Washington, D.C., Oct. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) today announced $35.5 million in grants that will provide critical funding for conservation practices that help the recovery of endangered and threatened species, including actions that can lead to downlisting or delisting.
The 109 grants, the first awarded through the new National Species Recovery Grants (NSRG) program, reach species ranging from polar bears in Alaska to fish in Missouri; and from the round-leaf birch, endemic to just one county in Virginia, to red-cockaded woodpeckers whose populations have begun to rebound. The grants will leverage $8.6 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $44.1 million.
The NSRG program is designed to fund the “last mile” of species recovery. Working with NFWF, FWS identified priority species that, with additional investment, could make measurable progress toward downlisting or delisting in the coming years, as well as species whose ranges overlap substantially with working landscapes.
For many listed species, the barrier to recovery is not a lack of attention but a specific bottleneck: gaps in survey data, fragmented habitat, human-wildlife conflict, or limited capacity to carry out recovery actions. The grants announced today target those barriers directly.
“Focusing on species recovery is essential to preserving our conservation heritage but also about creating conditions that ensure wildlife and people thrive together,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “These grants target the specific actions that can improve species’ chances of recovery, whether that’s by restoring habitat, filling critical data gaps, or helping people and wildlife coexist on working lands. They put resources in the hands of the state agencies, Tribes, local organizations and other entities best positioned to advance solutions in ways that work for both wildlife and the communities that share the landscape with them.”
Each grant supports partners voluntarily implementing priority recovery actions identified by FWS. Many also deploy cutting-edge conservation technologies, including environmental DNA (eDNA), acoustic monitoring, remote sensing, genomics, GPS and satellite tracking, and advanced habitat suitability and population viability models. These tools help generate the scientific data needed to evaluate whether species are meeting recovery goals and can be considered for downlisting or delisting.
Examples of innovative recovery projects funded through NSRG include:
- Using eDNA to find species that are difficult to detect, including endangered amphibians and insects that can be identified from traces of genetic material left behind in water and soil. Grants to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will build eDNA tests for the Neuse River waterdog, a salamander found only in North Carolina, and the University of Notre Dame will develop the first-ever eDNA test for Hungerford’s crawling water beetle in northern Michigan.
- Applying advanced genetics and genomics to solve conservation challenges. In the Colorado River Basin, invasive smallmouth bass prey on young razorback suckers, an endangered native fish. Utah State University will sequence the bass genome to determine potential genetic-control strategies to shrink the invasive bass population over time without harming the native fish.
- Developing practical conservation solutions in working landscapes. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois will improve habitat for imperiled insect pollinators on energy transmission corridors and help conserve species in areas where conservation intersects with energy development, transportation infrastructure and other active land uses.
- Using science to balance species recovery with active forest management. In California, the Integral Ecology Research Center will fit fishers with GPS collars and solar-powered Bluetooth transmitters to see how they respond to timber harvest, fuels reduction and forest restoration activities.
Together, these projects illustrate how species recovery increasingly depends on a combination of cutting-edge science, local partnerships and practical conservation solutions that work for communities as well as wildlife.
The NSRG program was established in 2026 through a partnership between NFWF and FWS. A complete list of the inaugural grants made through the program is available here.
About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) works with partners to foster sustainable and impactful conservation solutions so that people and nature thrive together. Chartered by Congress in 1984, NFWF has grown to become the nation’s conservation foundation. NFWF works with the public and private sectors to sustain, restore and enhance the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats for current and future generations. Since its founding, NFWF has supported more than 7,200 grantee organizations and funded more than 23,900 projects that have generated a total conservation impact of more than $12 billion. Learn more at nfwf.org.
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Matt Winter National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 202-857-0166 matt.winter@nfwf.org