State Of Mississippi Department Of Wildlife Fisheries & Parks

The State of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks is a state government entity that operates as a prime recipient of federal grants for wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, boating safety, and outdoor recreation facility development across Mississippi. The agency does not hold federal contracts and is a child entity of the State of Mississippi; it receives grant funding from multiple federal agencies, principally the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The agency's federal grant footprint spans 468 total awards accumulated over the past two decades, with recent activity concentrated in formula grants under the Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson, CFDA 15.611), State Wildlife Grants (CFDA 15.634), Sport Fish Restoration (CFDA 15.605), the Land and Water Conservation Fund program (CFDA 15.916), and Boating Safety Financial Assistance (CFDA 97.012). Representative work includes a $1.625 million Pittman-Robertson grant from DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 (effective January 1, 2026) for water infrastructure development at the Trim Cane Wildlife Management Area, comprising two surface water reservoirs and a lift pump system to enable controlled flooding of waterfowl impoundments; a $1.443 million three-year Boating Safety award from the U.S. Coast Guard (October 1, 2025) supporting statewide recreational boating safety education, law enforcement, facility maintenance, and vessel numbering programs; a $1.042 million State Wildlife Grants award for species-of-greatest-conservation-need surveys and biological collections management through the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science; and multiple Land and Water Conservation Fund project grants ranging from $100,000 to $3.13 million funding park facility improvements, pavilion construction, playground installation, and cabin renovations at state parks and local municipal parks across Mississippi.

Customer concentration is extreme: the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 accounts for 180 awards, and the broader Fish and Wildlife Service (Region 4 plus national office) represents the dominant funding source across the portfolio. The National Park Service National Office issued 80 awards, primarily LWCF State and Local Assistance Program grants. The U.S. Coast Guard issued 20 boating safety grants. These four federal entities account for 92 percent of award count across 468 total prime grants. By dollar value, the portfolio demonstrates pronounced recompete exposure: 22 awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months. Recent activity shows variability—43 awards in 2022, declining to 18 in 2024, then rising to 35 in 2025, suggesting fluctuation in federal appropriations and grant cycle timing rather than sustained growth.

The agency operates predominantly under formula grant structures rather than competitive procurements. Notable grant programs include recurring annual allocations for wildlife research and management, hunter education, boating access facility maintenance, and species conservation. The agency frequently serves as a pass-through recipient for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants, issuing subawards to municipalities and counties for local park improvements. Sub-award activity is minimal (3 sub-awards of 468 total awards, roughly 1 percent), with recent sub-awards routed through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency for disaster-related project work. Wildlife conservation work is implemented in partnership with universities (Mississippi State University, University of Southern Mississippi) and non-governmental partners including The Nature Conservancy.

Place of performance spans Mississippi statewide, with administrative oversight at the agency headquarters in Jackson. Federal grant programs support habitat acquisition and restoration across multiple Wildlife Management Areas, public shooting range operations and maintenance, boating access facility development on state waterways, and park infrastructure improvements at state parks and municipal facilities throughout the state.