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BOSTON - Mary Griffin, the state's fish and game commissioner, has a plan for Massachusetts. A 750-page plan, to be exact.

Griffin's phonebook-thick proposal, the State Wildlife Action Plan, outlines strategies to protect 257 species in 22 natural habitats throughout the state.

"We have many rare and endangered species in Massachusetts," Griffin said recently in her Boston office. "But our goal with the State Wildlife Action Plan is to keep more of them from becoming rare and endangered."

Over the next five years, Griffin says, the Department of Fish and Game she has headed since May will get a portion of $250 million in bonds pledged by Gov. Deval Patrick for environmental causes.

Much of her department's share will be used to purchase land cited in the plan, with the 67-mile Connecticut River Basin at the head of the department's wish list. Among the species to be protected in the plan are the longnose sucker, the shortnose sturgeon and the slimy sculpin. Among amphibians, there's the four-toed salamander and northern leopard frog. The hawksbill sea turtle is also at the top of the list.

"It's a higher number over a sustainable period than we've had in a while so it's very exciting," she said of the proposed funding.

The 45-year-old environmental lawyer, the state's first female fish and game commissioner, has spent much of her career protecting open spaces that endangered species call home. As an attorney, she has administered land-acquisition deals in both the public and private sectors since 1989.

While managing real estate transactions at the Boston law firm of Hale & Dorr, which she joined that year after graduating from Cornell Law School, Griffin says she became passionate about preserving open spaces.

"When I began practicing real-estate law, I found that I cared about environmental issues the most," Griffin said.

That led her in 1999 to a job as a land acquisitions manager in the Division of State Parks and Recreation. She also served as deputy commissioner of the state's Department of Environmental Protection before taking her current appointment.

In 2002, for example, Griffin said she helped protect two mountaintops and the last privately-owned island in Boston Harbor for recreational use.

"Mount Tom, Mount Watatic and Thompson Island all in one year - I'd say that was probably one of my best years," Griffin said.

Griffin has taken on another challenge in her new job: increasing the sale of hunting and fishing licenses in the state.

Since introducing online registration in 2001, the department has sold an average of 200,000 hunting and fishing licenses each year, said Robert Greco, the department's chief of staff. But, that's down from the more than 250,000 licenses sold annually from 1997 to 2000, according to statistics provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Our lifestyles are changing," Griffin said. "We all spend more time in front of our various screens, whether it's television or the Internet. So we're looking at ways to increase sales of our electronic licenses online."

Griffin says women could change that trend. She encourages women to take up hunting and even took hunting classes herself in January.

"I think women want to try new things and generally love the outdoors," Griffin said. "And they say that women tend to be very good shots because of the emphasis on developing technique."

In 1996, the Massachusetts Sportsmen's Council partnered with other hunting organizations and the Department of Fish and Game to form Becoming an Outdoorswoman (BOW).

BOW instructors train women in firearm safety and marksmanship, as well as hiking and fishing techniques. But recently, council President Michael Moss said, there has been an increase in the number of women - especially single mothers - who are taking up hunting.

"I think we're seeing a lot of single mothers who want to get involved in hunting," Moss said. "And they'll hopefully encourage their children to try it as well. I've seen a lot of women who have never shot before become successful hunters after taking our courses."

Moss says Griffin has worked closely with BOW to promote hunting and fishing in the Bay State.

"Mary's a pleasure to work with. She's passionate about gaining open space, and she has a lot of energy," Moss said. "She's a listener and a doer."

Gary Howland, president of the Ashburnham Conservation Trust, says Griffin's support of hunting and fishing does not conflict with her conservation efforts.

Indeed, Howland said, many acquisition deals include provisions to allow "passive recreation" or fishing and hunting on the land.

Hunters are the biggest users of open spaces, Howland said. "There's maybe somewhat of a divide between who you'd call tree huggers and the sporting community. But ultimately it all melds together."