Standard Grants

North American Wetlands Conservation Act

The Standard Grants Program is a competitive, matching grants program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. These projects must involve long-term protection, restoration, and/or enhancement of wetlands and associated uplands habitats. In Mexico, projects may also include technical training, environmental education and outreach, organizational infrastructure development, and sustainable-use studies.

From September 1990 through September 2020, some 5,000 partners in 2,174 projects have received more than $1.78 billion in grants. They have contributed another $3.56 billion in matching funds to affect 30 million acres of habitat. Follow the links to learn more about each program:

About the Grants Program

The Standard Grants Program began supporting projects in all three countries in 1990, shortly after the North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989 was passed. Each fiscal year, available funds have been distributed among projects in the three countries according to a pre-determined percentage within the range of percentages allowable under the Act.

The Process

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Bird Habitat Conservation (Division) is responsible for facilitating and administering the Act’s Standard Grants Program. The process for receiving and preliminarily reviewing project proposals is handled slightly differently for each country and enjoys the active participation of each federal government. For further details, visit the country-specific Web pages on this site.

Once a slate of eligible proposals has been determined per each country-program’s process, the proposals are further reviewed and ranked by the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, a nine-member council established by the Act. The Council then recommends projects to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, a seven-member commission authorized by the Act to give final funding approval to projects. The Division administers the grants for all approved projects.