Under this cooperative agreement, the national fish and wildlife foundation (nfwf) will maintain an established grant program, the delaware watershed conservation fund, which carries out the intent of…

Under this Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Region 5 through the Adaptive Science program (CFDA 15.670), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) administers the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund, a competitive grant program supporting landscape-scale conservation in the Delaware River Basin. Awarded on July 1, 2025, with $12.6 million obligated through June 30, 2030, NFWF manages the annual competitive solicitation process, develops conservation strategies and merit review criteria in collaboration with USFWS and other partners, and raises matching funds from government and private sources. The agreement requires NFWF to provide a minimum 1:1 match to federal funds through combination of raised funds and grantee in-kind and cash contributions.

Through 16 federal grant sub-awards distributed between December 2025 and March 2026, NFWF supports on-the-ground conservation projects across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Sub-grantee organizations including The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, American Bird Conservancy, Stroud Water Research Center, and Delaware Nature Society implement habitat restoration, invasive species control, stream assessment and restoration, land acquisition, pollinator habitat enhancement, forest management, water quality improvements, and species recovery efforts. Specific deliverables include stream habitat assessments and restoration across multiple sites, native plantings and bank stabilization, rain gardens and bioretention basins, fish passage barrier assessments, migratory bird habitat protection, forest management on 896 acres, riparian restoration, and community engagement and stewardship programming across the watershed.

Under this cooperative agreement, the national fish and wildlife foundation (nfwf) will maintain an established grant program, the delaware watershed conservation fund, which carries out the intent of public law 114322 subtitle e. Delaware river basin conservation. Under the cooperative agreement, nfwf will assist the fish and wildlife service (FWS) by establishing a grant program to manage the delaware watershed conservation fund. The establishment act, 16 U.S.C. 3701 of 1984, authorizes nfwf to assist in activities that further the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, and plant resources. Nfwf will manage the annual competitive grant process and with substantial involvement from FWS, and other partners, will develop conservation strategies and evaluation criteria, all of which will be integrated into an annual solicitation with a request for proposal, as well as a merit review process. Nfwf will work with its existing network of government and private philanthropic funders to raise additional funding for the fund. Nfwf will provide a minimum of a 1:1 match to FWS funds through a combination of funds raised by nfwf, and in-kind and cash contributions provided by nfwf grantees as match fortheir grants.