R1 State Wildlife Grants Formula - For State Fish & Wildlife Agencies Only | F19AS00148

Opportunity Information: Apply for F19AS00148

The R1 State Wildlife Grants Formula opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00148) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, under CFDA 15.634. It is designed specifically for state-level fish and wildlife agencies (eligible applicants are state governments, including the District of Columbia, Commonwealths, and U.S. Territories) to support conservation work that benefits wildlife and the habitats they depend on. A central emphasis of this program is helping states conserve a broad range of wildlife, including species that are not hunted or fished, so the funding is not limited to traditional game management and instead supports wider biodiversity priorities.

The program funds two main types of work: conservation planning and on-the-ground implementation. Planning projects must directly support the development, revision, or modification of a state Wildlife Action Plan that has been approved by the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In practice, this means the grant can support efforts like updating conservation strategies, reassessing threats, refining priority species lists, improving habitat or species data used in planning, and strengthening the science and rationale behind the plan so it better guides statewide conservation decisions. Implementation projects, on the other hand, are activities that directly carry out the actions described in that approved Wildlife Action Plan, translating the plan into concrete conservation results such as habitat restoration, targeted species conservation measures, monitoring approaches tied to management decisions, and other applied actions that move priority strategies forward.

A core requirement is that State Wildlife Grant funds must benefit Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) as identified in the state’s Wildlife Action Plan. The opportunity also stresses that states should be thoughtful about how they prioritize spending by considering how much other funding is available for particular species; in other words, SWG dollars are meant to help fill gaps where conservation needs are high but other resources are limited. In line with Congressional direction, the Service strongly encourages states to give particular attention to species that are listed, proposed, or under consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act, including candidate, threatened, and endangered species, as long as those species are included in the state’s plan and prioritizing them fits the state agency’s operational goals and conservation priorities.

The notice also makes clear that certain activities are generally not allowed. Wildlife education and law enforcement activities are considered ineligible unless they are minor or incidental to a larger eligible project and genuinely critical to making that project succeed. This keeps the focus on conservation planning and implementation tied to the Wildlife Action Plan rather than broader agency functions that are not directly part of the plan’s conservation actions.

Key administrative details from the posting include a listed award ceiling of $2,000,000 and an original closing date of August 31, 2020 (with a creation date of March 15, 2019). The opportunity is identified as a grant funding instrument within the Natural Resources activity category. Overall, this program is best understood as a formula-oriented federal funding source intended to help state wildlife agencies plan and carry out high-priority, science-based conservation actions for the species and habitats most in need, guided by each state’s federally approved Wildlife Action Plan.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "R1 State Wildlife Grants Formula - For State Fish & Wildlife Agencies Only" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.634.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 15, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 31, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for F19AS00148

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