Washington -- At the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida members recommended approval of 39 projects to be funded through the Multistate Conservation Grants Program (MSCG).AFWA Recommends 39 Priority Projects for the 2019 Multistate Conservation Grant Cycle

Grants approved this year include $107,000 to the North Carolina State University to evaluate the promise and potential impacts of Recruitment, Reactivation and Retention (R3) efforts targeting college students; $149,000 to Wildlife Management Institute on ensuring the viability of the American system of conservation funding: improving the understanding of excise-tax based funding for conservation; and $240,000 to Future Angler Foundation to develop a comprehensive multimedia platform with the pilot Gettin’ Families Fishin’ education initiative which will engage 1.6 million people with angling education and pathways to discover fishing.

The total cost of the 39 projects recommended is $5,817,835.52. Funding for the MSCGP comes from a portion of the 10-11% federal excise tax paid by manufacturers and importers of fishing, hunting and shooting-sports equipment.

The projects recommended are as follows:

1. AFWA - Coordination of Farm Bill Program Implementation to Optimize On-the-Ground Fish and Wildlife Benefits to the States
2. Trout Unlimited - Driftless Area Restoration Effort Engaging Landowners and Partners in Implementing Farm Bill Programs that Benefit Fish and Wildlife in Riparian Area
3. American Fisheries Society - Improve National Coordination and Conservation Partnerships through the Development of a Fisheries Gray Literature Database.
4. American Bird Conservancy - Survey and Gap Analysis of North American Grassland Habitat Conservation Efforts
5. AFWA - Coordinating and Planning National Scale Conservation Initiatives Through Effective Communications
6. AFWA - Introductory Implementation and Evaluation of the National Conservation Outreach Strategy
7. AFWA - State Fish and Wildlife Agency Director Travel - Enabling Coordination and Planning of National Level Conservation Initiative
8. AFWA’s National Survey Technical Work Group - State Fish and Wildlife Agency Technical Workgroup for the 2021 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation (National Survey).
9. CENSUS - Method to Deriving State-Level Estimates from the 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation Trends
10. Rockville Institute - Bridging the 50-State Surveys of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Association Recreation with Previous National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.
11. U.S Fish and Wildlife Service - Coordination (1. b) of the 2021 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation
12. Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS), University of Georgia -Susceptibility of common North American game birds to West Nile virus
13. North Carolina State University - Evaluating the Promise and Potential Impacts of R3 Efforts Targeting College Students (Year 2)
14. AFWA - Coordination of the Industry, Federal and State Agency Coalition
15. National Shooting Sports Foundation Assessing Trends in Americans’ Attitudes Toward Hunting, Sport Shooting, Fishing and Trapping
16. Safari Club International Foundation - America’s Conservation & Hunting Heritage… A National Education Initiative
17. National Shooting Sports Foundation - Quantify and Communicate the Benefits from WSFR Excise Tax Payment to Strengthen State-Federal-Industry Relations
18. Wildlife Management Institute - Creating Millennial-Conservationists: Informing and Engaging the Next Generation
19. Wildlife Management Institute - The Missing Link in R3: Making Mentorship Work
20. Wildlife Management Institute Ensuring the viability of the American System of Conservation Funding: Improving the understanding of excise-tax based funding for conservation
21. American Sportfishing Association - Developing Angler Personas to Improve R3 Marketing
22. Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports - Facilitation and Updating the National Hunting and Shooting Sports Action Plan
23. American Sportfishing Association - An Internal Look at Outdoor Recreation: Agency, Industry, and NGO Attitudes Toward Fishing, Hunting, Sport Shooting, and Boating
24. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources - Locavore R3 Workshops - Two-day Workshop to Teach States How to Attract and Train Locavores to Become Anglers and Hunters
25. Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation - Recruiting and Retaining Youth Shooting Sports Participants Through Targeted Marketing, Education and Peer Networking of Volunteer Coaches
26. Future Angler Foundation - Gettin’ Families Fishin’ - A National Education Initiative
27. AFWA - Coordination of State Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Authority to Manage Wildlife Resources in Concert with Federal Actions Required by International Treaties, Conventions, Partnerships, and Initiatives
28. AFWA - Management Assistance Team (MAT) and National Conservation Leadership Institute (NCLI)
29. Wildlife Management Institute - Accelerating Development of Effective Leaders in State Fish and Wildlife Agencies
30. National Conservation Law Enforcement Education Foundation - Planning for the Future of Conservation Law Enforcement in the United States
31. AFWA - Supporting Undergraduate and Legal Education and Occupational Experience in Natural Resource Administration
32. AFWA - Increasing Awareness and Understanding of State Fish and Wildlife Management: Implementing AFWA Strategic Plan Goal 2
33. AFWA - Multistate Conservation Grant Program Coordination
34. NFHP - Conserving Fish Habitat Collaboratively In the U.S. through the National Fish Habitat Partnership
35. American Fisheries Society - Update and further development of standard sampling protocols for inland fisheries
36. Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission - National Fish Habitat Partnership Project Tracking Database (Maintenance, Support and Enhancement).
37. Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation - Ensuring Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation for the Next Century through Continued Delivery of Trapping Matters Workshops and updating a Survey of Conservation Professionals to Understand Attitudes towards Trapping and Hunting
38. Wildlife Ecology Institute - Ensuring State Management Authority of Furbearers through a Multi-Agency, Multi-Organization Approach
39. Wildlife Management Institute - Development and Testing of an Improved System for Gathering Harvest Information Program (HIP) Data

The list of recommended grants will be submitted to Secretary of the Interior Department for final approval.

The Multi-State Conservation Grant Program is administered by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. Created through the Fish and Wildlife Administration Improvement Act of 2000, $6,000,000 from the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson funds is made available annually for conservation projects impacting a majority of states. In addition to funding competitive conservation projects the program also funds the National Survey on Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated Recreation, the nation’s most important wildlife participation and related economic impact database.

Learn more about the Multistate Conservation Grant Program.

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies represents North America’s fish and wildlife agencies to advance sound, science-based management and conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitats in the public interest. The Association represents its state agency members on Capitol Hill and before the Administration to advance favorable fish and wildlife conservation policy and funding and works to ensure that all entities work collaboratively on the most important issues. The Association also provides member agencies with coordination services on cross-cutting as well as species-based programs that range from birds, fish habitat and energy development to climate change, wildlife action plans, conservation education, leadership training and international relations. Working together, the Association’s member agencies are ensuring that North American fish and wildlife management has a clear and collective voice.