Overview

LIP is a competitive grant program designed to provide financial assistance to private landowners for the protection, enhancement or restoration of habitat to benefit species at risk on privately owned lands.

Washington State’s geography supports one of the most diverse sets of ecosystems in North America – from rainforests, marine environments, prairies, and vast temperate forests of western Washington to the shrub steppe, dry forests, and Palouse grassland environments of the eastern part of the state. This diversity of habitats supports more than 640 vertebrate species and thousands of invertebrates.

Explosive human population growth in recent decades has placed our fish and wildlife populations in peril. In the next fifty years, the population of Washington is likely to double. Because over half of Washington is in private ownership, preservation of the state’s rich fish and wildlife heritage will largely be determined by the ability of private landowners to provide habitat for species at risk.

The Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) is a competitive grant program designed to provide financial assistance to private landowners for the protection, enhancement or restoration of habitat to benefit species at risk on privately owned lands. At risk species depend on specific ecosystems for survival. These ecosystems include riparian areas, wetlands, oak woodlands, prairies and grasslands, shrub steppe and nearshore environments.

Funds are a direct appropriation from Congress that are passed through the US Fish and Wildlife Service to state fish and wildlife agencies. Through Washington’s LIP, individual landowners are eligible to apply for up to $50,000 in assistance. A 25% non-federal contribution is required, which may include cash and/or in-kind (labor, machinery, materials) contribution.

LIP does not have an open grant cycle at this point in time. Stay tuned for future funding opportunities.

Examples of common LIP projects might include: plant native vegetation, install livestock exclusion fencing, remove fish migration barriers, restore wetland hydrology, remove non-native species, restore estuarine function, or purchase a conservation easement.

For additional information, contact Ginna Correa, WDFW Wildlife Program, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501, (360) 902-2478; or Jeff Skriletz, WDFW Fish Program, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501, (360) 902-8313.