NFWF opens a Great Plains grassland fund backed by Walmart Foundation, with $10 million for ranchland easements
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation launched the Great Plains Grassland Fund on Oct. 7 with $9 million from the Walmart Foundation and $9 million from McDonald's USA and its suppliers. Nonprofits, governments and Tribes may apply by Jan. 27.
Washington. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has opened a grant fund to keep native grasslands across the Great Plains from being plowed, and its first call for proposals, with up to $10 million to award, closes on Jan. 27. The foundation, chartered by Congress in 1984, announced the Great Plains Grassland Fund on Oct. 7 with a $9 million grant from the Walmart Foundation.
The fund will also count on $9 million that McDonald's USA and several of its suppliers had already given to the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative. NFWF started that initiative in 2025 with McDonald's USA, suppliers including Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Dorada, OSI and The Coca-Cola Company, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It aims to improve the health of 4 million acres of grassland over seven years.
Easements on working ranches
The fund's main tool is the voluntary conservation easement. NFWF says it aims to protect 150,000 to 200,000 acres of grassland at risk of conversion permanently, and to help ranchers improve their management of another 150,000 to 200,000 acres, with ranching remaining the main use of the land. Proposals may add grassbanks, grazing associations and other community models.
About 2 million acres of Great Plains grassland are converted to cropland each year, and only about half of the region's grassland remains intact, the foundation said. Much of what is left belongs to ranching families.
An easement paid for by the fund must forbid plowing the grassland or turning it into cropland, in language NFWF requires in the deed, and must serve a conservation purpose under Section 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. The program's funders will not claim or buy carbon credits from the grassland kept intact, the request for proposals says.
Who can apply
Nonprofit 501(c) organizations, state and local governments, Tribal governments and organizations, and educational institutions may apply. Federal agencies, businesses, individuals and international organizations may not lead a proposal, but may take part as subrecipients or bring matching money.
Every award needs at least a one to one match in cash or contributed goods and services. NFWF notes that its other land conservation programs usually see proposals matched five to one or more. Applicants are asked to put all of their easement properties into a single proposal, and partnerships with groups already funded by the grassland initiative are encouraged.
A webinar for applicants is set for Oct. 23. Proposals are due Jan. 27, 2027, and awards are expected in May 2027. How much NFWF awards depends on the money it receives from its funding partners, the request says.
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