Goal of the Tribal Wildlife Grant Program:

Provide funds to Federally recognized Tribal governments to develop and implement programs for the benefit of wildlife and their habitat, including species of Native American cultural or traditional importance and species that are not hunted or fished.

Turtles are a Tribally significat species to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. Credit: DJ Monette / USFWS

Tribal Wildlife Grants are used to provide technical and financial assistance to Tribes for the development and implementation of programs that benefit fish and wildlife resources and their habitat. Activities may include, but are not limited to, planning for wildlife and habitat conservation, fish and wildlife conservation and management actions, fish and wildlife related laboratory and field research, natural history studies, habitat mapping, field surveys and population monitoring, habitat preservation, conservation easements, and public education that is relevant to the project. The funds may be used for salaries, equipment, consultant services, subcontracts, acquisitions and travel.

Grant recipients are selected through a nationally competitive process.  Proposals are evaluated according to resource benefit, performance measures, work plan, budget, capacity building and their partnerships and contributions.

Previously funded Tribal Wildlife Grant projects range from comprehensive surveys of plants, fish and wildlife, to habitat and fish restoration, to development of new resource management plans and techniques. The Tribal Wildlife Grants program began in 2003 and has provided over $50 million to date for building the capacity of Tribes to manage fish and wildlife resources. A comprehensive report on projects awarded between 2003 and 2006 is now available online .

Latest News - Request for Proposals, 2009 Tribal Wildlife Grants

On May 1, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a request for grant proposals for the 2009 Tribal Wildlife Grants program, which funds projects on a competitive basis that benefit habitat, fish and wildlife, including species that are not hunted or fished.

Proposals and grant applications must be postmarked by September 2, 2008. The maximum award for any one project under this program is $200,000. Tribal representatives interested in applying for a Tribal Wildlife Grant are strongly encouraged to download and read thoroughly the application toolkit below.

DOWNLOAD 2009 TRIBAL WILDLIFE GRANT APPLICATION TOOLKIT

A Tribal Wildlife Grant project proposal includes a cover letter, program summary, program narrative, budget narrative/table, resolution of support, and one federal form - Standard Form 424 Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424). A printable copy of the SF-424 and supplemental instructions are available at www.fws.gov/grants/tribal.html.

In order to facilitate the scoring of proposals, we recommend this format (in Microsoft Word .doc):

Attachment 1 - Format Recommendations for TWG Proposals

Questions about applying?

Contact the national Native American Liaison, Patrick Durham at 703.358.1728 or find the Regional Contacts for your area of the country. Tribal representatives in California or Nevada should contact the Region 8 Tribal Partnerships Specialist, David Wooten, at 916.414.6576.