F25AS00099_FY 2025 Competitive State Wildlife Grant (C-SWG) Program_Funding Opportunity Announcement | F25AS00099

Opportunity Information: Apply for F25AS00099

The FY 2025 Competitive State Wildlife Grant (C-SWG) Program (Funding Opportunity Number F25AS00099) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (CFDA 15.634) focused on helping state, territory, and District of Columbia fish and wildlife agencies carry out proactive, science-based conservation for wildlife and their habitats. The central idea is to fund work that keeps species from declining to the point where they may need protection under the Endangered Species Act, which can trigger more prescriptive federal regulatory requirements. In practice, the program is meant to support early, coordinated conservation action that reduces future risk for both species and the agencies and partners responsible for managing them.

The program provides federal cost-sharing awards for two main categories of work: conservation planning and conservation implementation. Planning activities include strategic enhancements to a State or Territory Wildlife Action Plan (often called a Wildlife Action Plan or SWAP) that align with best practices laid out in the announcement. Implementation activities are projects that directly carry out actions already identified and approved in an existing Wildlife Action Plan. Across both types of work, the funding must primarily benefit Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and/or the habitats they rely on, keeping the program tightly focused on the species and systems most at risk.

A defining feature of this announcement is its emphasis on partnerships and cross-jurisdictional, landscape-scale conservation. The funding structure is organized into “award Tiers,” which are designed to encourage multi-partner collaboration that spans boundaries (for example, across states, regions, or shared ecosystems). The announcement indicates that it includes specific details on tier requirements, partnership expectations, and limits, including the maximum federal share of an award. Applicants are directed to tier tables referenced in the opportunity materials for the exact limits and requirements, but the overall intent is clear: larger, more coordinated conservation efforts involving multiple jurisdictions are a priority.

Eligibility is narrow and strictly limited. Only state, territory, and District of Columbia fish and wildlife agencies, plus the four regional associations of fish and wildlife agencies (NEAFWA, SEAFWA, MAFWA, and WAFWA), may apply. Other entities, even if they are common conservation partners, are explicitly not eligible to apply as the applicant, including universities, nonprofit or for-profit organizations, private landowners, individuals, and local governments. Those groups may still be involved as partners or collaborators if the eligible agency is the applicant, but they cannot submit an application on their own. Applications are screened for eligibility using the criteria described in the announcement’s “Application Review Information” section, specifically under “Eligibility Review.”

Key administrative details from the posting include an original application closing date of February 25, 2025, a grant funding instrument type, and an award ceiling of $1,000,000. The opportunity was created on November 14, 2024. Overall, the grant is aimed at enabling eligible wildlife agencies and their regional associations to strengthen Wildlife Action Plans and implement high-priority conservation actions for SGCN through coordinated, partnership-driven projects that operate at meaningful ecological scales.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "F25AS00099_FY 2025 Competitive State Wildlife Grant (C-SWG) Program_Funding Opportunity Announcement" 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 2024-11-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-25. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Others.

Apply for F25AS00099

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