Tribal Wildlife Grants:

Federally recognized Tribes in all parts of the United States are eligible to receive grants under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tribal Wildlife Grants program. These 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. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks Applications for Tribal Wildlife Grants

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is requesting grant proposals from federally recognized Tribes for projects that will conserve fish and wildlife resources on tribal lands. 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 the application toolkit below.

DOWNLOAD 2013 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) Guide.

Short Form SF 424 (PDF)
Form SF 424-B
Form SF425
These forms are fillable PDFs.

In order to facilitate the scoring of proposals, we recommend this format (in Microsoft Word .doc): Attachment 1 - Format Recommendations for TWG Proposals (Word doc)

TWG and TLIP Scoring Process
Scoring Criteria

Questions about applying?
Contact the Southwest Region Native American Liaison, Joe Early at 505-248-6602; the National Native American Liaison, Pat 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.

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 .

More Than $7 Million Awarded to Native American Tribes for a Wide Range of Conservation Work

For more information on grants that were funded nationwide, please visit our national website (http://www.fws.gov/) OR visit the Native American Grants page (http://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/grants.html)

Formal award letters and forms will be sent to tribes that are receiving a TWG. Information and scores from proposals that were unable to be funded will also be made available.

Also, please be aware that the FY 2012 TWG Request For Proposals is currently open from May 2 - September 2, 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact Joe Early, Native American Liaison, Southwest Region, at joe_early@fws.gov

Thank you and congratulations to our new TWG recipients!

More Than $7 Million Awarded to 42 Native American Tribes in 16 States for a Wide Range of Conservation Work

March 2010
Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar today announced more than $7 million in grants will go to 42 Native American projects in 16 states to fund a wide range of conservation projects nationwide. “Tribal Wildlife Grants are much more than a financial resource for Tribes. The projects and partnerships supported by this program demonstrate our commitment to Native Americans and our shared wildlife resources,” said Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

More than $50 million has gone to Native American tribes through the Tribal Wildlife Grants program in the past eight years, providing funding for 400 conservation projects administered by 162 participating Federally-recognized tribes. The grants provide technical and financial assistance for the development and implementation of projects that benefit fish and wildlife resources and their habitat, including non-game species.

The grants have enabled tribes to develop increased management capacity, improve and enhance relationships with partners including State agencies, address cultural and environmental priorities, and heighten interest of tribal students in fisheries, wildlife and related fields of study. Some grants have been awarded to expand recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species. “The Tribal Wildlife Grants program has helped our Region build upon the trust relations we have with our tribal partners, while providing the tribes with funding to manage their natural resources as part of their sovereign rights. We value the professional conservation relationships we have established, and continue to create,” said Benjamin Tuggle, PhD., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Regional Director.

“These grants also provide funding to manage and rehabilitate culturally significant species, like the eagle. In particular, funding from this grant cycle will once again allow Southwest tribes to manage eagles within their tribal lands, as well as give wounded and non-releasable eagles a new life, through the establishment of tribal managed eagle aviaries. These aviaries allow tribes to lawfully acquire molted feathers for cultural and religious purposes. To date, we are the only Region who has worked with our tribal partners to accomplish this kind of trust relation,” said the Southwest Region’s Native American Liaison, Joseph Early. The grants are provided exclusively to Federally-recognized Indian tribal governments and are made possible under the Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2002 through the State and Tribal Wildlife Grant program.

During the current grant cycle tribes throughout the U.S. submitted a total of 137 proposals, for a total funding request of over $22 million that were scored by panels in each Service Region using uniform ranking criteria. Specifically for the Southwest Region, 18 proposals were received and scored, with 6 of the proposals being funded for a total of $1,064,657.

2010 Region 2 Tribal Wildlife Grant award recipients:

ARIZONA
Hopi Tribe ($200,000) – second grant for eagle study.
Second Year of Golden Eagle Occupancy, Reproduction, and Prey Population Assessment on Hopi Lands

Quechan Tribe ($68,997) – 1st TWG
Habitat Protection and Enhancement of Wetlands on the Quechan Indian Reservation

Tohono O’odham Nation ($200,000) – 1st TWG
Proposal for a Flora and Fauna Inventory on the Baboquivari Mountain Region

NEW MEXICO
Pueblo of Santa Ana ($199,963)
Gray Vireo Population Monitoring

OKLAHOMA
Citizen Band of Potawatomi ($199,823) – 1st TWG and second grant funded eagle aviary.
Citizen Potawatomi Eagle Aviary Program

Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma ($195,874)
Propagation of the Neosho Madtom and Neosho Mucket
* Tribes may submit more than one proposal as long as their cumulative cost is less than $200,000.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with
others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and
their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

All images Credit to and Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unless specified otherwise.