2025 Species Recovery Grant Awardees Announced

NOAA awarded $4.2 million in funding to states and tribes through its Species Recovery Grant Program. These grants promote the recovery of species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. From these funds:

• $1.9 million supports six new awards to five states: Alaska, California, Florida, New Jersey, and South Carolina
• $2.3 million supports the continuation of 13 multi-year projects that were approved in prior grant cycles
• $1.6 million supports work for one new and three continuing awards for three of NOAA’s Species in the Spotlight: North Atlantic right whales, Southern Resident killer whales, and white abalone—all of which face a high risk of extinction

States and tribes play an essential role in conserving and recovering species. Threatened or endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction may spend all or part of their lives in state or tribal waters. Successful conservation of these species depends largely on working cooperatively with states and tribes. This year’s funding supports our state and tribal partners in activities such as:

• Implementing on-the-ground recovery and threat-reduction actions, including habitat restoration and species reintroduction
• Developing programmatic habitat conservation plans
• Collecting demographic and genetic information to improve understanding of population structure, habitat use, and threats

We identified projects that would benefit the species identified in our Species in the Spotlight initiative as a priority in our funding decisions. Newly funded and ongoing projects will address three Species in the Spotlight:

• North Atlantic right whale
• White abalone
• Southern resident killer whales