This project developed new noninvasive tools for monitoring the status and effectiveness of conservation actions for the New England cottontail, a Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in several northeastern State Wildlife Action Plans. This project addresses RCN Priority 6: Development of Regional Indicators & Measures. Our specific objectives were to 1) conduct a systematic study of detection rates and factors that influence detection of New England cottontail occupancy in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the current presence/absence survey protocol; 2) develop a noninvasive genetic monitoring technique for population estimation and apply it to generate baseline estimates of New England cottontails on several sites range-wide; 3) conduct pilot investigations for developing a pellet count index. End products include an evaluation of current presence/absences survey protocols, guidelines for implementing effective new monitoring approaches, and the first, baseline population estimates for New England cottontails range-wide.