NFWF and ConocoPhillips Announce SPIRIT of Conservation and Innovation Grants

HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 16, 2017) — The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and ConocoPhillips today announced $1.2 million in grant awards through the SPIRIT of Conservation and Innovation program. These grants will support restoration and enhancement of important habitats and advance innovative water conservation technologies in 11 states.

The grants, awarded to nine organizations for work in Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, will support projects that collectively will restore more than 16,300 acres of grassland bird habitat, increase partner collaboration, establish decision support tools, increase critical late season stream flows, and develop innovative on-site tools for aquatic invasive species prevention. Grant recipients will match the $1.2 million in funding with $7 million in financial contributions or in-kind support for a total on-the-ground conservation impact of more than $8.3 million.

Since 2005, NFWF and ConocoPhillips have invested more than $9.5 million in projects through the SPIRIT of Conservation and Innovation program. Grantees have matched this funding with an additional $21 million for a total conservation impact of $30.5 million. As a result of these investments, more than 214,000 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat have been conserved or restored.

“Identifying innovative species and habitat conservation solutions that help provide long-lasting ecological benefits is a primary goal of our SPIRIT of Conservation and Innovation program,” said John Sousa, manager of Communications, Brand and Community Relations at ConocoPhillips. “Through our SPIRIT of Conservation and Innovation program and partnership with NFWF, we are proud to support this year’s winners and their pursuit to advance water and biodiversity conservation efforts.”

This public-private partnership has continued to invest in proven techniques for improving and restoring critical fish and wildlife habitat to address long-standing conservation challenges. Additionally, the partnership is investing in promising, innovative solutions to difficult conservation problems.

“The grants awarded this year through this innovative partnership between NFWF and ConocoPhillips will improve priority habitats for targeted fish and wildlife species in some of America’s most important landscapes,” said Eric Schwaab, vice president for NFWF’s conservation programs. “These projects will support iconic species ranging from coho salmon in Alaska to whooping cranes in Texas and lesser prairie chickens in Kansas.”

For additional details on the individual grants, please click here.

Learn more about the ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation and Innovation Program at: www.nfwf.org/spirit

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation:

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores our nation’s wildlife and habitats. Chartered by Congress in 1984, NFWF directs public conservation dollars to the most pressing environmental needs and matches those investments with private contributions. NFWF works with government, nonprofit and corporate partners to find solutions for the most intractable conservation challenges. Over the last three decades, NFWF has funded more than 4,500 organizations and committed more than $3.5 billion to conservation projects. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.

About ConocoPhillips:

ConocoPhillips is the world’s largest independent E&P company based on production and proved reserves. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 17 countries, $90 billion of total assets, and approximately 13,300 employees as of Dec. 31, 2016. Production excluding Libya averaged 1,567 MBOED in 2016, and preliminary proved reserves were 6.4 billion BOE as of Dec. 31, 2016. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.