Conservation Partners Program

Conservation Partners Program is a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) that provides $100,000 to $500,000 to organizations that deliver technical assistance to private landowners to maximize conservation benefits of Farm Bill programs on working lands.

Grant recipients provide expert staff who help farmers and ranchers develop management plans, design and implement conservation practices, participate in Farm Bill programs, and share lessons learned. The program accelerates adoption of regenerative agriculture principles and is geographically targeted to areas with unmet technical assistance needs and high conservation potential.

Eligible applicants are nonprofits, local governments, and educational institutions that work directly with ranchers and private landowners. The 2025 Request for Proposals is closed.

Conservation Partners Program | NFWF Conservation Partners Program Share this page on Facebook Share this page on Twitter Share this page on LinkedIn The Conservation Partners Program provides vital grant funding to support organizations that provide staff and technical assistance to private landowners in order to maximize the benefits of Farm Bill programs on working lands.

Private landowners are stewards of more than two-thirds of our nation’s land, including some of the most important fish and wildlife habitats in the United States. Every year, farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners voluntarily participate in federal Farm Bill conservation programs designed to address some of the nation’s most pressing conservation issues.

The Conservation Partners Program awards competitive grants that accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture principles and conservation practices on private lands. Grant recipients provide technical assistance to landowners and operators to help them: Develop management plans, Design and implement best practices, Participate in Farm Bill programs, and Share their experiences and lessons learned.

Grants are geographically targeted to place expert staff where they can both fulfill unmet technical assistance needs and maximize the soil, water, and wildlife benefits of Farm Bill conservation programs.

Conservation Partners Program 2025 Request for Proposals - CLOSED December 2022 Grant Slate Program Director, Central Region Working Lands Manager, Central Region Working Lands Coordinator, Regional Programs Elk are large herbivores known for the males' widely branching antlers and iconic bugle-call during fall mating season.

Elk prefer open woodlands, and some populations migrate long distances between high-altitude summer ranges where they give birth, and low-altitude winter ranges to escape harsh winters.

Conservation Partners Program Rocky Mountain Rangelands Program Western Big Game Seasonal Habitat and Migration Corridors Fund Rocky Mountain Rangelands Rocky Mountain Rangelands Business Plan Eastern hardwood forest birds Eastern hardwood forest birds Eastern deciduous forests provide important habitat for forest birds, which can reside in them year-round, or rely on them as breeding grounds or stop-over sited during migration.

Deciduous forests have been subject to fragmentation, putting the wide variety of bird species they support at risk.

Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund Conservation Partners Program Cumberland Plateau and Southern Appalachian Stewardship Fund Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Restoration Fund Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund Longleaf Forests and Rivers Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Business Plan The burrowing owl is small with long legs and found in open country throughout the Americas.

Within the United States it is largely a western bird, with an isolated population in Florida. While the species is associated with burrowing animals, the Florida population digs its own burrows.

Conservation Partners Program Northern Great Plains Program Northern Great Plains Business Plan Credit: Lisa Nordstrom Kuck Credit: Lisa Nordstrom Kuck Pollinators are a group of insect, avian and mammalian species that fertilize many flowering plants and agricultural crops by transferring pollen from the male structures (anthers) to the female structures (stigma) during foraging.

More than 80 percent of flowering plants on Earth need pollinators to produce the next generation, and it is estimated that they add hundreds of billions of dollars to the global economy, highlighting their extreme importance to human food security.

Conservation Partners Program Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund Monarch Butterfly Business Plan Bay-breasted warblers nest in spruce and fir forests across Canada, and can be found in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondack Park of New York.

While they occupy similar habitats as Cape May and blackpoll warblers, bay-breasted warblers in particular forage at the inner mid-level, and nest in the lower third-level, of trees.

Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund Conservation Partners Program Cumberland Plateau and Southern Appalachian Stewardship Fund Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Restoration Fund Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund Longleaf Forests and Rivers Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley The red-cockaded woodpecker is a territorial, highly social bird that inhabits fire-maintained mature pine forests throughout the southeastern United States.

Population declines coincided with extensive logging of longleaf pine stands in the early 20th century, and led to the species being placed on the Endangered Species List by 1970.

Acres for America Program Conservation Partners Program Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund Longleaf Forests and Rivers Longleaf Forests and Rivers Business Plan Pronghorn, also known as "antelope," are sagebrush-dependent ungulate known for their incredible speed. They are the sole-surviving member of their taxonomic family.

With an evolutionary history rooted in open-grasslands, pronghorn are reluctant to leap over fences that have been constructed across the West for rangeland management, causing disruptions of their ancient migration routes and reducing access to high-quality habitat.

Acres for America Program ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation Program Conservation Partners Program Northern Great Plains Program Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative Rocky Mountain Rangelands Program Southern Plains Grassland Program Western Big Game Seasonal Habitat and Migration Corridors Fund Rocky Mountain Rangelands Northern Great Plains Business Plan Southwest Rivers Business Plan One of the most economically important game birds, the northern bobwhite quail is named for the distinctive 'bob-white' mating call of males throughout the breeding season.

Bobwhite quail prefer shrubby areas surrounding grasslands or agricultural fields and live in groups called "coveys" during the fall and winter.

Acres for America Program Conservation Partners Program Cumberland Plateau and Southern Appalachian Stewardship Fund Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund Southern Plains Grassland Program Longleaf Forests and Rivers Longleaf Forests and Rivers Business Plan Mule deer are a social, migratory ungulate who are named for their large ears that resemble a mule's ears.

An iconic species of the western United States, habitat loss and increased fragmentation of the landscape have caused localized declines in mule deer populations and reduced the function of critical migration paths.

Acres for America Program ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation Program Conservation Partners Program Northern Great Plains Program Rocky Mountain Rangelands Program Western Big Game Seasonal Habitat and Migration Corridors Fund Rocky Mountain Rangelands Rocky Mountain Rangelands Business Plan One of North America's most iconic species, the monarch butterfly is best known for its spectacular 3,000-mile annual migration from its northern breeding grounds to wintering grounds in central Mexico.

A distinct, western monarch population migrates between the western states and their winter range in coastal California; both the eastern and western populations have been negatively affected by habitat loss and reduction in milkweed plants that serve as the sole food source for monarch caterpillars.

Conservation Partners Program Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund Southern Plains Grassland Program Monarch Butterfly Business Plan Credit: Pam Mcllhenny, USFWS Credit: Pam Mcllhenny, USFWS One of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, the Louisiana black bear was listed as threatened in 1992 under the Endangered Species Act, citing habitat loss and fragmentation as primary threats to their populations.

Significant improvements in population size and habitat achieved through concerted reforestation efforts and translocations resulted in the Louisiana black bear’s removal from the Endangered Species List in 2016.

Conservation Partners Program Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Restoration Fund Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Business Plan The greater sage-grouse is a sagebrush-dependent upland game bird and largest of the grouse species.

Known for its theatrical mating displays on "leks" or breeding grounds, populations have been in decline due to loss of sagebrush habitat, and their ability to serve as an umbrella species for other sagebrush wildlife emphasizes the need to restore and protect their habitats.

Acres for America Program Conservation Partners Program Northern Great Plains Program Rocky Mountain Rangelands Program Rocky Mountain Rangelands Northern Great Plains Business Plan Rocky Mountain Rangelands Business Plan Brook trout are the only trout native to the eastern United States and inhabit coldwater rivers and lakes.

Sensitive to even small declines in water quality and increases in sedimentation, brook trout can serve as excellent indicators of the health of a stream or river ecosystem.

Acres for America Program Bring Back the Native Fish Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund Conservation Partners Program Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund Sustain Our Great Lakes Program Central Appalachia Business Plan Chesapeake Bay Business Plan Delaware River Watershed Business Plan Great Lakes Business Plan NFWF Announces $14.

7 Million in Grants to Bolster Regenerative Agriculture on Working Lands NFWF Announces $10. 2 Million in Grants to Cultivate Conservation Practices on Agricultural Lands NFWF Announces Release of Conservation Partners 2024 Request for Proposals 1625 Eye Street NW, Suite 300 T 202-857-0166 | F 202-857-0162 Non-Discrimination Statement Non-Discrimination Statement