Arkansas will receive nearly $10 million in federal funding for wildlife habitat improvements on private land under a five-year partnership administered by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service awarded the money in October through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The AGFC’s project, called Forests to Farms: Igniting a Private Lands Wildlife Legacy, is intended to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners improve habitat while conserving natural resources.
The funding will be administered through the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division. Nearly 90% of Arkansas is privately owned, the commission said, making privately held acreage a significant part of statewide wildlife habitat work.
State money provides match
Randy Brents, assistant chief of the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division, said the federal award follows a state commitment of $5 million from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ discretionary set-aside fund. The AGFC committed $3 million of that amount as its cash match for the federal proposal.
“Gov. Sanders’ investment in private land conservation helped make our proposal very competitive for this grant funding,” Brents said.
Brents said the state contribution demonstrated that Arkansas was prepared to put its own money into conservation work alongside federal funding. The grant is one of 42 projects sponsored through the USDA partnership program nationwide.
- The federal award will support habitat work on private Arkansas land over five years.
- The AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division will administer the program.
- Eligible conservation work can include prescribed fire, forest improvements, winter flooding of rice fields and wetland management.
Earlier conservation funding
The AGFC began its Conservation Incentive Program in 2024 after a similar set-aside by the Arkansas General Assembly. The program provides cost-sharing opportunities to landowners for approved habitat practices.
A second round of Conservation Incentive Program practices was reimbursed in 2026 using a $2.5 million USDA grant. The practices supported through the program include establishing prescribed fire, improving forests, flooding rice fields during winter and managing wetlands.
Brents said Arkansas landowners have demonstrated demand for the conservation incentives. The new federal award will expand the funding available for habitat restoration on private properties through the AGFC’s partnership with landowners and the USDA.
