America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative

The America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative supports locally led projects that invest in fish and wildlife habitat restoration, ecosystem and community resilience, access to nature, conservation workforce development, habitat corridors and connectivity, and collaborative, partnership-driven conservation. 

By combining multiple sources of federal and private funding into a single competitive grant program, the America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative simplifies the application process, enabling more impactful multijurisdictional projects, while making it easier for states, Tribal and Native Nations, U.S. territories, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and others to access a variety of funds with one application. This opportunity is the result of significant financial contributions from the U.S. Department of the Interior through the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and other private funders. 

The America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative seeks to advance conservation and restoration projects that address at least one of the following core areas of need:

• Conserving and restoring rivers, coasts, wetlands, and watersheds 
• Conserving and restoring forests, grasslands and other terrestrial ecosystems
• Connecting and reconnecting wildlife corridors, landscapes, watersheds, and seascapes 
• Improving community and ecosystem resilience to flooding, drought, and other threats
• Expanding community access to the outdoors

Applicants are encouraged to develop voluntary landscape scale and/or cross jurisdictional projects that advance existing conservation plans and/or are informed by Indigenous Knowledge.