40+ Conservation and Grant Programs
(Duplicative Programs)
Department of the InteriorInternational wildlife conservation; FWS grant recipients; Indian Guaranteed Loan borrowers
Summary
This proposed cut would eliminate more than 40 Department of the Interior conservation and grant programs, saving about $500 million. The administration says these programs are duplicative, and the elimination bundles together very different activities: international wildlife conservation grants run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), FWS grants to states, tribes and conservation groups, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Guaranteed Loan program for tribal businesses.
Who Is Affected
International wildlife programs like the Multinational Species Conservation Fund send grants to range-country partners working to protect elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes and sea turtles; that fund alone has provided over $330 million in grants since 1989. FWS grants to states, tribes and nonprofits support habitat and wildlife-management projects nationwide, and the Indian Guaranteed Loan program - funded at about $13 million in FY2025 - guarantees loans that help Native-owned businesses get financing they could not otherwise access.
What this cut would actually mean
Ending these programs would stop federal support for anti-poaching patrols and habitat protection partnerships overseas, likely slowing conservation work for endangered species in range countries even though private and other funding may partially fill the gap. State wildlife agencies, tribes and conservation nonprofits would lose grant dollars used for habitat restoration and species monitoring, and Native entrepreneurs would lose a federal loan guarantee that made banks willing to lend to tribal businesses, even though the administration argues other federal small-business loan programs remain available to them.
Sources
- Multinational Species Conservation Fund - CRS — Congressional Research Service overview of FWS's international species conservation grant program and its funding history.
- MSCF Fact Sheet - Wildlife Conservation Society — Fact sheet noting the Multinational Species Conservation Fund has provided more than $330 million in grants since 1989.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs: Background and Annual FY2026 Appropriations - CRS — CRS brief noting the FY2026 budget proposes eliminating the Indian Guaranteed Loan program, which was funded at $13 million in FY2025, as duplicative of other federal small-business loan programs.
- FY2026 Interior Budget in Brief - Department of the Interior — Interior Department's own budget document describing plans to eliminate duplicative federal conservation and grant programs.
- Trump admin releases FY2026 budget - The Wildlife Society — Summary of proposed cuts to FWS state, tribal and NGO grant programs and other Interior conservation programs.
Administration's Stated Rationale
“International wildlife conservation, FWS grants, and Indian loan guarantee programs eliminated as duplicative.”