Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) Program | F23AS00007

Opportunity Information: Apply for F23AS00007

The Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) Program is a competitive federal grant opportunity administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in close coordination with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA). It is designed to fund projects that address conservation or participation priorities that are regional or national in scope, meaning the work has to go beyond what a single state agency could reasonably take on alone. The program is structured around two closely related components that operate in parallel: the Traditional Multistate Conservation Grant Program (T-MSCGP) and the Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation Multistate Conservation Grant Program (R3-MSCGP). While the allowable activities differ between these two tracks, the overall process is similar for both, with AFWA helping shape priorities and review proposals and USFWS formally administering awards.

A key feature of this program is that projects must align with AFWA Strategic Priorities that are selected each year. These priorities are meant to reflect what state fish and wildlife agencies collectively see as the most pressing multistate needs. Under T-MSCGP, the priorities focus on broad conservation and management needs of the states, while under R3-MSCGP they focus specifically on national recruitment priorities tied to hunting and recreational shooting participation. Applications that do not clearly address one or more of the selected Strategic Priorities are not competitive under the program, because the priorities are used to guide both proposal development and final project selection.

AFWA plays a formal role in the selection pipeline through its National Grants Committee (NGC). Eligible proposals are shared with the NGC for review and ranking, and AFWA then provides USFWS with a priority list of projects to be considered for award. USFWS remains the federal awarding agency, meaning it issues and manages the grants, oversees compliance, and ultimately makes awards based on the ranked recommendations and program requirements. Projects that are selected and funded are published annually in the Federal Register, and historical award lists are available through both USFWS and AFWA, which helps applicants benchmark project types and funding patterns.

The two funding tracks differ mainly in what the money can be used for. Under the Traditional MSCG track (T-MSCGP), recipients may fund a wide range of fish and wildlife-related purposes tied to sport fish restoration and wildlife restoration goals. Examples named in the opportunity include sport fisheries and wildlife management efforts, research projects, boating access development, hunter safety and education, aquatic education, fish and wildlife habitat improvements, and other activities that are consistent with the program’s authorizing legislation. In contrast, the R3 MSCG track (R3-MSCGP) is much narrower: funding can only be used for hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment projects that support a national hunting and shooting sports recruitment program. That includes related communication and outreach activities, but it does not support general conservation work unless it is directly tied to recruitment goals within the R3 scope.

Eligibility is oriented toward public and mission-aligned entities that can deliver multistate outcomes. The notice lists eligible applicants as state governments, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits, other than institutions of higher education). The opportunity also notes that eligible applicants include USFWS itself, or a state or group of states, specifically for the purpose of carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. When the notice refers to “state governments,” it is using a fish-and-wildlife-agency definition: agencies with lead management responsibility for fish and wildlife resources in the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia (for Sport Fish Restoration only), Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or groups of these agencies working together.

Because this is a multistate grant program, proposals must demonstrate broad benefits rather than localized outcomes. The notice states that eligible proposals must benefit either: (1) a majority of states overall, (2) a majority (more than 50 percent) of the states within a single USFWS Region (and applicants are expected to identify which region and list the benefiting states using abbreviations), or (3) a majority of the states belonging to one of the major regional associations of state fish and wildlife agencies (with examples referenced such as WAFWA, MAFWA, NEAFWA, and SEAFWA), again requiring applicants to specify the association and the benefiting states. Practically, this means applicants need to build a coalition or project design that has clear, documented value across many jurisdictions, such as shared tools, coordinated research, regional management frameworks, or multi-jurisdiction outreach models.

There is also a notable restriction for nongovernmental organizations. Any NGO that applies must submit a certification stating that it will not use grant funds, in whole or in part, for any activity that promotes or encourages opposition to regulated hunting or trapping of wildlife, to recreational shooting activities, or to the regulated taking of fish. This condition is meant to ensure that MSCG funds, which are closely tied to state fish and wildlife management and user-based conservation models, are not used to support advocacy against those regulated activities.

From the source details provided, this opportunity is a discretionary grant administered by USFWS under CFDA (now commonly referenced as Assistance Listing) 15.628, categorized under Natural Resources. The funding opportunity number is F23AS00007, and the listed award ceiling is $1,000,000. The original closing date shown is May 18, 2022, with a creation date of March 11, 2022. Even if deadlines change year to year, the core structure described in the notice is that proposals compete within annually defined AFWA priorities, are reviewed and ranked through AFWA’s grants committee process, and are then awarded and managed by USFWS to deliver outcomes that matter at a multistate, regional, or national scale.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Multistate Conservation Grant (MSCG) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.628.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-03-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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