Wildlife Services

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services program (CFDA 10.028) awards cooperative agreements to reduce damage from mammals and birds, including disease reservoirs, with the most recent grant award dated September 30, 2026.

Wildlife Services is overwhelmingly active and pursuing new partnerships. The program has disbursed 3,880 total awards since 1999, with 15 awards in 2026 year-to-date (through September) following a downward trend from 125 in 2022 to 56 in 2025. Recent awards span methods development, disease surveillance, and damage mitigation across multiple wildlife conflict domains. APHIS Wildlife Services funded $681.7 million in federal dollars across all awards, with recipients including state agencies, tribal governments, universities, and research institutions. The portfolio is 96 percent Cooperative Agreements and 4 percent Project Grants by count; a small number of Block Grants and Formula Grants round out the mix. APHIS accounts for nearly 100 percent of federal awards and dollars; two Army offices hold marginal positions with minimal or zero obligated funding.

Recent awards illustrate the program's technical depth. A $524,878.78 cooperative agreement investigated elk susceptibility to chronic wasting disease (CWD); a $428,318 award supported genomics analysis for CWD risk in mule deer; a $407,088 agreement examined methodologies to reduce feral swine impacts on agricultural and natural resource landscapes. The $1.25 million Wake Atoll cooperative agreement conducted wildlife biosecurity assessments to minimize highly pathogenic avian influenza threats. A $514,773.60 award addressed rodent eradication on Wake Atoll. Awards cluster around three priority areas: CWD surveillance, management, and research in wild cervids; feral swine damage assessment and pathogen transmission risk; and airport wildlife hazard mitigation including bird-strike prevention and applied research on animal vision and deterrence.

One recent opportunity remains active: USDA-APHIS-10028-WSNWRC00-26-0018, posted August 21, 2026, with a due date of August 31, 2026 (likely closed or imminent closure). It solicited $413,380 for spatial ecology and CWD dynamics research in Northern Colorado white-tailed and mule deer, eligible to higher education institutions, state governments, and federally recognized tribal governments. Earlier 2024 and 2023 opportunities for CWD management ($5.5 million and $500,000 tribal set-asides respectively) and Wake Atoll environmental monitoring are closed.

Applicants include states, local jurisdictions, U.S. territorial governments, federally recognized Indian tribal governments, and public and private institutions and organizations. Cooperative agreements typically run one year from award, with funds available as needed for expenditures. Award competitiveness centers on relevance to APHIS mission and principal investigator or institutional qualification.