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
Wildlife Management
The nēnē, sometimes called the Hawaiian goose, is an endemic species found only on the Hawaiian Islands and is the official state bird. Once common, the species declined to only 30 individuals by 1957 due primarily to habitat destruction, introduction of predators, and historic hunting pressure....
Our People
Each year, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies honors individuals and organizations that make significant contributions to conservation and natural resource management in western states, territories, and providences. Among the 2022 honorees is recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...
Wildlife Management
Once present in large numbers across the plains, the lesser prairie-chicken population and its original distribution area have declined significantly since the 1800s. In the twentieth century, human influences such as the conversion of native rangelands to cropland and energy development as well as...
Habitat Restoration
On an October morning in 2021, three Burns Paiute Tribe wildlife program staff, one USDA-Agricultural Research Service ecologist, eight volunteers organized by Portland Audubon, and one U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service archaeologist arrived at the mountain meadows of Logan Valley with shovels,...
Recreation
For more than half a century, America’s fishing equipment manufacturers have shared a partnership with state and federal biologists through the Dingell-Johnson Act — a partnership that uses excise tax to fund remarkable fisheries conservation and recreation. Each year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Our Partners
More than $1.6 million to Northeast states for collaborative conservation efforts