Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program
Active
- Assistance listing
- 10.093
- Agency
-
National Resources Conservation Service
Department of Agriculture
- Grant awards
- 41 $58,402,545 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Also known as
- VPA-HIP
- Assistance types
-
- Project Grant
- Cooperative Agreement
- Treasury account
-
- 12-1004-0-1-302
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service is funding competitive grants under the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (CFDA 10.093) to state and tribal governments to encourage private landowners to open farm, ranch, and forest land for public hunting, fishing, and wildlife-dependent recreation; the most recent open opportunity closed June 8, 2026 with up to $52 million available.
The program has maintained steady activity since its inception in 2020, with 41 total awards disbursed over the past five years. Awards declined from 27 in 2020 to 11 in 2024 and 3 in 2025, suggesting the program moved toward larger-value awards rather than sustained high-frequency funding cycles. The most recent grant award was made July 1, 2025 (Illinois, $467,244). Recent awards cluster in the $175,000 to $698,000 range, though the portfolio includes several multi-million-dollar grants from the 2020 cohort: Oklahoma ($6 million), Arkansas ($4.2 million), New York ($3.7 million), and Nebraska ($3 million). Combined federal dollars obligated total $58.4 million across the 41 awards.
Grant recipients are exclusively state and tribal governments; the program does not accept applications from individuals, nonprofits, or private organizations. Recipients use funding to provide direct financial incentives to landowners for voluntary participation in public access programs, deploy infrastructure or equipment supporting program implementation, and incentivize habitat improvement on enrolled lands. Projects run up to three years, with individual award caps at $3 million and up to 25 percent of each award permissible for wildlife habitat incentives.
The program is exclusively funded by NRCS, which holds all 41 awards. Assistance is predominantly Project Grants (98 percent, 40 awards) with one Cooperative Agreement (2 percent). Recent representative awards include Texas ($452,887 for expanding public access for wildlife recreation), Minnesota ($583,158 for farm, ranch, and forest land public access), and Wyoming ($357,577 for game and fish access expansion). The FY 2026 opportunity (posted April 24, 2026, due June 8, 2026) announced $52 million in funding under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with a maximum award of $3 million per applicant and applicant eligibility limited to federally recognized tribal governments and state governments.
Objective and description
- Objective
The primary objective of VPA-HIP is to encourage owners and operators of privately-held farm, ranch, and forest land to voluntarily make that land available for access by the public for wildlife-dependent recreation, including hunting or fishing, und
Eligibility
- Beneficiary eligibility
The beneficiary eligibility is extended to the public for the purposes of expanding existing public access programs or create new public access programs or provide incentives to improve habitat on enrolled program lands.
- Uses of assistance
The funding provided by the VPA-HIP helps states and tribal governments increase public access to private land and improve wildlife habitat. Grant recipients can use the funding to provide financial incentives to landowners to participate in a public access program, provide infrastructure or equipment associated with implementation of the public access program, and provide incentives to landowners to improve wildlife habitat on lands enrolled in a public access program.
- Length and time phasing of assistance
Projects may be up to 3 years in duration.
How to apply
- Application procedure
The applicant is the individual State or tribal government. Any application from any unit of the State or tribal government must be coordinated for a single submission of one application from the State or Tribal government. Incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. Since the VPA-HIP is a competitive grants program, information furnished by grant applicants in their proposals will be used to determine eligibility for the VPA-HIP benefits and for ranking their proposals against others. Furnishing the data is voluntary; however, the failure to provide information could result in program benefits being withheld or denied. The following forms must be completed, signed, and submitted as part of the application; other forms may be required, as specified in the applicable RFA/APF: 1. Application for Federal Assistance; 2. Budget Information-Non-Construction Programs; and 3. Assurances-Non-Construction Programs.
- Criteria for selecting proposals
Incomplete applications will not be evaluated. All applications will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria and scored in accordance with the VPA-HIP funding announcement. An evaluation panel will rank proposals and make recommendations for funding. The NRCS Chief makes the final award decisions. Funding priority was given to proposals that expended VPA-HIP funding through a public access program to address these objectives: Maximize participation by landowners; Ensure that land enrolled in the program has appropriate wildlife habitat; Encourage participation of Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) landowners in the public access program; Supplement funding and services from other federal, state, tribal government or private resources; and Provide information to the public about the location of public access land.
- Award procedure
Grants are awarded through a competitive process. Following award selections, grantees enter into a grant agreement with NRCS. The agreement includes the deliverables and proposed budget for the project, as well as reporting requirements and other general terms and conditions.
- Appeals
Appeals will be handled according to 7 CFR parts 11 and 780.
Grant opportunities
Grant awards
Latest 10 of 41 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma Department Of Wildlife Conservation | $6,000,000 | 10% |
| 2 | Arkansas Game & Fish Commission | $4,200,000 | 7% |
| 3 | Nebraska Game & Parks Commission | $3,697,796 | 6% |
| 4 | Virginia Department Of Wildlife Resources | $3,692,863 | 6% |
| 5 | Minnesota Department Of Natural Resources | $3,090,299 | 5% |
| 6 | Washington State Department Of Fish & Wildlife | $2,736,090 | 5% |
| 7 | State South Dakota Game Fish & PK | $2,680,902 | 5% |
| 8 | Kansas Department Of Wildlife And Parks | $2,588,457 | 4% |
| 9 | Department Of Natural Resources Illinois | $2,476,044 | 4% |
| 10 | Wisconsin Department Of Natural Resources | $2,348,735 | 4% |
10 of 27 recipients listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | -$848,595 |
| FY2025 | -$21 |
| FY2024 | $5,947,677 |
| FY2023 | $13,630,603 |
| FY2022 | $1,894,060 |
| FY2020 | $36,901,120 |
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 10.093?
Assistance Listing 10.093 is Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, a federal grant program run by National Resources Conservation Service (Department of Agriculture).
What is the CFDA number for Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program?
Its CFDA number is 10.093: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 10.093 awarded?
41 grant awards under 10.093 have obligated $58,402,545 in federal funds to 27 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 10.093?
The recipients obligated the most under Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program are Oklahoma Department Of Wildlife Conservation ($6,000,000), Arkansas Game & Fish Commission ($4,200,000) and Nebraska Game & Parks Commission ($3,697,796).
How much did 10.093 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 10.093 obligated -$21 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
Are there open grant opportunities under 10.093?
No opportunity listed under 10.093 is open now. The latest, Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program competition for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2026, was posted on April 24, 2026.
On GovTribe
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