June 24, 2026 – Washington, D.C. – This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will award up to $310 million through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This funding opportunity reinforces NRCS's commitment to voluntary, incentive-based conservation that delivers meaningful benefits for working lands, wildlife habitat, water quality, and rural communities. RCPP is one of the nation's most effective tools for bringing together agricultural producers, conservation organizations, private industry, and government partners to address natural resource challenges at scale.

"Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever thank NRCS and Chief Buckley for continuing to invest in collaborative, locally led conservation through the latest RCPP funding opportunity,” said Tim Caughran, director of federal partnerships for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with NRCS to help farmers and ranchers implement lasting conservation solutions across America's working lands." 

“This significant investment through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program will further enable us to leverage our partnerships as force multipliers in supporting America’s farmers,” said NRCS Chief, Colton L. Buckley. “We’re looking forward to seeing the results on the ground while we also work to keep working lands in working hands.”

This announcement also includes improvements to RCPP, including streamlining partnership agreement processes and increasing flexibilities to ensure the program works more effectively for conservation partners and America’s farmers and ranchers. Most recently, PF & QF's Montana Grasslands Initiative and Arizona Quail Initiative have utilized RCPP funds to advance landscape-level projects that positively impact wildlife habitat, while bringing together landowners, partners, and federal agencies.

About Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever  

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever make up the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. This community of more than 500,000 members, supporters and partners is dedicated to the protection of our uplands through habitat improvement, public access, education and advocacy. A network of 754 local chapters spread across North America determine how 100 percent of their locally raised funds are spent — the only national conservation organization that operates through this grassroots structure. Since its creation in 1982, the organization has dedicated more than $1 billion to 580,000 habitat projects benefiting 31 million acres. 

Media Contact
Mikayla Peper 
715-294-0688 
MPeper@pheasantsforever.org