Funding

The Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentives Program (VPA-HIP) encourages private landowners to voluntarily make their land available to the public for wildlife-dependent recreation. States and tribes approved for funding of this Farm Service Agency (FSA) program use the funds as incentives to encourage private landowners of farms, ranches, and forests to make that land available to the public for wildlife-dependent recreation. This may include hunting or fishing. The overall goal of VPA-HIP is to enhance wildlife habitat and management and to boost local economies through activities that attract wildlife enthusiasts.

The Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) announced today a funding opportunity for research proposals that address high priority knowledge gaps associated with natural resource conservation and management across the nation’s heartland.Research projects under consideration for 2014 funding must address one or both of the following science themes as they relate to prairie restoration, river restoration, agroecology conservation practices and/or urban watershed management.

Recent Deadline: 10/29/2020. Species Recovery Grants to Tribes support tribally-led management, research, monitoring, and outreach activities that have direct conservation benefits for listed species under the Endangered Species Act. Recently delisted species, proposed, and candidate species are also eligible.

USFWS uses a science-based, adaptive framework for setting and achieving cross-program conservation objectives that strategically address the
problems fish and wildlife will face in the future. This framework, called Strategic Habitat Conservation, is based on the principles of adaptive management and uses population and habitat data, ecological models, and focused monitoring and assessment efforts to develop and implement strategies that result in measurable fish and wildlife population outcomes. In addition, by leveraging resources and strategically targeting science to inform conservation decisions and actions, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC) are being established to create a network of partners working in unison to ensure the sustainability of America's land, water, wildlife and cultural resources.

Deadline Passed in 2016. Deadline for 2019 Unknown. This unique competition is open to teams that include at least two accredited college or university students, graduate students, or post-doctoral students. Founded by Craig Barrett, Former Chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation and long-time Board Member of the NFF, the Challenge encourages and rewards innovative market-based solutions to natural resource issues affecting National Forests and Grasslands and hopes to cultivate a new generation of entrepreneurial natural resource and business leaders. The objectives of the Barrett Foundation Business Concept Challenge are: 1) to develop and launch market-based solutions that satisfy multiple goals of forest health, sustainable use, and economic development, including job creation, 2) to stimulate creative thinking to address problems and identify opportunities that benefit the National Forests and Grasslands, 3) to educate students and their partners about the practical steps necessary to design and implement market-based solutions to natural resource challenges and 4) to prepare students to work with interdisciplinary partners in response to complex natural resource challenges.

Applications Accepted Continuously. The Hewlett Foundation’s Environment Program is committed to reducing these emissions to avoid the most severe effects of climate change. We pursue our goal with strategies in the following areas: Clean Power--Increase renewable energy and energy efficiency while reducing fossil fuel development and use for electricity generation.Clean transportation--Increase fuel efficiency and access to transit, biking and walking options, while constraining the growth of high-carbon fossil fuels for transportation. Building broad support--Engage diverse members of the public. The Hewlett Foundation also has a grant program dedicated to conserving land in the US West.

This foundation supports environmental action according to a four part main strategy (see weblink for more).The foundation’s Environmental Program strives to meet its main strategies through grant awards. The Environment Program awards grants through invited proposals and the occasional funding competition. Funding opportunities may also be available through organizations administering re-granting programs supported by the foundation.

Deadline Passed 11/15/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The National Conservation Lands financially supports studies aimed at increasing our understanding of the resources present on BLM lands and the effectiveness of BLM¿s resource management decisions. The program seeks to develop and maintain strong partnerships with State, local, and private stakeholders in shared conservation stewardship by engaging partners in conducting management-focused research on the National Conservation Lands. Results from these studies on National Conservation Lands will inform management strategies utilized throughout BLM as well as other land management entities.

Past Deadline: 05/03/2021. CIG is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies for agriculture production. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users. Non-federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes or individuals are eligible. Applications are due via Grants.gov. NRCS OR CIG Applications are due 7 May. NRCS ID CIG Applications due 3 May by 11:59 pm ET.

Most recent deadline: January 13, 2023. "Initiative funding for the support and development of tribal youth programs focused on science in line with conservation and resource management. The programs will provide opportunities for youth to become engaged in the field of natural resource management and foster their interest in pursuing educational opportunities and a career in natural resources management" (Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal Youth Initiative (TYI) Program, Ranking Criteria and Application Process). 

Deadline extended: 6/1/2021. The EJSG program awards grants that support community-driven projects designed to engage, educate, and empower communities to better understand local environmental and public health issues and develop strategies for addressing those issues, building consensus in the community, and setting community priorities.  The EJSG program will award approximately $2.8 million nationwide for this competitive opportunity. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 56 grants ( about 5 per EPA region) of up to $50,000 each.  These grants are for one-year projects. This opportunity places special emphasis on projects focusing on COVID-19 impacts, as well as climate and disaster resiliency.  Additionally, EPA is emphasizing projects addressing diesel pollution in underserved communities living near ports and railyards as part of EPA’s Ports Initiative.  Finally, to promote equitable accessibility to EPA grant funding and to assist small entities, approximately half of the total available funding under this announcement is intended to be reserved for small non-profit organizations as defined in the announcement.

Deadline passed as of November 6, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. Healthy Places for Healthy People will provide selected communities with expert planning assistance that centers around a two-day community workshop. A team of experts will help community members develop an implementable action plan that will focus on health as an economic driver and catalyst for downtown and neighborhood revitalization.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing a new initiative to significantly accelerate adoption of sustainable clean and energy efficiency strategies in remote rural Alaskan communities. For the purposes of this initiative, “remote or rural areas” include communities with a population of 5,500 or less that are not connected by an all-weather road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks, or with a population of 1,500 or less that are connected by road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks. Through the proposed competitive process, the Remote Alaskan Communities Energy Efficiency Competition is being designed to empower Alaskan communities to develop solutions for effectively advancing the use of reliable, affordable, and energy efficient solutions that are applicable throughout rural communities in Alaska and potentially in other Arctic regions.

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: March 30, 2022. OCF seeks to support healthy, thriving and sustainable communities with funding awarded through an open, responsive grantmaking program that offers flexible types of support to organizations in response to community-defined needs. This program prioritizes communities in Oregon most impacted by social, economic and/or racial injustices and inequities. Learn more and apply here.