Multistate Conservation Grant Program | F21AS00004

Opportunity Information: Apply for F21AS00004

The Multistate Conservation Grant Program is a competitive federal grant opportunity run through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that funds large-scale fish and wildlife conservation work that is regional or national in scope. It is built on long-standing federal authorities under the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act and the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, as updated by later legislation, and it is designed for projects that are simply too big, too cross-cutting, or too multi-jurisdictional for any single state to handle effectively on its own. The core purpose is to help state fish and wildlife agencies and their partners tackle shared conservation priorities, coordinate management across borders, and deliver outcomes that benefit multiple states or the nation as a whole.

Funding for the program comes from two related streams. First, the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program can make up to $6,000,000 available each year for multistate conservation project grants. Second, Congress created an added funding boost through the Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow's Needs Act (Public Law 116-94, enacted December 20, 2019), which established a Modern Multistate Conservation Grant Program and provides an additional $5,000,000 to support this same overall multistate conservation mission. Taken together, these authorities reflect an intent to keep the program focused on high-priority needs that are broader than a single state boundary, whether that means multi-state species and habitat issues, shared research and monitoring needs, coordinated management strategies, or other regional and national conservation challenges.

Administration of the program is shared in a practical way between the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) and USFWS. AFWA runs the front end of the process by managing the grant application process and providing oversight, coordination, and guidance to applicants. USFWS handles the federal side by awarding and managing the grants once selections are made. The program is explicitly competitive, meaning proposals are compared against each other and funding decisions are based on merit and how well projects match the program's priorities and requirements.

Eligibility is centered on government fish and wildlife management authorities, with some additional eligible organization types listed for this specific opportunity posting. The description emphasizes that eligible applicants include USFWS itself, a single state, or a group of states, particularly for work connected to carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. In this context, "state governments" refers specifically to the agencies that have lead responsibility for managing fish and wildlife resources in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia (for Sport Fish Restoration purposes), Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including groups or coalitions of these agencies working together. The opportunity listing also notes eligibility categories that can include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) entities), and other applicants, which typically signals that partners may be able to participate directly depending on the specific project structure and how the lead applicant role is set up.

For the posted opportunity record (Funding Opportunity Number F21AS00004), the program falls under the "Natural Resources" activity category and is offered as a discretionary grant. The CFDA number is 15.628, and the awarding agency is the Fish and Wildlife Service. The listed award ceiling is $1,000,000 per award under this opportunity, and the original closing date shown is August 14, 2020. Overall, the program is best understood as a mechanism to fund coordinated, multi-jurisdiction conservation work that delivers shared benefits across states, guided jointly by AFWA's application process support and USFWS's federal grant award and management responsibilities.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Multistate Conservation Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.628.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-05-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-08-14. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: 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.

Apply for F21AS00004

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