Federal grant programs / Department of the Interior

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (15.615)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$230 million
• Grant awards787
• Typical award$71,967
• Awarded in FY 2025-$27.4 million
• Size rank575 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants (discretionary)

Key findings

• It is the 575th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 87% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 51 states and territories.

What the program funds

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund grants provide Federal financial assistance to States and Territories (hereafter, “States”) that have entered into a cooperative agreement pursuant to section 6(c) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands, including habitat acquisition, conservation planning, habitat restoration, status surveys, captive propagation, research, and education. Traditional Conservation Grants: The principal objective of the Traditional Conservation Grant Program is to support the development and implementation of State programs to conserve and recover threated and endangered species under the FWS jurisdiction and to monitor candidate, at-risk, and recently delisted species. Conservation Planning Assistance Grants: The Conservation Planning Assistance Grant program provides funding to States to support the development of new habitat conservation plans (HCP), the renewal or amendment of existing HCPs, as well as the development of new conservation benefit agreements (CBA).? Funding may support the administration of approved and permitted CBAs (formerly Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances/Safe Harbor Agreements) as well.?Funding supports development and planning activities such as document preparation, public outreach, baseline species surveys, habitat assessments, and inventories. Preparation?of environmental review documents that may be needed under the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act is also an eligible use of funds. Recovery Land Acquisition (RLA) Grants: The principal objective of the RLA Grant program is to promote State and Federal cooperation in listed species conservation by leveraging funds to acquire specific parcels of land, through fee simple or conservation easement, in support of FWS-approved recovery plans and outlines. The ESA conveys the importance of recovery plans as a central organizing tool for guiding the recovery process by requiring their development for every listed species. HCP Land Acquisition Grants: Established by Congress in fiscal year 1997, the HCP Land Acquisition Grant program was designed to reduce conflicts between the conservation of listed species and competing land uses on specific parcels of land associated with approved and permitted HCPs. Under this program, FWS provides matching grants to States in support of land acquisition projects that will conserve species habitat in perpetuity through fee simple acquisition or the acquisition of permanent conservation easements. All land acquired through these grants complements, but does not replace, the mitigation, minimization, and/or monitoring commitments of the HCP. Thus, this work is additive to the conservation commitments entered into when HCPs are permitted and serves as a meaningful way to leverage non-Federal investment in species recovery and connect conservation lands across the landscape.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

• F26AS00030 Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund: Recovery Land Acquisition Grant Program
  Open · Closes November 20, 2026 (20 days left) · up to $14.2 million

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

All States and Territories that have entered into a cooperative agreement with FWS pursuant to section 6(c) of the ESA are eligible to apply to the annual Funding Opportunity Announcement.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund grants provide Federal financial assistance to States and Territories that have entered into a cooperative agreement pursuant to section 6(c) of the Endangered Species Act for species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands, including habitat acquisition, conservation planning, habitat restoration, status surveys, captive propagation, research, and public outreach and education. This program funds real property acquisition through Recovery Land Acquisition and HCP Land Acquisition Grants. Real property acquisition is not an eligible use of funds awarded through Traditional Conservation and Conservation Planning Assistance Grants. Restrictions can be found in the annual Funding Opportunity Announcement available on GrantSolutions and grants.gov. 100 % of appropriated funds are set aside for discretionary activities. Restrictions can be found in the annual request for proposals found at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/grants/index.html.;

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. This program’s matching requirements are mandatory. In accordance with section 6(d) of the ESA, the minimum non-Federal cost share is 25 percent of the total project cost. If an application involves the collaboration of two or more States, the minimum non-Federal cost share decreases to 10 percent of the total project cost.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Varies by program element.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Program has selected but not yet funded over 150 projects to assist States and Territories in the implementation of their respective programs for the conservation of resident threatened and endangered species of fish, wildlife, and plants. Selected projects include species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands, including habitat acquisition, conservation planning, habitat restoration, status surveys, captive propagation, research, and public education and outreach.Fiscal Year2026: Program has not yet selected projects for funding. Program anticipates funding an estimated 150 projects to assist States and Territories in the implementation of their respective programs for the conservation of resident threatened and endangered species of fish, wildlife, and plants. Program expects to fund species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands, including habitat acquisition, conservation planning, habitat restoration, status surveys, captive propagation, research, public education and outreach.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Almost all of the money went to state and local governments.

By state

34 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.