National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Announces $122.5 Million in Conservation Grants from the America the Beautiful Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 2, 2024) – The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) joined its public partners today in announcing $122.5 million in grants through the America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative: America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC). The 61 new grants announced today will support landscape-scale conservation projects across 42 states, three U.S. territories and 19 Tribal and Native Nations. The grants will generate at least $8.7 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $131.2 million.

ATBC grants support projects that conserve, restore and connect habitats for wildlife while improving community resilience and access to nature. The America the Beautiful Challenge is a partnership between the Department of the Interior (though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service), the U.S. Department of Defense, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and NFWF. The competitive grant awards were made possible with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, other federal conservation programs, and private sources.

"The America the Beautiful Challenge is advancing President Biden’s ongoing commitment to conserve our lands and waters by supporting locally led conservation and restoration projects in communities across the country," said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. "Thanks to historic investments from the President’s Investing in America agenda, these projects in communities across the nation will help ensure everyone can access the benefits nature has to offer for years to come."

"President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative has been truly transformative. By working together across the federal family, and through private-public partnerships, we have built an enduring path to support hundreds of locally led collaborative conservation projects across the country," said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. "The America the Beautiful Challenge has advanced engagement with Tribes, funding a record amount of Tribally led efforts and elevating the use of Indigenous Knowledge to benefit endangered species and treasured landscapes. These innovative investments will leave a lasting legacy on our nation’s lands and waters."

To streamline access to these funds, federal agencies established the ATBC in May 2022 to create a centralized and simplified competitive grant program for landscape-scale conservation and restoration projects that contribute to conservation plans across the nation. Now in its third year, the 2024 ATBC request for proposals received 331 pre-proposals requesting $677 million for conservation efforts. Of those, NFWF and partners invited 133 applicants to submit full proposals. The grants announced today address about 18 percent of this overall level of demand, illustrating the highly competitive nature of the ATBC.

"Now in its third year, the ATBC continues to showcase the depth and breadth of conservation and restoration need across the country," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. "From salmon in Alaska’s Yukon River to monarch butterflies in Texas and black ducks in New Jersey, the 61 grants announced today will support voluntary efforts to improve the vitality and resilience of the nation’s fish, wildlife, habitats, and communities."

These projects will enable states, Tribal and Native Nations, U.S. territories, nonprofits, academic institutions, and other grantees to develop and implement multijurisdictional, high-priority restoration projects on both public and private lands. The program is intended to encourage the development and implementation of voluntary, diverse and comprehensive landscape-level projects that:

• Address priority conservation and restoration needs
• Showcase cumulative benefits to fish and wildlife
• Enhance carbon sequestration and storage
• Engage with and benefit communities, including underserved communities
• Connect people with nature
• Advance existing conservation plans and/or are informed by Indigenous Knowledge
• Help safeguard ecosystems and communities through resilience-focused and nature-based solutions 

"Over the past three years, the America the Beautiful Challenge has served as a marker of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protecting our nation’s natural treasures for future generations," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Through these awards, and in partnership with Tribes, NGOs, state partners, and others, USDA will continue to build on its critical work – from voluntary conservation efforts to safeguard our forests and grasslands to increasing access to climate-smart practices and mitigating the risk posed by dangerous wildfires."

"The 18 designated sentinel landscapes are strategically important for the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and allow our DoD installations and ranges to safeguard key testing and training capabilities through mutually beneficial partnerships," said Brendan Owens, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Energy, Installations and Environment. "By allocating over $6 million in DoD Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program funding to six projects across Sentinel Landscapes, this year’s America the Beautiful Challenge is strengthening military readiness by protecting capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region, reducing regulatory burdens, and decreasing catastrophic wildfire risk in order to sustain mission-essential activities."

Examples of the types of projects funded this year include:

• Lummi Indian Business Council ($4,999,300) will implement four high-priority watershed projects in the South Fork Nooksack Watershed to benefit the native early chinook population essential to the recovery of at-risk Puget Sound chinook and the livelihood and culture of Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe.
• Nebraska Game and Parks Commission ($5,000,000) will restore and enhance nearly 56,000 acres of prairie and savanna within the tallgrass prairie ecosystem in Iowa and Nebraska through invasive species control, prescribed fire, planned grazing and prairie restoration by engaging willing landowners, Tribal Nations, and partners to implement voluntary conservation practices that benefit more than 100 at-risk species, improve ecosystem services, and increase landscape connectivity.
• West Virginia Department of Natural Resources ($1,291,400) will engage 60 partners in cross-boundary collaborations and strategic planning to address challenges preventing the implementation of conservation actions benefiting at-risk species, habitats, and communities across Appalachian coalfields in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.
• Atlanta Botanical Garden ($667,700) will cultivate a native seed supply chain including five at-risk species, to restore herb-dominated coastal wet prairies in the Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape and alleviate constraints on the military mission and increase resilience by reintroducing historic hydrology and natural fire regimes.
• Trees, Water, & People ($1,110,700) will coordinate a partnership among natural resource departments, Indigenous leaders, and communities for long-term improvement of upland forest systems, canyon bottom, and streams of the Jemez mountains in north central New Mexico after decades of drought and megafires.
• Tanka Fund ($498,000) will conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to Native buffalo producers on bison-grazed lands across Indian Country, utilizing Working Lands for Wildlife frameworks and Indigenous Knowledge to develop preparedness and conservation plans for 34 native buffalo producers, increasing access to farm bill programs and climate-smart practices, strengthening resilience, and enhancing biodiversity on Native-managed grasslands, prairies and savannas.

The ATBC includes an emphasis on supporting Tribal and Native Nation access to grant funding for restoration, conservation and capacity-building, and seeks projects that incorporate Indigenous Knowledge in planning and implementation. The number of proposals awarded to Tribal Nation applicants in 2024 far exceeded minimum funding and demonstrated high demand and clear need. Approximately 42 percent of all 2024 ATBC funding will support projects implemented by Indigenous communities and organizations, representing another year of record funding dedicated to Tribally led projects for a single grant program at NFWF. 

"Indigenous knowledge and leadership are at the heart of addressing the biodiversity and climate crisis," said Erik Stegman, CEO of Native Americans in Philanthropy. "Our Collaborative with the Biodiversity Funders Group demonstrates the power of public-private solutions, leveraging $1.6 million in private funding to unlock over $51 million in public resources for groundbreaking Tribal conservation projects. We’re grateful to our partners in philanthropy and government for working together to remove barriers and develop new models for investment in Tribally-led environmental conservation."

The ATBC consolidates funding from multiple federal agencies and the private and nonprofit sector, enabling applicants to develop and pursue large-scale or complex, locally led projects that collaboratively address shared priorities across public and private lands. This is demonstrated by projects co-funded between agency partners – made possible through NFWF’s unique grantmaking model. The program supports projects that contribute to one or more of the following focal areas:

• Conserving and restoring rivers, coasts, wetlands and watersheds 
• Conserving and restoring forests, grasslands and other important ecosystems that serve as carbon sinks 
• Connecting and reconnecting wildlife corridors, large landscapes, watersheds and seascapes 
• Improving ecosystem and community resilience to flooding, drought and other climate-related threats
• Expanding access to the outdoors, particularly in underserved communities

A complete list of the 2024 grants made through the ATBC is available here. To learn more about the program, including applicant eligibility, funding priorities and submission requirements, visit the NFWF ATBC webpage.

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate, foundation and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 6,800 organizations and generated a total conservation impact of more than $10 billion. NFWF is an equal opportunity provider. Learn more at nfwf.org. 

About the U.S. Department of the Interior
The Department of the Interior conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, provides scientific and other information about natural resources and natural hazards to address societal challenges and create opportunities for the American people, and honors the Nation’s trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities to help them prosper.

About the USDA Forest Service
The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state, private, and Tribal landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov. 

About the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s primary private lands conservation agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat. Through one-on-one, personalized and voluntary assistance, NRCS works with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals to ensure the health of our natural resources and the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.

About U.S. DOD REPI Program
The Department of Defense (DOD)’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program fosters multi-agency initiatives and collaboration to preserve compatible land uses and promote resilience around military installations and ranges. These efforts preserve and enhance Department of Defense (DOD) assets and capabilities in support of military readiness through the creation of unique cost-sharing partnerships with state and local governments and private conservation organizations. The REPI Program is administered by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Learn more at www.repi.mil.

About Native Americans in Philanthropy
For over thirty years, Native Americans in Philanthropy has promoted equitable and effective philanthropy in Native communities. They do this through leadership development, education, research, and strategic partnerships with funders and philanthropic organizations. The cornerstone of their work is their relatives and their networks. NAP supports several communities of stakeholders that work together to build knowledge, community, priorities, and power in the sector. These networks include Native professionals in philanthropy, elected Tribal leaders, Native youth leaders, Native philanthropic executives and board members, and Native nonprofit leaders.

###

Contact:

Rob Blumenthal, 202-857-0166, rob.blumenthal@nfwf.org