U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Partners Announce More than $23.4 Million for Fish Habitat Conservation in 2025

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$23.4 Million for fish habitat conservation, including four projects for the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership!

  • Cochiti Lake Aquatic Habitat Enhancement Project (New Mexico)
  • Lake Keomah Fish Habitat Improvement (Iowa)
  • Mark Twain Lake Fisheries Habitat Development Project (Missouri)
  • Blue Marsh Lake Shoreline Project (Pennsylvania)

Here's the full press release from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2025

Contact: Ryan Roberts (rroberts@fishwildlife.org)

(Washington, DC) - Through the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) (htps://fishhabitat.org), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and partners are providing more than $23.4 million to support 53 on-the-ground fish habitat conservation projects in 29 states. The USFWS is providing $5.9 million this year, with non-governmental organizations, state resource agencies, and other partners contributing an additional $20.4 million. This represents a 6.7:1 leveraged funding match for NFHP funding.

These projects empower and boost locally led conservation efforts that restore and reconnect habitats to create more robust fish populations, improved fishing opportunities, and healthier waterways. Twenty individual Fish Habitat Partnerships across the nation make up our national efforts and work with a variety of partners, including private landowners, farmers and ranchers, Tribes, non-profit organizations, state, federal, and local government agencies, and many others to achieve fish habitat conservation goals that protect, restore, and enhance habitat conditions locally for fish.

In 2025, project types include removing barriers to fish passage, reducing erosion from farm and ranchlands, restoring stream banks, combating the impacts of drought, and conducting monitoring and assessment work to identify conservation needs for fish and their habitats. This year’s projects meet local priorities through partnerships that span from restoring urban and suburban streams to reconnecting tidal wetlands, in states across the country from Alaska to Vermont. Projects target and address limiting factors to improve habitat, water quality, and benefit our nation’s fisheries resources. This funding will also support the coordination of individual Fish Habitat Partnerships and the operations of the National Fish Habitat Board to help establish national priorities under NFHP.

"Annually, the National Fish Habitat Partnership focuses on putting priority conservation projects on-the-ground through partnerships, which benefit both fish and the American people," said Tim Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Chair of the National Fish Habitat Board. "These locally-driven projects are designed to leave a conservation legacy for the protection, restoration and enhancement of fish habitat for future generations to enjoy in the outdoors."

View the full list of 2025 funded projects.

NFHP uses a nationally focused aquatic conservation strategy to maximize the reach of limited fish habitat conservation dollars. Under NFHP, federal, state, tribal, and privately raised funds are leveraged through regional Fish Habitat Partnerships to address the nation’s biggest fish habitat challenges. The USFWS is a key partner in implementing the partnership, providing leadership and technical expertise on the local, regional, and national levels, as well as financial assistance directly to partners for on-the-ground conservation projects. Since 2006, the USFWS has provided over $65.6 million to conservation projects which leveraged at a 5:1 ratio to provide over $335 million in funding support for fish habitat conservation projects that improve angling and recreational opportunities across the nation.

NFHP assembles the collective expertise of federal, state, and non-governmental organizations to identify and prioritize conservation work to achieve significant benefits for fish and other aquatic resources for the American people.

For more information on all of our NFHP projects, please visit our Projects and Accomplishments Dashboard.

About the National Fish Habitat Partnership:

Since 2006, NFHP has supported over 1,500 projects benefitting fish habitat throughout all 50 states. This effort works to conserve fish habitat nationwide, leveraging federal, state, tribal, and private funding resources to achieve the greatest effect on fish populations through priority conservation projects of 20 Fish Habitat Partnerships that are organized around key fish species, geographic areas, or important fish habitats. In 2020, NFHP was recognized by Congress as part of the America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act, and was reauthorized in 2024 through passage of the America's Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act. NFHP guidance and policies are developed in conjunction with our partnerships and National Fish Habitat Board. For more information, visit: htps://fishhabitat.org/.