For 2025, the DNR Wildlife Conservation Section is raising the cap on its Wildlife Viewing Program grants from $3,000 to $5,000 per project. Proposals for the new cycle are being accepted at https://georgiawildlife.com/Wildlife-ViewingGrants. The deadline to apply is Feb. 6, 2025.

Since reviving the program in 2018, the Wildlife Conservation Section has picked over 40 proposals for grant awards totaling more than $100,000. The projects, explored in an interactive map at https://georgiawildlife.com/WildlifeViewingGrants, vary from viewing platforms to interpretive signs and outreach programs. All offer more ways to see and learn about wildlife, especially species and habitats listed in Georgia’s State Wildlife Action Plan (https://georgiawildlife. com/WildlifeActionPlan). Wildlife Conservation Chief Matt Elliott explained that the program complements the plan, a comprehensive strategy to conserve native wildlife before they become rarer and more costly to save or restore. “Wildlife Viewing Program grants propose many creative ways for the public to experience Georgia’s wonderful biodiversity, including species and places considered high priorities in the Wildlife Action Plan,” Elliott said. “We really look forward to reviewing and funding proposals every year.”

The grants are provided through Georgia’s Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund, which the Wildlife Conservation Section manages. The goal: Provide viewing opportunities that raise awareness of native animals not fished for or hunted, rare native plants and natural habitats – particularly those considered conservation priorities in the Wildlife Action Plan.

The six viewing grant projects approved this year varied from viewing blinds at Talking Rock Nature Park in Pickens County to an ADA-compliant canoe and kayak launch at Big Haynes Creek Nature Center in Conyers and binoculars for Burton 4-H Center program participants on Tybee Island. Work and support by partners will significantly amplify the grant funding provided.

Wildlife viewing is big in Georgia and across the U.S. A few insights:

• About 1-in-4 Georgians – 2.4 million total – took part in wildlife-viewing activities in 2011, spending an estimated $1.8 billion, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey.

• The number of Americans involved in wildlife viewing surged from about 86 million in 2016 to 148 million in 2022, more than half of the population 16 or older, the Fish and Wildlife Service reports.

• In a 2021 survey of Georgia wildlife viewers, the services most wanted from DNR included more information about wildlife and where to see species, plus more access to viewing sites.

Wildlife viewing grant proposals can include facilities, improvements and other initiatives that provide opportunities for the public – including underserved groups – to observe nongame animals, plants and natural habitats. Notification of awards will be made in March 2025.

To learn more and/or submit a proposal, visit https://georgiawildlife.com/ WildlifeViewingGrants.