WNTI NFHP Funding Opportunity FY2027 – Western Native Trout Initiative

WNTI’s FY2027 RFP for National Fish Habitat Partnership Program (NFHP) funding

Since Congress passed the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act (ACE Act) in 2020, WNTI has typically announced our Request for Proposals for National Fish Habitat Partnership program (NFHP) project funding in November each year. Proposals were due in January and funds were not awarded until the following fiscal year (over a year later). However, when the ACE Act was reauthorized in 2024, it included major improvements supported by the NFHP Board and the 20 nationally recognized Fish Habitat Partnerships (FHPs), including WNTI. One significant improvement is greatly shortening the timeline from when a partner submits an application, to proposal review, ranking, selection, and awarding of funds from 18 months to now only 6 months. Going from an 18-month cycle to only six will provide a much faster turnaround time on grant applications!

Starting with the upcoming NFHP grant cycle for fiscal year 2027 funding, WNTI will be opening our Request for Proposals in September of 2026, with proposals due by mid-October. Successful applicants would then receive their funding between June and August of 2027.

Successful applicants who applied in WNTI’s RFP cycle last year for fiscal year 2026 funds will still receive their grant awards next June or July (2026). So, the process will be the same, but the timeline will be slightly different, and a big improvement!

This is the anticipated cycle for the 2027 Request for Proposals:

September 7, 2026 – WNTI opens NFHP 2027 RFP cycle to applicants.
October 16, 2026 – Proposals are due to WNTI. RFP is closed.
November 2026 – WNTI reviews and ranks proposals and sends highest ranked projects for approval to NFHP.
December 2026 – NFHP Board reviews proposals and sends recommendations to US Department of the Interior.
March – May 2027 – U.S. Department of the Interior review and final approval of projects.
June – August 2027 – Announcements of awards, grant agreements put in place, and funding awarded.