The Office of Conservation Investment has more than 160 employees throughout the country. We work with partners providing outstanding grant management and financial services to support conservation and outdoor access.
For more than eight decades, the Office of Conservation Investment has partnered with state, commonwealth and territorial agencies, Tribes, industry, and academia to conserve, research, restore, and manage fish and wildlife and their habitats for the enjoyment of current and future generations. The Office of Conservation Investment is driven to help deliver the Service’s mission: Working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are partnering to fund conservation and connect people with nature.
Nearly a century ago concerned sportsmen’s groups, women’s organizations, manufacturers, and conservation professionals recognized the need to conserve fish, wildlife, and their habitat. This began the remarkable legacy of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (approved by Congress in 1937). Along with the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (approved in 1950), these became the foundation of our program and a cornerstone of American conservation and fish and wildlife management. What started with historic grant programs in Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration establishing partnerships with state fish and wildlife agencies and manufacturers has evolved to over 60 grant programs supporting thousands of individual grants annually. Through these grants and by supporting other Service programs, the Office of Conservation Investment provides a wide range of services to a plethora of partners funding conservation efforts across the Nation. Our grants, responsibilities, and enabling Acts have changed over the decades and our eligible activities have been expanded, redefined, and our funding levels increased. Today, our staff are occupationally more diverse and cover more fields and skillsets than ever before. The grants administered through the Office of Conservation Investment have provided billions to partners to fund conservation, stewardship, outdoor access, and to preserve our natural heritage.