U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program is sponsored by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The U. S.

Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program provides technical and financial assistance to partners to support projects that protect and restore fish and wildlife habitats on public and private lands in priority coastal ecosystems.

Coastal Program | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service The Coastal Program is one of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s most effective resources for restoring and protecting fish and wildlife habitat on public and privately-owned lands. We play an important role in promoting the Service’s mission and priorities, delivering landscape-scale conservation, and implementing strategic habitat conservation.

We deliver habitat conservation in coastal watersheds (i.e., headwaters to nearshore) on both public and private lands. Our ability to work on public and private lands and with a diversity of partners is necessary for implementing a coastal habitat conservation strategy, especially in coastal watersheds where land ownership is often a mosaic of private and public entities.

This ability also creates a unique opportunity for the Service to deliver landscape conservation, maintain habitat connectivity and continuity, and to connect and engage partners with the Service’s conservation priorities and objectives. Habitat protection is an important component of the Service’s landscape-scale conservation strategy.

Coastal Program fulfills a unique role by providing both technical and financial assistance for third-party land acquisitions to protect habitats. This practice allows the Service to complement its land holdings and expand its conservation efforts beyond the boundaries of the National Wildlife Refuges System.

Latest Stories and Topics Renewed Hope for Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles At Padre Island National Seashore, the Coastal Program is helping recover the world's most endangered sea turtle. Working alongside the National Park Service and other federal and state partners, program staff protect and release Kemp's ridley hatchlings while supporting one of the nation's longest...

Restoring Resilience Along Wisconsin's Lake Michigan Greenway Nestled in the heart of Port Washington, Wisconsin, the Valley Creek Corridor is a beloved urban greenway where forests, wetlands, and meadows connect neighborhoods to the Lake Michigan shoreline. With support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Coastal Program and the Great Lakes Restoration...

A Lasting Partnership for Florida's Living Shorelines Launched in 2007, the Panhandle Living Shoreline Initiative transformed shoreline protection in northwest Florida by championing natural solutions that are both more resilient and more cost-effective than traditional hardening methods.

Addressing Partner Needs and Supporting Native Plant Conservation in Interior Alaska During the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2026 Alaska Habitat Restoration Program meeting, staff teamed up with the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District to build essential infrastructure for their native plant nursery. From repurposed, winter-ready storage frames to custom seed-drying...

Gulf of Maine Coastal Program 2025 Highlights In the Gulf of Maine, streams flow freely, marshes thrive, and communities come together. The Gulf of Maine Coastal Program and partners are restoring watersheds, strengthening coasts, and using technology to track progress. Discover the people, places, and innovations behind a year of conservation...

Service Awards $3 Million To Protect and Restore Coastal Wetlands in California Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding $3 million to support three projects in California under the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. Coastal wetlands are vitally important in protecting us from floods, filtering our water, supporting recreation and local...

National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants Program annually provides grants of up to $1 million to coastal and Great Lakes states, as well as U.S. territories to protect, restore and enhance coastal wetland ecosystems and associated uplands. The Program is funded by revenues collected...

The Coastal Program brochure that introduces the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Coastal Program, provides program statistics, and highlights the importance of coastal habitats. A collection of stories that highlight the work of the Coastal Program and our partners. A series of project stories that highlight the connections people and communities have with natural places.

The stories also highlight the assistance provided by the Coastal Program to partners and stewards who are working to make a home for people and wildlife and to conserve... National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program Factsheet This factsheet is geared toward increasing understanding of the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program and to increase application submissions from the conservation community.

This factsheet was prepared in collaboration with Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Guide to Farm Bill conservation programs with Coastal Program and Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program project examples.