North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grants

NAWCA grants provide federal funding in the form of matching grants for projects that support long-term wetlands acquisition, restoration, and/or enhancement that benefits migratory birds in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. There are two programs: Standard Grants and Small Grants. For Standard Grants, up to $1 million is available for each proposed project, and application deadlines are twice per year in March and July. For Small Grants, up to $75,000 is available and the application deadline is late October.

The PLJV reviews and ranks all proposed NAWCA projects submitted within its boundaries and prospective applicants should notify the PLJV well in advance of submitting a proposal for our area. A map of North American JV boundaries can be found here.

Standard Grants

Developing a standard grant takes a significant amount of time, regardless of whether you are a first-time or seasoned applicant. If you are considering applying for a NAWCA grant and have not gone through the proposal process before – and even if you have – the PLJV standard NAWCA Timeline can give you a good understanding of the process. You should read it at least one year prior to when you want to submit your application.

In 2008, NAWCA staff organized a meeting at the 2008 Land Trust Rally in Denver, Colorado. They presented the NAWCA process from both the grantor and grantee perspective. Presentations focuses on proposal development and submission as well as what happens after a proposal receives funding. The PowerPoint presentations from those sessions are below. We encourage you to view all of them prior to embarking on this process.

  • NAWCA Summary – Proposal development from NAWCA Staff perspective
  • NAWCA 101 – Proposal development fromt grantee perspective
  • NAWCA 102 – You’ve got the grant! Now what? from NAWCA Staff perspective
  • NAWCA Lessons – You’ve got the grant! Now what? from Grantee perspective

Reading through the Proposal Instructions can be a daunting task if you aren’t familiar with them. Finding specific items can also be a challenge. Below you'll find help with several key questions.

What are the eligibility requirements for what you can spend grant money on and what kinds of funds are eligible as match?

How does my project fit into the bird plan priority areas for Technical Question #2

How will the proposal be judged?

Partnerships are paramount to winning a standard NAWCA grant. As you can see from the scoring criteria (below), the Partnerships question offers more points than any other single question. Below, you'll find two examples of partnerships that have scored very well on Technical Question #7. Partnerships without a variety of partner types and often those without a 2:1 match will not score well on this question and are likely not to get funded.

Please call the PLJV staff if you have questions about developing a proposal.