The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program administers grant programs that distribute millions of dollars annually to state agencies and Tribes to manage fish, wildlife, and habitats, evaluate and enhance species of greatest conservation need, and provide recreational opportunities for fishing, hunting, shooting, and boating.
What We Do
Our Projects and Initiatives
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) works with states, insular areas, and the District of Columbia to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, their habitats, and the hunting, sport fishing and recreational boating opportunities they provide. We provide national leadership, oversight and/or administrative support for the following grant programs:
- Wildlife Restoration
- Sport Fish Restoration
- Clean Vessel Act
- Boating Infrastructure
- National Coastal Wetlands Conservation
- State Wildlife Grants
- Tribal Wildlife Grants
- Multistate Conservation
Through WSFR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also administers the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize and Advisory Council.
Our Laws and Regulations
We implement laws including the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 (popularly known as the Pittman–Robertson Act), and the Sport Fish Restoration Act of 1950 (commonly referred to as the Dingell-Johnson Act).
Latest Stories and Topics
Stories
Science and Technology
From an invasive reptile trapping system to a nucleic acid barcode that identifies poached and trafficked wildlife products anywhere in the world, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Theodore Roosevelt (TR) Genius Prize winners and their technological innovations will help address conservation...
Endangered Species Act
Squeezing into wetsuits, defogging snorkel masks, and plunging into chilly rivers is a typical routine for biologists and students surveying for freshwater mussels.
Wildlife Management
Scales and feathers. Water and air. Fish and, well, fowl.
Yellowstone cutthroat trout and American white pelicans are an unlikely duo for conservation. They both inhabit the Blackfoot Reservoir, a sagebrush and sun-soaked angling and boating destination in southeast Idaho. Both the trout and...
Recreation
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking proposals from applicants to implement the National Outreach and Communication Program (NOCP) for sportfishing and boating. The National Outreach and Communication Program was established by the Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act of 1998 to...
Sunflowers first grow straight and fast and wiry to seven feet tall in July and put out leaves as big as hearty pancakes, coarse to the touch. They branch out in masse to what amounts to a bush come August and that is when the first blooms show themselves. Even the most casual observer will note...
Habitat Restoration
In a small town near the Maine-Canada border, a conservation project more than 10 years in the making has wrapped — sustained in part by the Service’s Tribal Wildlife Grant program.