Nevada Department Of Wildlife

Nevada Department Of Wildlife, a state government entity subordinate to the Office of the Governor, operates as a recipient of federal grants and cooperative agreements focused on wildlife and habitat management, boating safety, and invasive species prevention across Nevada and selected areas in California. The department does not hold federal contracts as a prime contractor and does not compete for contract work; its federal footprint consists entirely of grant and cooperative agreement awards from fish and wildlife agencies, land management bureaus, the Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense.

The department's federal work centers on wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, and recreational access. Representative grant work includes $8.3 million from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service for statewide game management covering big game ungulates, mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, waterfowl, and disease surveillance; $2.9 million for Sport Fish Restoration to operate four hatcheries producing approximately 1.1 million trout annually for public waters; $2.1 million for Wildlife Habitat and Restoration under the Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education program (CFDA 15.611) to support habitat rehabilitation and sagebrush ecosystem restoration; $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service for the Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscapes program to conduct wildlife surveys and habitat restoration across Nevada and California; $1.077 million under the Good Neighbor Authority program (CFDA 10.691) for hazardous fuels reduction and wildlife habitat improvement on the Overland Pass project; and $1.054 million for the State Recreational Boating Safety Program (CFDA 97.012) from the U.S. Coast Guard. The department also manages cooperative agreements with the Bureau of Land Management for vegetation management, habitat improvements, and ecological restoration at multiple Nevada districts; receives Wildlife Restoration formula grants supporting hunter education, archery programs, shooting range improvements, water development maintenance, and boating access projects; and holds cooperative agreements with the National Park Service and Bureau of Reclamation for invasive mussel prevention and native fish rearing.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (Region 8 and headquarters). The Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 alone accounts for 284 awards; when combined with headquarters-level FWS awards (165 awards), the two entities represent over 76% of NDOW's federal award volume. The Bureau of Land Management Nevada Region follows with 31 awards valued at $1.2 million combined. The Coast Guard accounts for 20 awards supporting boating safety programs. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Forest Service, and other federal agencies round out the customer base.

NDOW holds one Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA 140L1219A0002) issued by the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management California Region, valued at $289 thousand, authorizing wildlife survey and habitat restoration services in Alturas, California through 2023. The department operates entirely under formula grant and cooperative agreement vehicles; no IDIQs, GWACs, or task order vehicles anchor its federal footprint. Grant work spans species conservation, habitat management, hunter and angler education, boating safety, invasive species management, and land restoration on federal and state lands. Recent awards show activity declining from 43 in 2024 to 32 in 2025, with only 5 awards recorded so far in 2026. Within the next twenty-four months, 19 awards carrying combined potential value of $167 thousand reach completion and face renewal or recompete.

As a state agency, NDOW competes exclusively under federal grant and cooperative agreement programs, not federal contracts. Its relationship with the federal government is that of grant recipient and implementing partner for fish and wildlife conservation, rather than vendor. The department functions as the operational arm of Nevada's wildlife management mandate, leveraging federal funding through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program, State Wildlife Grants, and interagency partnership authorities to deliver habitat restoration, species monitoring, hunter and angler education, and boating safety across Nevada and subordinate project areas in California and Utah.