Grants / Department of the Interior / Fish and Wildlife Service

F26AS00006 2026 Multistate Conservation Grant Program Announcement

Closed Closed September 22, 2025 Opportunity F26AS00006 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Fish and Wildlife Service notices from 2025.

• Award ceiling$1.0 million
• Total funding$11.0 million
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to nonprofits, colleges and universities and state and local governments.

• State governments
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Eligible applicants also include the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or a State or group of States, for the purpose of carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. The State governments designation refers to agencies with lead management responsibility for fish and wildlife resources in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia (Sport Fish Restoration only), Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or a group of these agencies. Eligible species include wild birds, wild mammals, or sport fish. Sport fish are defined as aquatic, gill-breathing, vertebrate animals with paired fins, having material value for recreation in the marine and fresh waters of the United States. Eligible activities for T-MSCG funding include projects involving research, surveys, restoration, conservation, management, habitat improvement, and providing for public use and benefit from these resources, including R3 activities and other purposes consistent with the enabling legislation. Fishing or boating R3 activities are only eligible for T-MSCG funding. Hunting and target shooting R3 activities, including related communication and outreach activities, are also eligible for R3-MSCG funding. Eligible projects must address one of the 2026 AFWA Strategic Priorities. Eligible projects must demonstrate a benefit for:A majority of States; orA majority (over 50%) of the States in a U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service Region. Please list the Regions and States in each Region that will benefit (use State abbreviations); orA majority (over 50%) of the States belonging to a regional association of State fish and wildlife agencies (click each of the Associations for the state members, WAFWA, MAFWA, NEAFWA, SEAFWA). Please indicate the regional fish and wildlife association that will benefit and list each region's States.

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Multistate Conservation Grant awards averaged $222,097; this notice allows up to $1.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (92% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Multistate Conservation Grants (MSCG) are authorized under 16 U.S.C. 669h-2 and 16 U.S.C. 777m, providing funding for wildlife restoration and sport fish restoration projects and recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) projects that address regional or national priority needs of State fish and wildlife agencies and their partners that are beyond the scale, scope, and capabilities of a single State. The priority needs, also known as Strategic Priorities, are identified annually by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) with input from State fish and wildlife agencies and their partners. Recipients awarded Traditional Multistate Conservation Grants (T-MSCG) may use the funds for wildlife or sport fish projects involving research, restoration, conservation and management of wild birds, wild mammals, sport fish, and their habitats. These funds may also be used for projects providing for public use and benefit from these resources, including hunter safety and education, aquatic education, and recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) projects and other purposes consistent with the enabling legislation. Recipients awarded R3 Multistate Conservation Grants (R3-MSCG) may use the funds for hunting and target shooting R3 projects that promote a national hunting and target shooting recruitment program, including related communication and outreach activities. Multistate Conservation Grants are awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and the Service and AFWA work cooperatively to manage the MSCG program.

Category: Natural Resources.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.