Conservationists say that migration corridors are key to sustaining wildlife populations. A new Bureau of Land Management policy makes them a priority.

The BLM has instructed its state offices to identify migration corridors and develop strategies to maintain or restore them.

The agency manages more land than any other in the country, including about 12 million acres in Arizona.

Michael Carroll, of the Wilderness Society, says the new policy could help the Arizona office as it develops new policies for that land.

“So in Arizona it’s going to be really really important that as the BLM moves forward on projects, and as the BLM moves forward on travel management planning, that they do this assessment, and that they are thinking about wildlife connectivity,” he said.

Conservationists say that a number of things can affect migration patterns, including climate change.