Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP)

The Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) makes available up to $2M of federal Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration funds annually for conducting restoration work on ecologically important wildlife habitats (terrestrial) through weed management activities. WHIP is a 75:25 grant program, which means each dollar of matching cash can leverage three dollars of grant funds. All cash match must be a non-federal source and signed contribution statements from the participating partners are required as part of the application. Grants, which are paid in the form of reimbursed expenses, may be up to five years in duration.

Qualifying weed treatments include herbicide, biocontrol, and mechanical treatments, restoration seedings, and grazing improvements as part of an integrated noxious weed management plan. Priorities for funding include: landscape or watershed-scale projects with lands that are open to public hunting and include priority wildlife habitats; noxious weed infestations that directly impact habitat functions; broad partnerships involving multiple landowners; proposals with leveraging beyond the minimum match funding requirement; projects that retain or restore native plant communities.