FY 2018 Multistate Conservation Grant Program

The Sport Fish Restoration Act and the Wildlife Restoration Act, as amended by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-408) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make up to $6,000,000 ($3,000,000 each from the Sport Fish Restoration and Wildlife Restoration Program trust funds) available annually under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) for the purpose of funding multistate conservation project grants. The primary goal of the Program is to provide grant funds to address regional or national level priority needs (called national conservation needs) of the State fish and wildlife agencies that are beyond the scope and capabilities of a single state. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Association) and the Service work cooperatively to manage the Program. The Association administers the grant application process, providing oversight, coordination and guidance, and the WSFR program of the Service awards and manages the grants. The Multistate Conservation Grant Program (MSCGP) is a competitive grant program where eligible grantees submit Letters of Intent (LOIs) in the first stage of the selection process. In the second stage of the selection process, the best LOIs are invited by the Association to submit full grant proposals including all appropriate federal forms to the Association's National Grants Committee (NGC) for review, scoring and ranking to aid in the final selection process. The Association's NGC then develops the priority list of projects. This list is then submitted to the WSFR Program for grant award and management. The WSFR Program on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior can only award projects from the Association's annually prepared Priority List. LOIs and full grant proposals must address one or more of the Association's annually solicited and selected National Conservation Needs (NCNs) to be eligible. NCNs are selected by the Association to establish the State fish and wildlife agencies' conservation priorities, and they are used to guide proposal development and grant selection for the Program. Projects awarded are published annually in the Federal Register.