June 9, 2025
The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies is pleased to see 42 bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate and 156 bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed on to Dear Colleague Letters to key appropriators supporting funding for the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants program next fiscal year. The letters were led by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) and GT Thompson (R-PA).
“State and tribal fish and wildlife agencies serve on the frontline in fish and wildlife conservation,” said Judy Camuso, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and President of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. “The State and Tribal Grants Program provides the critical investments needed to conserve declining species and habitats on public and private lands and prevent species from becoming endangered.”
The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program is the nation’s core program to prevent fish and wildlife from becoming endangered. This program is the only federal grant program available to states, territories, District of Columbia and tribes to conserve more than 12,000 species identified in State Wildlife Action Plans as species of greatest conservation need. States, tribes and their partners have used this funding to combat invasive species, protect natural areas, restore habitat, reintroduce species, implement monitoring and research programs and facilitate partnerships with landowners to protect declining species and habitats on private lands. The program has helped preclude the need to list species as endangered, has aided in the recovery of species already listed, and is helping to stem the decline of species that could be considered for listing in the future. The program is reducing the need for costly regulation that can cause economic uncertainty.
“This program has repeatedly shown that locally led, voluntary partnerships are essential to effective conservation,” Rep. GT Thompson said. “The State and Tribal Wildlife Grant program leverages federal resources that work hand-in-hand with existing local conservation efforts. By collaborating with local agencies, we ensure that every dollar drives on-the-ground action, creates jobs, and sustains our booming outdoor recreation economy. I am proud to support the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program to complement local conservation efforts and addresses needs that would otherwise go unmet.”
“The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program is core to our country’s fish and wildlife conservation. Year after year, the program supports critical conservation across states, sustaining our $454 billion outdoor recreation economy. I am proud to lead the bipartisan effort with Rep. GT Thompson to urge the program’s continued and full funding,” said Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA).
“Climate change is irreparably harming our nation’s wildlife and natural ecosystems, threatening the local economies and industries that rely on America’s ecological richness,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “The conservation work supported by State and Tribal Wildlife Grants is now more important than ever, and I’m proud to help lead colleagues on both sides of the aisle in protecting fish and wildlife species, in Rhode Island and across the country.”
“The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program is vital to protecting a number of threatened animal species,” Crapo said. “I support this proactive initiative to bolster the populations of declining species and preserve critical habitat to maintain healthy ecosystems throughout Idaho and across America.”
The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program supports the agencies that have primary statutory responsibility for conserving fish and wildlife and provides key funding for on-the-ground conservation and monitoring that is essential to the recovery of rare and declining species and their habitats. This program leverages millions in state and private funds and helps sustain species that are integral to outdoor recreation and $1.2 trillion in economic output and 5 million jobs attributed to outdoor recreation.
The Association continues to support legislative efforts in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to provide sustained and dedicated funding to conserve biodiversity by fully funding State Wildlife Action Plans and applauds its champions who are working to address this long-standing need.
The U.S. Congress created the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program in 2000 to address the longstanding need to conserve declining fish and wildlife. Since the inception of the program, over $1 billion has been apportioned to state, territorial and District of Columbia fish and wildlife agencies based on population and land area. The program led to the development of State Wildlife Action Plans, the blueprints for conserving our nation's fish and wildlife and preventing endangered species and is a principal source of funding for their implementation.
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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.