Biodiversity conservation practices are taxonomically biased towards vertebrates and vascular plants. In North America north of Mexico NatureServe Network Programs (e.g. Natural Heritage Programs) are leading biodiversity programs across the USA and Canada, working at the State, Provincial, or Territory level, to assess flora, fauna, and fungi at a sub-national scale. An international non-profit, NatureServe, manages the central repository for these data and acts as a leader and resource for the Natural Heritage Network. There are clear taxonomic biases in biodiversity management throughout these tiered organizations. The reasons for these persistent biases are not homogenous throughout the network, and not necessarily the same for different underrepresented taxonomic groups. In this study we focused on bryophytes and lichens, two groups from different kingdoms that are both typically overlooked in conservation efforts. Our objectives were to: 1) summarize the current number of state (S) and global (G) ranked species for all territories and provinces in Canada and states in the USA, 2) assess bryophyte and lichen conservation priorities and perspectives from NatureServe network partners, 3) compare bryophyte and lichen conservation perspectives and outcomes. All current G and S rank data for bryophytes and lichens were exported from the NatureServe Data Explorer. Two surveys, one for each group, with 24 different questions regarding the status, perceptions, and resources around bryophyte and lichen conservation were sent out to the NatureServe Network with the intent of having at least one person per state or province complete the survey. Both surveys included the exact same set of questions. A total of 37 responses were received for the bryophyte survey and 39 responses for the lichen survey. Twenty-six states/provinces included responses for both groups of organisms. We used the overlapping responses for subsequent analyses to ensure geographic parity between the datasets. In summarizing the G and S rankings we found that the majority of G ranks were applied in 1998-2002. Lichen species have the greatest number of globally rare G ranks (407), followed by mosses (210), then liverworts (204), and hornworts (9) have the fewest. Mosses have the greatest number of S1 ranks (108), followed by lichens (93), then liverworts (73), and lastly hornworts (0).  Of the 26 survey respondents with overlapping geographic units, 81% track bryophytes and 65% track lichens. 15% of the states/provinces have regulatory protections for bryophytes in place 23% have protections in place for lichens. When asked if programs would support having staff involved in Ranks and Status workshops 54% responded yes, 31% maybe, and 12% no for Bryophytes, and 46% responded yes, 42% maybe, and 12% no for lichens. Although most states/provinces track species, there is disparity with regards to protections for globally rare species. There is increasing interest among natural heritage programs to learn the process for ranking and assigning conservation statuses to lichens and bryophytes.