Washington D.C. (September 24, 2020) – During its 110^th Annual Meeting, held virtually September 9^th – 15^th, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agency’s members recommended the approval of 38 projects to be funded through the Multistate Conservation Grant Program (MSCGP). 

This year’s priority list selection process went through several changes. All proposals needed to respond to the Association’s strategic conservation priorities and were reviewed by subject matter experts from the Association’s Committees.

Grants approved this year included: 

• $244,946 to Cornell University to optimize surveillance for a chronic wasting disease dashboard.
• $175,000 to Archery Trade Association to design a next step recruitment into retention program focused on transitioning the National Archery in the Schools Program participants into bowhunters.
• $281,688 to the American Sportfishing Association to track participation through expanded and faster license data dashboards.

The total funding for the 38 projects is $7,051,618. Funding for the MSCGP comes from the 10-11 % federal excise tax paid by manufacturers and importers of fishing, hunting, and shooting-sports equipment.

The projects recommended are as follows: 

1. American Fisheries Society - Fisheries Gray Literature Database State Agency Expansion and Support 
2. Cornell University - Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease Dashboard: A Web Application for Disease Visualization and Data-Driven Decisions
3. West Virginia Division of Natural Resources - Online Platform for Chronic Wasting Disease Data Sharing Management in North America 
4. American Fisheries Society - Communicating the Effects of Climate Change on Fish and Fisheries 
5. University of Georgia Research Foundation - Preventing the Spread of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHDV2) in the United States by Engaging Key Stakeholders in Collaborative Management Solutions 
6. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program - Coordination Component for the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation
7. AFWA - Wildlife Viewer Survey: Enhancing Relevancy and Engaging Support from a Broader Constituency
8. Wildlife Management Institute - An Agency Path Forward: Designing Effective Engagement and Building Capacity for Relevancy
9. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (SAF) - Making Us More Relevant – State-Level Economic Impacts of Hunting and Target Shooting 
10. Wildlife Management Institute - Ensuring the viability of the American System of Conservation Funding: Improving the understanding of excise-tax based funding for conservation.
11. AFWA - Coordination of Farm Bill Program Implementation to Optimize On-the-Ground Fish and Wildlife Benefits to the States
12. AFWA - Coordination of State Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Authority to Manage Wildlife Resources in Concert with Federal Actions Required by International Treaties, Conventions, Partnerships, and Initiatives
13. Instream Flow Council Inc. - Instream Flow and Water Level Conservation Training and Research Center 
14. AFWA - Maintaining Relevancy of the AFWA North American Trapper Education Program for State Fish and Wildlife Agencies 
15. AFWA - Supporting Effective Coordination of Regional & National Conservation Efforts Through State Fish & Wildlife Agencies 
16. AFWA - Management Assistance Team (MAT) and the National Conservation Institute 
17. AFWA - Coordination of the Industry, Federal and State Agency Coalition
18. National Fish Habitat Partnership -Expanding the Community of Support for Fish Habitat Partnership Conservation Efforts
19. AFWA - Strengthening Awareness of State Fish and Wildlife Management: Support for Legal Strategy and Conservation Law Education under MSCGP Strategic Priority 4
20. AFWA - Multistate Conservation Grant Program Coordination
21. The National Wild Turkey Federation - Supporting Law, Graduate and Undergraduate Students' Study of Legal Principles and Professional Experience in Conservation Law and Policy and Providing Opportunity for Practicing Lawyers and Judges' Continuing Legal Education on Conservation Law under MSCGP Strategic Priority 4
22. American Sportfishing Association - Tracking Participation through Expanded, Faster License Data Dashboards
23. Wildlife Management Institute - Measuring the Efficacy of State Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) Efforts: A Quantitative Approach.
24. Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports - Facilitation of National R3 Strategies for CAHSS 
25. International Hunter Education Association USA - Effectiveness of Hunter Education Delivery: Finding the Missing Data
26. Midwest Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Hunter and Angler Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation Committee - R3 Specific Evaluation and Social Science Training and Resources for the Modern R3 Practitioner
27. Midwest Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Hunter and Angler Recruitment and Retention Committee - Creating a Hunter/Angler Mentor Communication Strategy
28. Association for Conservation Information - Effective R3 Marketing Strategies
29. National Shooting Sports Foundation - Converting 2020’s Surge of New Firearm Owners into Active Hunters and Target Shooters
30. Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation - Modernizing Trapping Matters Professional Development Workshops and Wild Fur Schools Delivery Through Updated Messaging and the Creation of Distance Learning Modules
31. The Archery Trade Association - Archers USA Varsity Archery next step program taking Recruitment into Retention, transitioning the National Archery in the Schools Program Participants into Bowhunters
32. International Hunter Education Association, USA - Hunter Education in a Post-COVID-19 World
33. American Fisheries Society - Retaining 2020’s Surge of Licensed Anglers 
34. National Shooting Sports Foundation - Meet Demand by Building Shooting Ranges with Excise Taxes
35. The National Wild Turkey Federation, Inc. - Asset Creation and Placement:  National Ad Campaign to Promote Support for and Participation in Hunting and Shooting
36. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation - Testing and Implementation of the Hunter Avidity Model to Assess & Improve R3 Participation
37. Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Inc. - Creation of Marketing Materials to Retain New and Returning Hunters, Anglers and Shooting Sports Participants
38. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers - Utilizing Data Driven Marketing Strategies to Enhance New Audience Engagement, R3 Curriculum Development and Program Efficacy

The list of recommended grants will be submitted to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service for approval.

The Multistate Conservation Grant Program is administered by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Created through the Fish and Wildlife Administration Improvement Act of 2000, $6,000,000 from the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson funds are made available annually for conservation projects impacting a majority of states. Along with the annually available funds of $6,000,000, the President signed the Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow's Needs Act (Modernizing PR Act) into law on December 20, 2019 as part of the larger Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020. This law amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (WR Act, 16 U.S.C. 669) to, among other measures, create a new Modern Multistate Conservation Grant Program, which provided an additional $5,000,000 to the program.  In addition to funding competitive conservation projects, the program also funds the National Survey on Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated Recreation, the nation’s most important wildlife participation and related economic impact database.

Learn more about the Multistate Conservation Grant Program.

###

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies represents North America’s fish and wildlife agencies to advance sound, science-based management and conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitats in the public interest. The Association represents its state agency members on Capitol Hill and before the Administration to advance favorable fish and wildlife conservation policy and funding and works to ensure that all entities work collaboratively on the most important issues. The Association also provides member agencies with coordination services on cross-cutting as well as species-based programs that range from birds, fish habitat and energy development to climate change, wildlife action plans, conservation education, leadership training and international relations. Working together, the Association’s member agencies are ensuring that North American fish and wildlife management has a clear and collective voice.