The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
The Traditional Conservation Grant Program focuses on supporting the development and implementation of state-level programs aimed at conserving and recovering threatened and endangered species within the Service’s jurisdiction, particularly across Service Region 3: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It provides financial assistance through grants to projects that yield direct benefits for federally listed species, candidate and at-risk species, and recently delisted species. This includes funding for conservation efforts on federally-listed resident species that align with the State’s cooperative agreement, as well as monitoring activities for candidate, at-risk, and recently delisted species. The grants support a range of activities including management, research, monitoring, and outreach, focusing on projects that demonstrate a clear, direct benefit to the species or its habitat, contributing to species recovery or preventing the need for listing under the Endangered Species Act.