Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Opens $500,000 Grant Program to Protect At-Risk Wildlife and Native Plants in Pennsylvania

Applications are now open for the 2026 Wild Resource Conservation Program (WRCP), which offers grants to support research and conservation projects that protect Pennsylvania’s native wildlife, plants, and ecosystems. The program, which is overseen by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), will invest more than $500,000 in projects across the Commonwealth.

The WRCP provides critical support for conserving non-game animals, native plants and fungi, and invertebrates such as insects — species often left out of traditional conservation programs but vital to the Commonwealth’s ecosystems.

“This program is key to ensuring science-driven, hands-on conservation work is done to protect Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable wildlife and plant species,” said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “The Shapiro Administration remains committed to ensuring the state’s rich biodiversity is maintained for future generations — and we are grateful to the organizations that help protect our ecosystems through this program.” 

How to Apply
Applications will be accepted now through 4:00 PM on June 30, 2026, through DCNR’s online grant portal. Project proposals that support DCNR’s Wildlife Action Plan or other agency conservation priorities — even if not explicitly listed — are welcomed.

Visit DCNR’s website for full grant criteria, priority species, and application instructions.

This year’s WRCP grant priorities include: 

Mammal priorities: surveys to focus on least shrew to address knowledge gaps and prairie deer mouse.

Bird priorities: building on previous surveys to revisit canopy gap treatment study sites in central Pennsylvania 

Plant priorities: genetic research into bittersweet hybridization; conservation assessment of one of several selected plant genera; and other research into the inventory, ecological study, or conservation of rare plants.

Aquatic invertebrate priorities: Aquatic invertebrate priorities: round hickory nut reproduction study; salamander mussel surveys in Allegheny and Beaver River tributaries; and continued study on rare amphipod, Gammarus.

Orphan taxa priorities: surveys for lichen or other fungi using DNA barcoding or soil eDNA and fungal type specimen analysis; frosted elfin recovery plan and surveys to assess data-deficient terrestrial invertebrates. 

Project ideas outside of priorities that support the Pennsylvania State Wildlife Action Plan, agency’s species management plan, or other need are welcomed.

WRCP’s mission fits with the Shapiro Administration’s broader commitment to preserving and enhancing Pennsylvania’s natural resources. Pennsylvanians can contribute to WRCP through the Eastern Hellbender license plate and the state’s voluntary tax check-off.

“The 2026 grant round is focused on filling data gaps for Pennsylvania’s rare, threatened, and endangered species,” said Rebecca Bowen, DCNR’s chief of Conservation Science and Ecological Resources. “Pennsylvanians can directly support the protection of non-game wildlife and native plants through the Wild Resource Conservation Program.”

Launched in 1982, WRCP encourages and supports research and protection efforts to conserve Pennsylvania’s diverse native wildlife resources, including bird and mammal species, amphibians and reptiles, insects, wild plants, and fungi.

In 2025, DCNR awarded $530,000 through WRCP to support field research, habitat restoration, and the conservation of fungi and plant species.

2026 BSWP Allison Cusick Student Research Awards