents through online or mobile devices.

The Agency continues to place considerable emphasis on training, career development and workforce transition. The Team WILD is working on two major initiatives for employee development and mentorship. The Team WILD is working on two major initiatives for employee development and mentorship. The agency is also in formalizing a succession plan.

DWR continues to take advantage of leadership development opportunities and consistently nominates staff every year to attend the Commonwealth Management Institute and Virginia Executive Institute through Virginia Commonwealth University, the National Conservation Leadership Institute through the USFWS National Conservation Training Center, and the Virginia Natural Resource Leadership Institute through the University of Virginia. We are in progress of creating a formal nomination process for participation in these development courses.

Operational, education and safety training was conducted or approved in the areas of: prescribed burns, pesticide application, boating safety, Spanish, procurement, human resource management, recruitment and retention, marketing, cultural diversity, volunteer management, aquaculture, nutrient management, animal diseases, Test & Evaluation species habitat management, vegetation management, law enforcement in service, marine search and rescue, undercover/covert investigations, field sobriety testing, fish age and growth, stream restoration, habitat modeling, GIS, conservation leadership, species recovery, aquatic and terrestrial wildlife habitat development, supervisory skills and fundamentals, fish passage, floodplain management, bear attack response, avian trapping and banding, , procurement, contract management, teambuilding, regulatory processes, information security, records management, forensics, criminal justice, self-defense tactics, canine use and training, excel, firearms, hunter and boating education instructor, hunting incident investigation, social media, reptile handling, wildlife capture and immobilization, shooting range development and management, grants coordination, and numerous species specific wildlife management and habitat workshops . These training opportunities were provided to over 400 department staff.

The Department of Wildlife Resources is charged to conserve Virginia’s wildlife resources and to provide opportunities for all to enjoy wildlife, inland fish, boating, watchable wildlife and related outdoor recreation. To address our mission, the agency owns and operates ~230,000 acres of Wildlife Management Areas, 9 fish hatcheries (4 warm water and 5 cold water), and 33 lakes.  Similarly, DWR has the responsibility of maintaining, or even expanding, access points and infrastructure across our 46 Wildlife Managed Areas and 235 Public Access Boat Ramps and Facilities, which support an estimated 900 thousand hunters and anglers, 1 million wildlife watchers, and 300 thousand paddle craft users in Virginia’s outdoors. These facilities provide important public access, and in the case of hatcheries, fish to be stocked in the inland waters of Virginia. DWR also maintains a vast infrastructure system of roads, parking lots, bridges, trails, houses, work compounds, shooting ranges, fishing piers, and a large fleet of vehicles and heavy equipment. The Department’s office/support facilities include a headquarters facility in Henrico County, 2 leased and 2 owned regional offices, and 5 leased office/storage facilities. A priority, the Dam Safety Program, is addressing the current 38 regulated dams for public safety.. As the Department begins its next 100 years of service, its aging infrastructure will require continuous maintenance and upgrades to keep facilities operable. Costs of maintenance and construction continue to increase over time. To properly manage these costs, the agency is currently undergoing a planning process for future infrastructure needs.  While this planning process will provide a method for prioritizing needed maintenance, upgrade, and renovation, funding for these efforts will remain an ongoing challenge. 

Two major factors will have a significant impact on the agency over the next few years.

Revenues: Since the agency is primarily funded by dedicated special revenues, transfer funds, and federal grants, for the continuation, and in some cases, necessary expansion of the agency programs, it is imperative that these funding sources be maintained, and in some cases increased, to stay in line with rising operational and capital expenses. More specifically, DWR has seen a 25 year decline in license sales for hunting and fishing in Virginia. Far from unique to the Commonwealth, this is a very consistent trend being experienced across the country by fish and wildlife agencies. Although this decline has somewhat stabilized for fishing license sales in recent years, and last year generated surprising increases for both, the total number of customers who hunt and fish in Virginia continues to fall over time.  While the impact of these license declines is significant, there exist no other changes or increases in other revenue sources that would serve as an offset.  In fact, just the opposite given that DWR Federal Aid apportionments from the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration grant programs are largely based on the number of hunting and fishing license sales.  These declining and inconsistent funding levels not only restrict our abilities to maintain our traditional responsibilities and activities, but also our abilities to engage in more outreach and public recreational access initiatives that will grow our constituents and allow DWR to truly serve as a comprehensive wildlife agency. 

DWR also relies on the Virginia General Assembly approval to receive stable tax revenue from watercraft sales and outdoor equipment.  Ensuring full and consistent transfer amounts from these sources, both of which are tied directly to agency programs, will allow the Department to address mission critical priorities in wildlife and boating related education, enforcement, and recreational access opportunities.  The impact of not doing so will force the agency to continue sacrificing key outdoor recreational and conservation priorities, jeopardizing non-personnel needs to cover rising personnel costs, and capital needs to cover rising operational costs.  In the end, this has the potential to delay the filling of important DWR positions (including law enforcement recruit classes), force DWR to shelve maintenance and expansion needs at Virginia’s Wildlife Management Areas and Boat ramps, and reduce the level of overall services at outdoor access areas visited by Virginia’s hunters, anglers, paddlers, and wildlife watchers throughout the year.  Likewise, this will also limit our abilities to provide expected constituent services in terms of fish and wildlife enforcement, education, recreational access, conservation, and inclusion. 

The Department lacks consistent and sufficient funding for needed infrastructure maintenance and improvements at our Wildlife Management Areas, access points, and boat ramps.  The agency owns and operates ~230,000 acres of Wildlife Management Areas, 9 fish hatcheries, and 33 lakes.  Maintenance and renovation is a constant need across our system; total needs are well in the tens of millions (for instance, a single dam rehabilitation can cost several million dollars; a fish hatchery renovation can exceed 10 million).  Similarly, DWR has the constant challenge of maintaining, or even expanding, access points and infrastructure across our 46 Wildlife Managed Areas and 235 Public Access Boat Ramps and Facilities, which support an estimated 900 thousand hunters and anglers, 1 million wildlife watchers, and 300 thousand paddle craft users in Virginia’s outdoors. These facilities provide important public access, and in the case of hatcheries, fish to be stocked in the inland waters of Virginia. Costs of maintenance and construction continue to increase over time.  

Workforce: Within the next five years, a significant percentage of DWR’s workforce will be eligible to retire with unreduced benefits. In fact, based off of Virginia Retirement System (VRS) reporting, as of July 1, 2022, DWR has 47 employees who are immediately eligible for unreduced retirement, which make up 11.6% of DWR’s workforce. During FY23, 10 additional employees will become immediately eligible for unreduced retirement.  If DWR did not experience any retirements during FY23, approximately 14% of our workforce would be eligible for immediate unreduced retirement at the beginning of FY24. In addition to serving in supervisory and management roles, these employees include those with specialized field, research and technical skills. The majority of those eligible for unreduced retirement currently fill roles of what have been defined as critical positions for DWR, defined as positions in which the assigned job responsibilities are critical to the day-to-day operations of the agency and would require to be backfilled. Succession planning and recruiting efforts will be integral in maintaining the level of service the agency seeks to provide to the Commonwealth’s constituents.

DWR is classified as a “special funded” agency because our department does not currently receive funding from state general fund revenues.  Instead, we operate from within multiple restricted funds to support unique programs and responsibilities in Law Enforcement, Wildlife, Fisheries, Boating, and Outreach, as well as administrative support functions in Human Resources, Planning and Finance, and the Executive Office. DWR depends on sustainable revenue from a number of restricted fund sources to support both operating and capital budgets.  These include hunting and fishing licenses and permits, boat registrations and titles, federal funds (based on the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold and the number of boats registered each year) that are confined to specific agency funds and operations.  Just as importantly, DWR increasingly depends on the transfer by the General Assembly of funds associated with the already existing sales and use taxes on Watercraft and on Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife-watching Equipment (commonly referred to as HB38) in the Commonwealth. These particular sales and tax funds can make up to 25 percent of the agency’s overall operating budget.  The Department of Wildlife Resources continues to mirror a national decline in the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold.  At the same time, the Agency must explore ways to remain relevant to hunting and fishing constituents, as well as a growing constituency in boating—especially non-motorized paddleboats—and those who simply enjoy recreating some other way in Virginia’s outdoors.  

No data

The following statistics are from Fiscal Year 2022.

The following is a list of the major products and services provided by the Department of Wildlife Resources.

• Hunting, Fishing, Trapping Licenses and Permits


• Wildlife Permits


• Hunter Safety/Education Courses


• Boating Safety/Education Courses


• Hunting Clinics, Seminars, Mentor Programs, and Home Study Kits


• Angling Clinics, Seminars, Mentor Programs, and Home Study Kits


• Virginia Wildlife, Hunting, Fishing, and Boating Guides Wildlife Calendar and Magazine


• Registration and titling of watercraft Regulate Recreational Hunting and Fishing


• Brand Merchandise


• Customer Service (Call Center) Support for Public Inquiries


• Public Access to Hunt, Fish, Boat, View Wildlife


• Private Lands Habitat Management Assistance

These measures are reflective of some service or product delivery areas within the agency. Land conservation is a cumulative measure.

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Department of Wildlife Resources will connect people to wildlife. Managing for optimum populations of game and fish species will help hunters, trappers, and anglers enjoy their experiences and return for more. Maintaining and enhancing a diversity of non-game species and their habitats will increase enjoyment of the outdoors by anglers, hunters, trappers, and those who do not hunt or fish.

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This service area provides for the improvement of understanding and appreciation of the importance of wildlife and its habitat and promotes safe and ethical conduct in the enjoyment of wildlife related outdoor recreation. This service area attempts to develop and maintain a public that is aware of and informed about agency responsibilities and programs within the Commonwealth and foster an understanding within the public of the importance and benefit of wildlife associated recreation and boating throughout Virginia.

This service aligns with the Department's mission statement pillars to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities; and PROTECT people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts.

Awareness programs to inform citizens of opportunities to participate in wildlife related outdoors recreation

Education programs on fish and wildlife resources

Newsletters and Releases

Virginia Wildlife, hunting, fishing and boating guides Wildlife calendar

Digests for hunting and fishing regulations

Produce the video support needed, by the Agency, in the areas of public information televised communication for educational purposes

Teacher materials, workshops, seminars in collaboration with other adult educators

Exhibits and presentations, and wildlife education materials for awareness of and appreciation for wildlife resources

Angling clinics and seminars and home study kits

Exhibits at major fishing events and partnerships with other national scope aquatic education programs Certification and/or training of persons in hunting safety

Funds for the information and education functions come from the dedicated special revenues in the Game Protection Fund. These funds are primarily composed of the revenue generated from the sale of hunting, fishing and trapping licenses and revenues transferred to the agency through the watercraft sales and use tax as well as the formula outlined in House Bill 38 (HB38). The HB38 legislative language allows for the Agency to receive 2% of the total amount of in-state sales tax on purchases by hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers of direct use and auxiliary equipment. Other miscellaneous revenues are deposited from the proceeds of sales involving vehicle registration tags, Virginia Wildlife magazine, and other items.  Wildlife information and education has a concentrated focus within the agency. However, it is expected that each employee be knowledgeable and able to educate the public anytime that there is contact or the opportunity.  The appropriation and fund distribution for the wildlife information and education service area reflects the cost of the primary focused activities of the agency. Hunter education activities are supported through grants from the Federal Aid program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

This service area consists of activities involved in ensuring compliance with laws and regulations that govern activities related to hunting, fishing and other wildlife related recreational activities.

This service area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities, and to PROTECT people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts.

Regulation of recreational fishing

Regulation of recreational hunting

Revenue to cover the cost of law enforcement for hunting and fishing activities are not fundable through federal grants. The expenses related to this service area are supported from license revenues and funding received through the House Bill 38 (HB38) tax transfer formula. The HB38 legislative language allows for the Agency to receive 2% of the total amount of in-state sales tax on purchases by hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers of direct use and auxiliary equipment

 This service area seeks to provide for optimum population and diversity of wildlife species and habitats for the use and enjoyment by the people of the Commonwealth. This includes the research and management efforts for non-game and game species, monitoring and management of threatened and endangered species and the provision of opportunities to enjoy wildlife. Opportunities to pursue wildlife related recreation include the establishment of seasons, creating areas to interact with wildlife, providing access to wildlife on public and private land and enhance natural production through stocking and habitat manipulation.

This service area aligns with the Department's mission statement pillars to CONSERVE and manage wildlife populations and habitat for the benefit of present and future generations, and CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities, and to PROTECT people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts..

Protection, enhancement and management of fish and wildlife populations

Protection, enhancement and management of fish and wildlife habitat

Regulation of recreational hunting

Regulation of freshwater recreational fishing

Review and comment on activities in the Commonwealth to ensure protection of all wildlife and associated habitats

The majority of activities in this service area are supplemented with grants from various sources. The primary source of grants is from the Federal Aid program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These grants provide reimbursement for pre-approved activities at rates of 50% to 100% of the actual cost. The majority of the grants provide reimbursement of actual expenses at 75%.

This service area provides overall administrative and logistical support services to the Department. The service area includes the management and direction from the director's office, the administrative services support for the collection of revenues, purchasing, distribution of funds, and information technology support.

This service area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONSERVE and manage wildlife populations and habitat for the benefit of present and future generations, and to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities.

Manage budgets, process purchases, process account payables, receive and manage goods, services and assets.

Process, manage and receive revenues from license sales.

Process, manage and receive other revenues.

Manage human resources.

The funding for this service area rarely qualifies for any supplement grants or funds. The source of funding is all the revenue collected from the agency. However, the primary funding is from the collection of the dedicated special revenues deposited in the game protection fund.

This service area provides overall administrative and logistical support services to the Department. The service area includes the management and direction from the director's office, the administrative services support for the collection of revenues, purchasing and distribution of funds.

This service area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONSERVE and manage wildlife populations and habitat for the benefit of present and future generations, and to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities.

Manage budgets, process purchases, process account payables, receive and manage goods, services and assets.

Process, manage and receive revenues from license sales.

Process, manage and receive other revenues Manage human resources.

Manage human resources.

The funding for this service area rarely qualifies for any supplement grants or funds. The source of funding is all the revenue collected from the agency. However, the primary funding is from the collection of the dedicated special revenues deposited in the game protection fund.

This service area provides overall information technology services necessary to maintain and advance the Department’s business enterprise.

This service area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities.

Manage and support the agency’s information security programs.

Provide technological solutions that support customers and the agency’s day-to-day operations.

Provide policies, standards and procedures to control security threats in accordance with Commonwealth directives.

The funding for this service area rarely qualifies for any supplement grants or funds. The source of funding is all the revenue collected from the agency. However, the primary funding is from the collection of the dedicated special revenues deposited in the game protection fund.

This area provides administration and management of registration and titling requirements for powered boats and watercraft as well as the licensing of watercraft dealers and watercraft salesmen for the Commonwealth.

This Service Area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities. and to PROTECT people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts.

Processing registration of industry sales professionals

Processing of registration and titling of watercraft

Provision of access to the waters of the Commonwealth

Provide for safe and efficient operation of vessels through waterways management and regulatory markers.

The revenue to support the administrative processes for this service area are derived primarily from the fees collected for registration, titling and licensing. The activities related to the development and maintenance of recreational boating access are eligible for limited funding through grants administered by the Federal Aid Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This service area promotes boating safety on the waters of the Commonwealth.

This service area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities, and to PROTECT people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts.

Provide safety instruction and information for the operation of watercraft.

Provide the youth education component of boating safety education

Provide the personal watercraft (PWC) educational program to address personal watercraft operator safety.

Funding for the operations of the training program is primarily from the fees collected from watercraft registration and titling. Additional funds are available from the transfer of the watercraft sales and use tax collected on the sale of watercraft.

This service area regulates movement on the water through law enforcement.

This service area aligns with our Mission Statement pillars to CONNECT people to Virginia’s outdoors through boating, education, fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife viewing, and other wildlife-related activities, and to PROTECT people and property by promoting safe outdoor experiences and managing human-wildlife conflicts.

Enforcement of laws and regulations relating to safe and ethical boating activities.

Maintain a boating safety public outreach program.

Enforcement activities relating to recreational boating are funded from the watercraft sales and use tax transfers and from fees collected from the registration and titling of boats. The boating safety enforcement activities are one of the few enforcement activities that receive some reimbursement from federal grants. The amount of funds reimbursed to the agency is more dependent on the amount available through the grant than any specific reimbursement rate. The availability of funds is dependent on sustaining the level of effort in boat enforcement operations.