Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund grants provide Federal financial assistance to States and Territories (hereafter, “States”) that have entered into a cooperative agreement pursuant to section 6(c) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands, including habitat acquisition, conservation planning, habitat restoration, status surveys, captive propagation, research, and education.

Traditional Conservation Grants: The principal objective of the Traditional Conservation Grant Program is to support the development and implementation of State programs to conserve and recover threated and endangered species under the FWS jurisdiction and to monitor candidate, at-risk, and recently delisted species.

Conservation Planning Assistance Grants: The Conservation Planning Assistance Grant program provides funding to States to support the development of new habitat conservation plans (HCP), the renewal or amendment of existing HCPs, as well as the development of new conservation benefit agreements (CBA).  Funding may support the administration of approved and permitted CBAs (formerly Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances/Safe Harbor Agreements) as well. Funding supports development and planning activities such as document preparation, public outreach, baseline species surveys, habitat assessments, and inventories. Preparation of environmental review documents that may be needed under the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act is also an eligible use of funds.

Recovery Land Acquisition (RLA) Grants: The principal objective of the RLA Grant program is to promote State and Federal cooperation in listed species conservation by leveraging funds to acquire specific parcels of land, through fee simple or conservation easement, in support of FWS-approved recovery plans and outlines. The ESA conveys the importance of recovery plans as a central organizing tool for guiding the recovery process by requiring their development for every listed species.

HCP Land Acquisition Grants: Established by Congress in fiscal year 1997, the HCP Land Acquisition Grant program was designed to reduce conflicts between the conservation of listed species and competing land uses on specific parcels of land associated with approved and permitted HCPs. Under this program, FWS provides matching grants to States in support of land acquisition projects that will conserve species habitat in perpetuity through fee simple acquisition or the acquisition of permanent conservation easements. All land acquired through these grants complements, but does not replace, the mitigation, minimization, and/or monitoring commitments of the HCP. Thus, this work is additive to the conservation commitments entered into when HCPs are permitted and serves as a meaningful way to leverage non-Federal investment in species recovery and connect conservation lands across the landscape.

All States and Territories that have entered into a cooperative agreement with FWS pursuant to section 6(c) of the ESA are eligible to apply to the annual Funding Opportunity Announcement.

All States and Territories that have entered into a cooperative agreement with FWS pursuant to section 6(c) of the ESA are eligible to apply to the annual Funding Opportunity Announcement.

The Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or his or her designee approves or disapproves proposed projects, based on an objective scoring and ranking procedure as outlined in the Funding Opportunity Announcement. Regional offices are responsible for notifying recipients of grant approval.

Information regarding approval/disapproval time frames is available in the annual Funding Opportunity Announcement available on GrantSolultions, grants.gov and theFWS website at https://www.fws.gov/program/cooperative-endangered-species-conservation-fund