Grants / Department of the Interior / Fish and Wildlife Service

F26AS00094: Great Lakes Restoration Initiative –Joint Venture Habitat Restoration and Protection

Closed Closed July 6, 2026 Opportunity F26AS00094 ☆ 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 2026.

• Award ceiling$300,000
• Award floor$25,000
• Total funding$800,000
• Expected awards3
• Cost sharingRequired
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

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

Applicants who are not conservation-based organizations must demonstrate how their organizational priorities can satisfy the objectives of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and the priorities of the Joint Ventures, and how GLRI investments in the proposed project will be maintained and ensured into the future.

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

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Migratory Bird Joint Ventures awards averaged $444,724; this notice allows up to $300,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (92% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• The notice requires cost sharing or matching funds, so you must contribute part of the project cost.

What the grant funds

The goal of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is to target the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem by funding and implementing projects that address these problems. As part of this initiative, the two bird habitat joint ventures that operate in the Great Lakes watershed – the Upper Mississippi / Great Lakes Joint Venture and the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture – will work with the Office of Conservation Investment program in the Midwest and Northeast Regions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to competitively fund partner projects for long-term habitat protection, restoration, or enhancement, to conserve habitats that support native Great Lakes fish and wildlife populations, particularly migratory birds. Proposed activities must align with the operating principles of GLRI Action Plan IV and meet the objectives of GLRI Action Plan IV Focus Area 4 (https://www.glri.us/action-plan-iv/habitats-and-species). Proposed actions should address the habitat goals of the Upper Mississippi / Great Lakes Joint Venture Implementation Plan (https://umgljv.org/planning/joint-venture-plans/) or the Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain (BCR 13) Bird Conservation Region Plan (https://acjv.org/planning/bird-conservation-regions/bcr-13/), and/or other relevant bird conservation plans including tribal plans and/or State Wildlife Action Plans (https://www.fishwildlife.org/afwa-informs/state-wildlife-action-plans and https://www.mlimidwest.org/midwest-regional-species-of-greatest-conservation-need/) and should clearly describe how proposed activities will benefit bird species identified in the above plan(s).Proposed projects must address declining or at-risk habitat types including wetlands, grasslands, and forests, and projects must fall within the Great Lakes coastal zone, as defined by NOAA (https://coast.noaa.gov/czm/act/sections/#304). Projects that lie adjacent to or in close proximity (within 15 miles) of Great Lakes coastal waters will be viewed favorably. Additionally, proposed projects should describe how activities or outcomes will use existing science and decision support tools to inform proposed activities and how proposed activities will benefit habitats and identified species in the future.

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.

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