F26AS00040_Fiscal Year 2026_Tribal Wildlife Grants (TWG)_NOFO

Tribal Wildlife Grants provide technical and financial assistance to federally recognized Tribes for the development and implementation of programs that benefit fish and wildlife and their habitats. Funding may be used for conserving any plant or animal species of interest to a Tribe, including those of Native American cultural or traditional importance. The grants are an adaptable resource supporting tribal conservation priorities. Species targeted in a project are not restricted to those that are hunted, fished, or gathered, listed as threatened or endangered, or identified in a conservation plan.Activities may include but are not limited to:planning for wildlife and habitat conservationfish and wildlife conservation and management actionsfish- and wildlife-related laboratory and field researchnatural history studieshabitat mappingfield surveys and species population monitoringhabitat protection and enhancementconservation educationFunding may be used for salaries, equipment, consultant services, subawards, materials, and travel costs.For more information, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service"s Tribal Wildlife Grants Home Page (https://www.fws.gov/service/tribal-wildlife-grants).

Participation is limited to federally recognized Tribal governments listed in the current Federal Register Notice of Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (Notice). This is the official listing of all federally recognized Tribes in the United States pursuant to Section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-454; 108 Stat. 4791-4792). The current Notice was published in the Federal Register, 89 FR 238 (December 11, 2024). Tribal contact information is available in the BIA Tribal Leaders Directory.Recipient Tribes must meet all reporting requirements for previously awarded, active TWG Program awards before they are eligible to receive new funds. After a Tribe submits a new application, it will be notified of any outstanding reporting requirements. The Tribe will then have 30 days to submit the required reports. Tribes that have not brought past due reports up to date in this 30-day period will be found ineligible and excluded from further consideration in the FY 2026 TWG Program cycle.There is no limit to the number of applications a Tribe may submit within a single fiscal year. However, no single Tribe may be funded for multiple projects within a fiscal year if the total combined Federal request exceeds $200,000. If multiple applications exceed this amount, only the highest-scoring application(s) will be accepted, and any other(s) will be determined to be ineligible.Tribal organizations and other entities may participate as subrecipients or contractors to federally recognized Tribal government recipients. Any entity receiving TWG Program funds as a subrecipient must comply with the applicable requirements described in this announcement.TWG Program funds may not be used to acquire real property interests. Real property interests include, but are not limited to, fee simple, fee with exceptions to title, easements, water rights, mineral rights, and leaseholds.

The following criteria is used to select proposals: (1) Resource Benefit: What are the expected benefits to fish and wildlife resources, including species that are not hunted or fished, and their habitat if this program is successfully completed? The Service requires that the Tribe articulate how the benefits of its proposal support the goals and objectives of the TWG and Service and Tribal Performance Goals in their proposal narratives. (2) Performance Measures: To what extent does the proposal provide obtainable and quantifiable performance measures and a means to monitor, evaluate, and report on these measures compared to an initial baseline? The measures should be specific and clear, and should provide demonstrable benefits to the target species of the action. These actions must support the goals and objectives of the TWG, the Service and the Tribe. (3) Work plan: Are the program activities and objectives well-designed and achievable? (4) Budget: Are all major budget items justified in relation to the program objectives and clearly explained in the narrative description? (5) Capacity Building: To what extent does the program increase the grantee's capacity to provide for the benefit of wildlife and their habitat? (6) Contributions and Partnerships: To what extent does the applicant display commitment to the project proposal through in-kind contribution or matching funds and to what extent does it incorporate contributions from other nonfederal partners in the form of...

Fiscal year 2025: Sitka Tribe of Alaska ($200,000) Artificial Intelligence for Subsistence Salmon Monitoring and Management Sitka Tribe of Alaska will partner with Wild Salmon Center and the US Forest Service to install artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled video chutes to produce automated real-time counts of Redoubt Lake sockeye salmon for a fraction of the cost of traditional weirs. Once the model meets accuracy targets, it will substantially reduce long-term monitoring costs and be able to generate accurate in-season salmon counts in real-time with minimal human input. Navajo Nation, within Arizona ($100,000) Estimating Abundance, Preserving Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Resolving Human-Bear Conflict of Black Bears on the Navajo Nation This project is led by University of Arizona with technical and logistical support from Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife. The project aims to assess the current status of the black bear population on the Navajo Nation to contribute to effective habitat management while preserving Traditional Ecological Knowledge and minimizing human-wildlife conflicts. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, within North Carolina...