The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is soliciting proposals to voluntarily conserve and restore grasslands and wildlife species in the Northern Great Plains.
Donor Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
State: Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/25/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The goal of the Northern Great Plains program is to maintain and/or improve interconnected grasslands in focal areas to sustain healthy populations of grassland-obligate species while fostering sustainable livelihoods and preserving cultural identities including tribal cultures and food sovereignty.
Priorities
The Northern Great Plains Program seeks projects that address the following desired outcomes:
Demonstrate successful models for grassland habitat conservation that:
- Increase grasslands connectivity through voluntary, permanent conservation efforts that maintain working ranches and restrict sub-division and sod-busting activities (conservation easements, grass banking, etc.). Projects in areas at high risk of tillage will be more competitive.
- Strengthen tribal buffalo culture and food sovereignty through the restoration and improvement of grassland habitats on reservations and other tribal lands.
- Increase grassland connectivity through habitat restoration efforts (e.g., re-seeding, removal of woody invasives, prescribed fire). Strategies that complement the NRCS Great Plains Biome Framework are encouraged.
- Improve voluntary management at large scales that facilitates persistent long-term behavioral changes that benefit grasslands and focal species (e.g., conversion of expiring Conservation Reserve Program to managed grazing systems, installation of grazing management agreements etc.).
Improve population levels and related outcomes for grassland species in targeted focal areas including:
- Improve landscape permeability for pronghorn by removing and modifying fence and installing structures to minimize mortality at road crossings and bottleneck sites.
- Sustain populations of greater sage-grouse through voluntary restoration of meadows and removing or marking fence around key leks in Sage Grouse Focal Areas.
- Projects that help identify and address limiting factors for grassland obligate songbirds specifically: Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, chestnut-collared and thick-billed longspurs, and lark buntings.
- Promote black-footed ferret conservation through the distribution of sylvatic plague vaccine in targeted prairie dog colonies.
Funding Information
The Northern Great Plains 2026 program will award approximately 15-25 grants with individual grants typically ranging from $200,000 to $1.5 million. Grants may be up to three years in length.
Geographic Focus
The following are the Northern Great Plains focal areas; Dakota Grasslands, Missouri-Milk River Grasslands, Nebraska Sandhills, and the Powder River-Thunder Basin Grasslands.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, U.S. Federal government agencies, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Tribal agencies, and educational institutions.
For more information, visit NFWF.
