Environmental Review

Visit the Interactive Rare Species Data Viewer (provides free lists of rare species by county, watershed, and USGS quad)

Submit a Request for an Environmental Review ($275/project, add $75 for each additional USGS 1:24k quadrangle covered; our office will review the project and provide a letter with lists of rare species observed within 1- and 4- miles of the project area and a determination of potential impacts to rare plant species)

You must open the Interactive Rare Species Data Viewer and Online Environmental Review Request Form in Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. These online applications will not function correctly if opened in Internet Explorer. 

The Natural Heritage Program currently tracks over 1100 rare and endangered plant and animal species as well as hundreds of conservation sites across the state. This information is collected through ongoing research and field investigations by the Division and other scientists from across the State, as well as from scientific literature, museum collections, and other sources and is continually analyzed and updated. Natural Heritage data is not only important in identifying areas of ecological significance for conservation and restoration activities, but is also a valuable tool in the environmental review process.

For environmental review planning, the DNA encourages using the free Interactive Rare Species Data Viewer.

If you would like site-specific data of known state and federal concern plant and animal species, ecologically significant sites, and certain conservation managed lands, we can perform such reviews for $275 per project. DNA staff will prepare and send to the requesting entity a list of rare species documented within a one-mile radius of the project area, as well as a list of species documented from the surrounding area within four miles. Larger projects and linear projects that cover an area greater than a 4-mile radius shall be charged $75 for each additional USGS 1:24,000 quadrangle included in the project area.

For projects requiring a formal environmental review, you should submit your request via our Online Environmental Review Request Form ($275/project; add $75 for each additional USGS Quadrangle Covered). We do not coordinate reviews via email. Review requests are usually filled within 30 days and e-mailed to the receiving entity with an invoice for payment.

After submitting an online request, you will receive an automatically generated email confirming our receipt of your request within four hours.

You may contact the Environmental Review Coordinator at (615)- 532-4799 with questions regarding environmental reviews.