North American freshwater gastropods remain an understudied, yet critically imperiled, fauna. As part of a larger discussion on freshwater mollusks in this special issue, we review 4 specific areas of concern regarding freshwater gastropods and discuss how best to address those concerns in the context of conservation. Areas of concern include freshwater gastropod conservation strategies, taxonomy and systematics, ecological research, and conservation challenges. We illustrate how each of these topics relates to conservation efforts and discuss opportunities to improve our baseline knowledge of freshwater gastropod taxonomy, ecology, and conservation. We emphasize throughout that effective conservation strategies require the participation of as many affected and interested groups, from local communities to governmental agencies, as possible for successful implementation and management. We offer suggestions for the direction of cooperative conservation with regard to freshwater gastropods.