Renewable energy development in the Northeastern United States offers opportunities for emissions reduction, but land-use change from renewables can cause novel impacts to wildlife. Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN) in the Northeast (from Maine to Virginia) offer a diverse, taxonomic suite of species to assess and envision wildlife interactions with renewable energy development at a broad geographic and regulatory scale. Here, we summarize scientifically-derived guidelines for wildlife management and renewable energy development for state wildlife agencies in the Northeast based on syntheses of peer-reviewed literature and existing management recommendations from state wildlife agencies and an NGO. We documented a paucity of peer-reviewed literature on RSGCN interactions with terrestrial renewable energy development in the Northeast, particularly solar energy. As such, current recommendations may lack empirical underpinnings specific to renewables, but expert opinion and general wildlife knowledge can play roles in informing guidelines. Building off of topical categories in the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) Solar Beneficial Management Practice Database, we identified over 450 management recommendations directly or indirectly tied to wildlife and solar energy development. With the goal of expanding empirical breadth, we summarized possible responses of RSGCN to solar energy development based on peer-reviewed literature addressing their responses to solar-analogous anthropogenic disturbance (e.g., fencing). We provide an annotated bibliography on existing wind-wildlife research and notes on other renewables in the Northeast. Our guidelines provide a basis for regionally adapting wildlife management for the energy transition in the Northeast. Field research on wildlife response to renewable energy development is needed to help validate and improve guidelines.