Federal grant programs / Department of the Interior

FWS Public Land Stewardship – Youth Corps (15.676)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$109 million
• Grant awards898
• Typical award$44,315
• Awarded in FY 2025$23.5 million
• Size rank788 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants (discretionary)

Key findings

• Annual funding rose from $16.6 million in fiscal 2021 to $23.5 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 788th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 93% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 37 states and territories.

What the program funds

This program seeks to partner with qualified non-profit organizations including Youth or Conservation Corps, States and State Conservation Corps, Indian Tribes, Universities, and veteran serving organizations to carry out appropriate natural and cultural resource conservation, invasive species and fuels management, high quality outdoor recreation including support for EXPLORE Act implementation, National Fish Hatchery System operations, and public access projects on Department of the Interior managed lands through authorized U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) programs.

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

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

State Government, County Government, City or Township Government, Special District Government, Regional Organization, U.S. Territory or Possession, Public/State Controlled Institution of Higher Education, Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Federally Recognized), Indian/Native American Tribal Government (Other than Federally Recognized), Indian/Native American Tribally Designated Organization, Nonprofit with 501C3 IRS Status (Other than institution of Higher Education), Nonprofit without 501C3 IRS Status (Other than Institution of Higher Education), Private Institution of Higher Education, Hispanic Serving Institution, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Funds are provided for Public Lands Corps Act projects that perform, in a cost-effective manner, appropriate conservation projects on eligible lands where such projects will not be performed by existing government employees.? Projects will:? assist in performing research and public education tasks associated with natural and cultural resources on eligible lands, expose young people to public service while furthering their understanding and appreciation of the Nation’s natural and cultural resources, stimulate interest among the Nation’s youth in the FWS and conservation careers by exposing them to conservation, scientific research, and other professionals in the FWS, and offer them the opportunity to receive non-competitive hiring eligibility for Federal positions for which they qualify upon meeting program requirements.

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Under 16 USC CHAPTER 37, SUBCHAPTER II: PUBLIC LANDS CORPS , “the Secretary is authorized to pay not more than 75 percent of the costs of any appropriate conservation project carried out pursuant to this subchapter on public lands by a qualified youth or conservation corps. The remaining 25 percent of the costs of such a project may be provided from nonfederal sources in the form of funds, services, facilities, materials, equipment, or any combination of the foregoing. No cost sharing shall be required in the case of any appropriate conservation project carried out on Indian lands or Hawaiian home lands under this subchapter.”MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Oct 01, 2025 to Sep 01, 2026

Award range and average, in the agency's words

$2,500 – $600,000.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: FWS Programs placed youth and conservation corps members through Public Lands Corps Act projects in partnership with qualified youth or conservation corps. Individual placements worked on land access, habitat restoration, hatchery operations, and wildlife management, while crews addressed fuel reduction and invasive species. Large cohort programs, such as the Maintenance and Infrastructure Fellows Program, assigned fellows to key areas including maintenance, engineering, architecture, hydrology, climate adaptation, and geomorphology.Fiscal Year2026: FWS Programs will place youth and conservation corps members through Public Lands Corps Act projects in partnership with qualified youth or conservation corps. Individual placements will work on recreation access, habitat restoration, hatchery operations, and wildlife management, while crews addressed fuel reduction and invasive species. Large cohort programs, such as the Maintenance and Infrastructure Fellows Program, assigned fellows to key areas including maintenance, recreation access, engineering, architecture, hydrology, resilience, and geomorphology.

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

Nonprofits received 96% of the money, colleges and universities 2.1% and state and local governments 0.8%.

By state

13 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.