Region 7 FY18 State Wildlife Grants (Apportioned) - Open to State Fish and Game Agency ONLY | F18AS00066

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00066

The Region 7 FY18 State Wildlife Grants (Apportioned) opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00066) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, under CFDA 15.634. It is specifically limited to state-level applicants, with eligibility restricted to state governments and, as the title notes, intended for a State Fish and Game Agency. The overall purpose is to provide federal funding to support state and territorial efforts to conserve wildlife and wildlife habitat, including species that are not traditionally managed through hunting or fishing programs. In practice, the program is meant to help states build and carry out comprehensive conservation work that might otherwise be underfunded, especially for non-game species and broader habitat needs.

The grant supports two main categories of work: planning and implementation. Planning activities must directly contribute to developing, revising, or otherwise modifying the applicant state's current Wildlife Action Plan, and that plan must be approved by the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This means planning funds are not for general strategy documents or broad environmental planning; they need to tie clearly and specifically to the Wildlife Action Plan itself. Implementation activities, on the other hand, cover on-the-ground or programmatic actions that the state intends to undertake to execute its existing Wildlife Action Plan. In other words, implementation is about doing the work described in the plan, while planning is about responsibly updating and improving the plan so it stays relevant and actionable.

A key program emphasis is prioritization. The notice indicates that states should place priority on "species of greatest conservation need" and should consider the relative level of other funding available for conserving those species. This is an important framing because it pushes applicants to focus SWG dollars where the conservation need is highest and where other funding sources are limited. The program is designed to encourage strategic allocation of resources, rather than spreading funds thinly across many lower-need activities or duplicating work already well-supported by other funding streams.

The opportunity also draws clear boundaries around what is not eligible. Wildlife education and law enforcement activities are generally ineligible, unless those components are minor or incidental and genuinely critical to the success of an otherwise eligible project. That caveat matters because many conservation projects benefit from outreach or compliance support, but the grant is not intended to function as an education grant or a law enforcement support fund. Any such components would need to be clearly subordinate to the main conservation purpose and justified as necessary for project outcomes.

From an administrative standpoint, the posting lists an award ceiling of $400,000 and an original closing date of August 31, 2019, with a creation date of January 4, 2018. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity areas are categorized under natural resources, science and technology, and other research and development. While the listing shows "ExpectedAwards: 0," that field in some federal postings can reflect how the opportunity is structured or recorded in the system rather than implying no funding will be made available; the key takeaway is that the program is an apportioned State Wildlife Grant opportunity targeted at eligible state fish and game agencies for Wildlife Action Plan-related planning and implementation work.

For additional program background and guidance, the notice points applicants to the State Wildlife Grant Program information page maintained by the Fish and Wildlife Service: http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/GrantPrograms/SWG/SWG.htm.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Region 7 FY18 State Wildlife Grants (Apportioned) - Open to State Fish and Game Agency ONLY" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.634.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 04, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 31, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for F18AS00066

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