Established in 2000, State Wildlife Grants provide money to states, territories, commonwealths, and D.C. to address wildlife conservation needs such as research, surveys and species and habitat management. Projects focus on wildlife species of greatest conservation need identified in State Wildlife Action Plans.

What We Do

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Since 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program has distributed over $1 billion to the 56 states, territories, commonwealths, and D.C. through the State Wildlife Grant Program. Funds are used by state and U.S. territory fish and wildlife agencies for developing and implementing programs that benefit wildlife and their habitats, including species that are not hunted or fished. Grant funds may be used to address a variety of conservation needs, such as: research, fish and wildlife surveys, species restoration, habitat management, and monitoring. 

Since 2008, a portion of the State Wildlife Grant Program funding has been used for competitive grants to encourage interstate collaboration, innovation, and species conservation at larger scales.

The non-competitive funds are allocated using a formula based on land area and population estimates. State agencies provide at least 25 percent of project costs in non-federal matching funds.

Latest Stories and Topics

Stories
Top down view of a brown and black catfish like fish in a viewing box.
Endangered Species Act
What’s in a Name? Frecklebelly Madtom
It may surprise you to learn another group of catfishes is renowned for their diminutive size and equally secretive nature with the most curious of names: the madtoms. Twenty-nine madtom species inhabit streams and rivers in the central and eastern United States, and most fall under the management...
Julie Combs writes on clipboard while looking at vegation.
Habitat Restoration
Service Grant Supports Pollinators Across State and International Borders
Pollinators across Washington and California will benefit from nearly 400 acres of restored habitat thanks to dedicated conservation partners funded by the State Wildlife Grant (SWG) Program. Prairies, grasslands, and oak savannah habitat extend through British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, and...
Pair of Hawaiian ducks
Wildlife Management
States and Territories Receive $7.7 Million in Competitive Grants
Vulnerable wildlife across the nation will benefit from more than $7.7 million in grants thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Competitive State Wildlife Grant Program. Since 2008, the C-SWG Program has provided over $96 million in federal grant funds to support projects implemented by...
Western bumble bee on goldenrod in the Wallowa Mountains In Oregon
Endangered Species Act
Bumble Bee Atlas
Over the last five years, the Bumble Bee Atlas project has grown from an idea on how to get volunteers involved in collecting data on native bumblebees in the Pacific Northwest to a nationwide quest to learn as much as we can about these vital pollinators. The atlas is a terrific example of how...
Dozens of American White pelicans sitting on nesting islands in the middle of a lake.
Wildlife Management
A Conservation Balancing Act
Scales and feathers. Water and air. Fish and, well, fowl. Yellowstone cutthroat trout and American white pelicans are an unlikely duo for conservation. They both inhabit the Blackfoot Reservoir, a sagebrush and sun-soaked angling and boating destination in southeast Idaho. Both the trout and...
Lesser prairie-chicken on a lek in the Red Hills of Kansas
Wildlife Management
Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation Supported Through the State Wildlife Grant Program
Once present in large numbers across the plains, the lesser prairie-chicken population and its original distribution area have declined significantly since the 1800s. In the twentieth century, human influences such as the conversion of native rangelands to cropland and energy development as well as...
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Our Library

View of California's Elkhorn Slough
State Wildlife Grants (SWG)
This library includes information on funding for State Wildlife Grants (SWG) program administered by the Service's Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Established in 2000, State Wildlife Grants provide money to states, territories, commonwealths, and D.C. to address wildlife conservation...
Library Collection
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