Multistate Conservation Grant

 

This program provides funding for sport fish and wildlife restoration projects identified by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Recipients awarded under the Traditional Multistate Conservation Funds (T-MSCGP) may use the funds for sport fisheries and wildlife management including research projects, boating access development, hunter safety and education, aquatic education, fish and wildlife habitat improvements, and other purposes consistent with the enabling legislation. Recipients awarded under the R3 Multistate Conservation Grant Program (R3-MSCGP) can only use the funds for making hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment projects that promote a national hunting and shooting sport recruitment program, including related communication and outreach activities.

Active 15.628 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of The Interior B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2017 The Association received 18 applications (from recipients invited by AFWA to submit applications from 24 submitted Letters of Intent) and recommended 17 for award on their Priority List. Program accomplishments vary and are based upon National Conservation Needs (NCNs), selected annually by AFWA’s National Grants Committee. All proposals must address at least one of the annually selected NCNs.
Fiscal Year 2018 The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Association) received 20 applications (from recipients invited by the Association to submit applications from 25 submitted Letters of Intent). The Association recommended 18 to be awarded by the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program (WSFR). Program accomplishments vary and are based upon National Conservation Needs (NCNs), selected annually by the Association’s National Grants Committee. All proposals must address at least one of the annually selected NCNs.
Fiscal Year 2019 The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Association) received 41 applications (from recipients invited by the Association to submit applications from 56 submitted Letters of Intent). The Association recommended 39 to be awarded by the WSFR Program. Program accomplishments vary and are based upon National Conservation Needs (NCNs), selected annually by the Association’s National Grants Committee. All proposals must address at least one of the annually selected NCNs.
Fiscal Year 2020 The Association received 48 applications (from recipients invited by the Association to submit applications from 63 submitted Letters of Intent). The Association recommended 40 to be awarded by the WSFR Program. WSFR reviewed, approved and awarded all 40 applications. Program accomplishments vary and are based upon National Conservation Needs (NCNs), selected annually by the Association’s National Grants Committee. All proposals must address at least one of the annually selected NCNs.
Fiscal Year 2021 Beginning for the first time in the FY 2021 cycle, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Association) replaced National Conservation Needs with Strategic Priorities. All projects were required to address one or more of the selected Strategic Priorities, which were reviewed and approved by the Association’s Executive Committee at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, March 8-13, 2020. In addition, the first stage submission requirement for use of Letters of Intent was replaced by the submission of Initial Proposals (for requirements see http://www.fishwildlife.org) The Association received 85 Initial Proposals and invited 52 applicants to submit Full Grant Proposal packages. The Association recommended 38 for award within their priority list submitted to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s, Wildlife & Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program. WSFR is currently in the process of reviewing, approving and awarding all 38 applications. Program accomplishments vary and are based upon Strategic Priorities, selected annually by the Association’s National Grants Committee.
Fiscal Year 2022 The Association received 121 Initial Proposals and invited 54 applicants to submit Full Grant Proposal packages The Association recommended 42 for award within their priority list to the WSFR Program. WSFR approved and awarded all 42 applications. Program accomplishments vary and are based upon Strategic Priorities, selected annually by the Association’s National Grants Committee.
Fiscal Year 2023 The Association received 103 Initial Proposals and invited 65 applicants to submit Full Grant Proposal packages. The Association recommended 55 for award within their priority list to the WSFR Program. WSFR approved is in the process of awarding all 55 applications. Program accomplishments vary and are based upon Strategic Priorities, selected annually by the Association’s National Grants Committee.
Fiscal Year 2024 The Program has not invited prospective grantees to submit Initial Proposals or Grant Proposal packages at this time. Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act, Pub. L. 106-408, 114 STAT. 1766, §112 et seq.; Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act, 16 U.S.C. §777 et seq.; and Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, 16 U.S.C. §669 et seq. Eligibility is limited to: 1) Agencies with lead management responsibility for fish and wildlife resources in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or a group of these agencies; 2) The Service, only for the purpose of carrying out the National Survey; or 3) Non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs including educational institutions that are invited to submit full proposals must submit a certification that their organization will not use grant funds to fund, in whole or in part, any activity that promotes or encourages opposition to the regulated hunting or trapping of wildlife or the regulated taking of fish in their application. Only projects that propose benefits to sport fish, wild birds and/or mammals are eligible. Proposed projects must also benefit: 1) At least 26 States or; 2) A majority of the States in a Service Region; or 3) A regional association of State fish and wildlife agencies. Projects must benefit at least 26 States, a majority of States in a Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or a Regional association of State fish and game departments. Not applicable. Preapplication coordination is required. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. This program is co-managed with the Association. The Association receives all applications within their two-step application process. Initial Proposal requirements and deadline information is available from the Association’s MSCGP webpage. Initial Proposals are required to address one or more of the Association’s Strategic Priorities listed within their webpage. Applicants must submit the Initial Proposals through the Association’s MSCGP portal by May 18, 2022. In part two, the Association will invite applicants of the best Initial Proposals to submit their Full Grant Proposal package through GrantSolutions.gov and to the Association’s MSCGP webpage portal. If your project is selected by the Association as a priority list project, your project will be recommended for funding to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. The Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will select projects for funding from a priority list developed by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) based on established criteria. The Association expects to post the availability of FY2024 Multistate Conservation Grant Award Funds and specific deadlines on their website, http://www.fishwildlife.org by April 14, 2023. WSFR expects to post the availability of FY2024 Grant Award Funds by the same date within GrantSolutions.gov (GS). To start the application process, Full Grant Proposals must now only be submitted through the Association's portal by June 15, 2023. The Association scores and ranks the Full Grant Proposals and produces a priority list of projects of the highest-ranking proposals. AFWA completes Full Grant Proposal review by July 28, 2023. Applicants selected for possible funding and included within the priority list will be notified by August 15, 2023. WSFR will accept Full Grant Proposals that made the priority list through GS for award through a Directed Announcement posted within GS from August 15, 2023, until September 5, 2023. The Association approves the priority list Sept 20-27, 2023. Approval of awards by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are planned for January 2023. Any differences of opinion over the eligibility of proposed activities or differences arising over the conduct of work may be appealed to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Not applicable. Projects will be reviewed and evaluated for scope, significance, feasibility, and cost effectiveness. In addition, projects must address one or more focus areas as described in the Strategic Priorities established annually by the Association. Project types that are generally selected for funding are those considered of national importance according to state fish and wildlife agencies. Funding activities focus on: education, training, data analysis, values and use of sport fish and wildlife restoration programs; new technologies, hunting and fishing participant recruitment/retention; and evaluation in restoration, recreation, enhancement, or protection of sport fish and wildlife and their habitats. Funds under this program are not used for land acquisition or major construction projects. For further information, please contact the Washington D.C. Office. Performance Reports: Performance reports are required. Recipients must monitor and report on project performance in accordance with the requirements in 2 CFR 200.329. Final performance reports and final SF-425, Federal Financial Reports are due within 120 calendar days of the award period of performance end date, unless the awarding program approves a due date extension. The FWS details all reporting requirements including frequency and due dates in Notices of Award. Not applicable. Recipients will maintain records in accordance with 2 CFR 200. Program-specific legislation/regulation may dictate additional records retention requirements. Program will detail all non-standard records retention requirements in the notice of award. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Projects may be approved for up to three years with funding amounts available dependent on annual competition. The Program obligates all grant funds at the start of the first year and sends a notice of award to successful applicants. Recipients request funds in accordance with 2 CFR 200, Subpart E-Cost Principles, unless otherwise dictated by program-specific legislation or special award terms. The Program will include any special payment terms and conditions in the notice of award. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. This program is administered from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters Office, so please contact them for more information. Director, Policy and Programs,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, Policy and Programs Division, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: WSFR
Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 US
r9wsfr_programs@fws.gov
Phone: (703) 358-2156 https://www.fws.gov/program/multistate-conservation 14-5029-0-2-303 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$6,000,000.00; FY 23 est $5,999,998.00; FY 24 est $6,000,000.00; - Traditional Multistate Conservation Funds(Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$5,000,000.00; FY 23 est $5,000,000.00; FY 24 est $5,000,000.00; - (R3) Multistate Conservation Grant Funds Range: $50,000 to $1,000,000; Average: $250,000. 2 CFR 200; 50 CFR 80 and Sections 521, 522, 523 of the Fish and Wildlife Service Manual. Fiscal Year 2017 The American Sportfishing Association is currently working on a project titled, “Economic Significance of Sportfishing: Jobs, Tax Revenues and other Measures Needed to Achieve Greater Support”. The project will provide each and all 50 states with scientific, easy-to-understand information about the expenditures, jobs, tax revenue, income and other economic data needed to strengthen their abilities to increase public awareness about the importance of fish and wildlife. The Association is administering on behalf of the National Fish Habitat Board a project titled, “Science and Conservation collaboration through the National Fish Habitat Partnership’. The project is working to collectively advance fish habitat partnership habitat assessments through identification of mutual data needs, data acquisition and landscape-level analysis for the benefits of fish, mussels, and other aquatic animals. In addition, the project will provide regional and system-specific fish population, habitat, and human impact data to fill regional data gaps; achieve conservation results through strategic actions and allow further critical collaboration to occur among the Fish Habitat Partnerships. The Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports (CAHSS) is working on a project titled, “Implementation of the National Hunting and Shooting Sports Action Plan”. The objective is to conduct facilitated workshops necessary to develop state-level recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) plans. These collaborative sessions will serve to enhance cooperative efforts between nonprofits, industry and state fish and wildlife agencies that result in stronger and larger R3 partnerships at the state level. These activities will provide information regarding the most effective ways to preserve the hunting and shooting sports traditions.
Fiscal Year 2018 The National Fish Habitat Board is working to support activities of Fish Habitat Partnerships that will help to achieve four of the objectives in the National Fish Habitat Action Plan: 1) achieve measurable habitat conservation results through strategic actions of Fish Habitat Partnerships; 2) broaden the community of support for fish habitat conservation; 3) fill gaps in the National Fish Habitat Assessment and its associated database, and 4) communicate the conservation outcomes produced collectively by Fish Habitat Partnerships. The Archery Trade Association and Responsive Management are currently working together on a small-scale retention and reactivation study involving five to seven states; this project will test email message themes and accompanying images that encourage new and lapsed bowhunters to renew their hunting licenses. The project also tests two strategies for the timing of reactivation emails sent to bowhunters. Comparing the results among the themes and timing strategies (as well as to a control group that gets no emails) will help determine the most effective themes and strategies for future efforts. Data from a subsequent survey of bowhunters in each state will be used to generate profiles of distinct bowhunter groups by age, experience level, background, motivation, and other factors relating to the pathway to participation. The American Sportfishing Association and Southwick Associates are working on a project that will establish baseline measures for the effectiveness of local fishing events and provide goals and recommendations for improving local recruitment efforts. This project will provide insights for improving angler recruitment events. It will identify event participants who had not fished before and then assess the percentage of beginners who have fished on their own since the event or need follow-up support. Lastly, it will provide confidential results back to each event organizer, with combined statistics provided as a baseline to track effectiveness and identify improvements for other event organizers to adopt.
Fiscal Year 2019 (1) The University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc. continues work conducting research to provide an initial assessment of the pathogenic potential of West Nile Virus (WNV) to negatively affect wild turkey and northern bobwhite populations. Data generated from this research will provide technical diagnostic guidance and justifications for more complex field studies to better understand and document actual population effects in these species. Currently, wildlife agencies from at least a dozen states are planning to collect and submit blood for this study in response to concerns related to the potential impacts of WNV on ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and other game birds. Experimental data are needed to reveal estimated proportions of birds that may be dying in the wild, as well as show possible compromised health in survivors. (2) The American Bird Conservancy is continuing work to survey and analyze all state, Federal, Non-profit groups and other large scale ( e.g., statewide or ecoregion) grassland conservation programs on private and public lands and will organize two Grassland Conservation Flyway meetings. North American Grassland ecosystems have experienced persistent, long-term erosion in both quantity and quality. Threats such as agricultural intensification, invasive species, climate change, energy development, urbanization, and other development continue to take their toll. The Grassland Conservation Programs Gap Analysis work in this grant will result in a spatially referenced Geographic Information System database of current grassland conservation efforts across states, regions, and within flyways to build conservation strategies. The Gap Analysis information will directly feed into the Flyway meetings to develop concrete strategies and funding mechanisms to address identified needs. (3) The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) is continuing work on a project to address problems that result from the current approach used to gather Harvest Information Program (HIP) data for migratory bird hunters. Most problems arise from third-party data entry errors. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ (Association) Harvest Information Work Group (HIWG) recommended a pilot project be undertaken to evaluate solutions. WMI has developed a model for collecting HIP data that eliminates the primary cause of problems (third-party data entry) and maintains secure data entry and interface between the states' license databases and the centralized database used by the Fish and Wildlife Service to select hunter samples. WMI will work with the HIWG to identify a minimum of four and maximum of eight states that have volunteered to participate in a pilot project to improve the accuracy of HIP data by eliminating third-party data entry. The project will include states with large and small numbers of migratory bird hunters and states in each flyway and region.
Fiscal Year 2020 (1) Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was first observed in mule deer in a research facility in Colorado in 1967 and in wild cervids in the 1980s in Colorado and Wyoming. Currently, CWD has been confirmed in wild deer, elk, and/or moose in 24 states and two provinces. Among captive cervids, CWD has been confirmed in 112 herds in 17 states and 109 herds in three provinces. The disease continues to be detected in new areas, and negative population impacts have been documented in heavily infected, wild, elk, mule deer, and whitetail herds. The Wildlife Management Institute continues working to provide critically needed technical assistance and authoritative guidance to state wildlife agencies developing, revising, or implementing CWD prevention, surveillance, and management programs for free-ranging deer, elk, and moose. (2) The future of fishing participation and the associated license sales and excise tax revenues depend on recruiting younger anglers into the sport. The American Sportfishing Association continues working on a project to determine if a fishing in the school’s program is sustainable, scalable and if it increases localized angler participation. The pilot year was to be focused on establishing a fishing program in 50 schools in five states, providing teacher trainings, and conducting surveys. Program reports and survey results will be compiled, analyzed and presented to state and federal agencies, the industry and partners. The information provided can be used to identify areas where: State agency involvement can improve upon and/or enhance the program and its effectiveness; tackle retail stores can focus marketing efforts; conservation organizations can build partnerships with public and private schools, assisting with and improving the fishing event portion of the program. (3) Each year, state agencies and their industry partners, as well as non-profit groups such as the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), must make difficult decisions regarding which R3 (recruitment, retention, and reactivation) fishing programs and projects to fund given their fixed budgets. The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation continues work on a study that will entail a comprehensive assessment of what both the research to-date and the angler R3 community indicate are the most effective and worthwhile programs. The overall goal is to provide state agencies and partners (especially organizations that offer grant opportunities) with strategic direction for which R3 programs and projects should receive the highest priority for funding. The study will explore existing programs to assess which ones have the greatest impact on increasing fishing participation, such as programs for adults, youth, or minorities.
Fiscal Year 2021 The American Fisheries Society continues work on a project titled “Communicating the Effects of Climate change on Fish and Fisheries”. The goal of this proposal is to enhance the communication skills of state agency fisheries professionals by building on and expanding AFS programs to serve as a source of communication training, impactful content, and innovative approaches to integrate climate change scientific information into accessible messaging. The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is finishing work on a project titled “State and Congressional District-Level Economic Impacts for Hunting and Target Shooting”. The main goal is to provide all 50 states with scientific, easy-to-understand information about hunting and target shooting's expenditures, jobs, tax revenue, conservation contributions (Pittman Robertson plus license revenues), income and other economic data needed to increase public awareness of, and support for, proper scientific management. The results will be complimentary and additive to the sportfishing economic insights now under production by the ASA to allow states to sum all numbers to enhance their communications efforts. The Wildlife Management Institute in partnership with the Association of Conservation Information (ACI) is finishing work on a project titled “Effective R3 Marketing Strategies”. Marketing is an effective way to accomplish Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) of hunters and recreational sport shooting. This project will deliver a practical and applicable online compendium of successes and lessons learned from agency implemented R3 marketing efforts that can be used by any agency to create an effective R3 marketing campaign. ACI and its partners are focused on helping states boost their marketing successes.
Fiscal Year 2022 The American Sportfishing Association is finishing up a project titled, Real-time License Data Dashboard Improvement and Expansion. The project is working to identify priority needs and to effectively monitor and evaluate Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) of hunters, anglers, trappers and shooting sports participants. R3 leaders must have timely and reliable Real-time License Data. Likewise, fish and wildlife agency managers need to identify participation trends to make informed program and policy decisions. While states can only receive updated regional and national trends every six months after an additional three-month processing delay, the rest of the country receives aggregated health statistics and other insights weekly or sometimes daily. The same technology used to report daily COVID-19 trends is also available for states to rapidly share and compile license sales trends. In 2021, this proposal’s partners began developing and piloting a “real-time” regional and national license dashboard using “application program interface” (API) software. The Archery Trade Association with be completing a project titled, Discovering Family Bowfishing – National Education Initiative. This national public education initiative fulfills the R3 strategic priority of Engaging New Audiences by influencing millions of youths and families to Discover Bowfishing. This will be accomplished by using an unprecedented combination of national broadcast educational television, digital channels, peer-driven classroom curriculum, a diverse social media program, and free “how-to” R3 bowfishing videos available to every agency in the nation. This program also combines the proven success and educational outreach of several established education programs with ATA’s Explore Bowfishing, SCIF’s American Wilderness Leadership School and the Into the Outdoors Education Network’s Emmy-winning television series and national online teacher- student education network. The Wildlife Management Institute will be finishing up a project titled, Development of Consistent Policy and Law to Prevent Translocation of Feral Swine. The willful or accidental introduction of feral swine into suitable habitats across North America is perhaps one of our most serious conservation issues. Inconsistencies in state policies and laws regarding the transport/translocation of feral swine undermine state agencies’ efforts to prevent expansion and reduce the impact of these animals. Agencies of jurisdiction need a study to identify these inconsistencies, gaps, and trends that hamper the ability of agencies to effectively control the spread of feral swine. There is also a need to assess the effectiveness of these policies, regulations, and statutes for their ability to effectively control the movement and spread of feral swine.
Fiscal Year 2023 Cornell University will be starting a project titled, Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Infrastructure for North America. This project will expand on previous work. CWD impacts additional cervid species and locations within North America, therefore, Cornell will be expanding the project to an international-scale system designed to provide data-driven decision support for surveillance of CWD for any interested wildlife management agency or organization in Mexico, USA, Tribal nations, and Canada. Pheasant Forever, Inc is starting a project titled, One but Not Done: Providing the Next Steps to Female Hunters, Shooters, and Archers. A major challenge affecting our recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts today is that programs have historically been held as “one and done” events. Participants continue to lack the confidence and competence needed to become self-identified hunters after these single-day recruitment efforts. Additionally, the churn rate regarding women in hunting and shooting sports is a problem they will look to examine and address. This project will build on the previous 2021 research by taking the information gained from the study and putting it into action through a coordinated national effort. The University of Georgia, Department of Pathology, will begin a project titled, Assessment of Lymphoproliferative Disease Virus (LPDV) Transmission, Infection, and Disease Development in Wild Turkeys Toward Better Understanding Natural Infection Dynamics. The proposed research is urgently needed in response to broad-scale population health concerns concurrent with evidence of widespread LPDV infections in wild turkeys in the US and portions of southern Canada. Despite recent surveillance and research efforts to identify associations between LPDV and demographic and landscape factors, we lack answers to basic questions about the virus and its host: (1) how wild turkeys are infected (i.e., transmission route[s]); (2) how rapidly and where it spreads in the body; (3) how often and where in the body does disease develop; and (4) the duration of persistent virus infections (e.g., by shedding and in blood) and thus, how long wild turkeys are able to transmit virus following initial infection.
Fiscal Year 2024 The Program has not yet selected projects for funding. The Program anticipates funding both Traditional and Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Multistate Conservation Grant projects that address species or habitat research activities, hunting, and fishing recruitment and retention information collection, aquatic or hunter education activities, conservation planning, outreach and coordination.