Washington, D.C., Oct. 07, 2026 — The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced a $9 million grant from the Walmart Foundation to launch the Great Plains Grassland Fund, a public–private grant fund that will protect and sustainably manage intact grasslands across the U.S. Great Plains.
The $9 million grant from Walmart Foundation will establish the fund, which will also be supported by $9 million in aligned investment from McDonald’s USA and several of its key suppliers through existing contributions made to the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative.
The commitment represents a major conservation investment by the Walmart Foundation. The effort brings together two founding philanthropic funders around a shared goal: supporting ranchers, as members of the communities that steward these lands, in protecting and regenerating the native grasslands of the Great Plains and the fish and wildlife habitat they provide, while building a durable source of conservation funding that additional funders can join over time.
The Great Plains Grassland Fund will pair voluntary land protection strategies with technical and financial assistance for ranchers. Using tools such as conservation easements, the fund aims to permanently protect 150,000 to 200,000 acres of high-conservation-value grasslands at potential risk of conversion, while helping ranchers enhance regenerative agriculture management practices on an additional 150,000 to 200,000 acres through voluntary public and private conservation programs – with landowners who participate keeping ranching as the primary use of their land. Altogether, the effort is designed to build a lasting funding mechanism for pooling public and private funding in support of community- and rancher-led conservation across the region.
“Healthy grasslands support an extraordinary range of wildlife while sustaining ranching families, rural economies and vital food supply chains,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “With this critical investment from the Walmart Foundation, McDonald’s USA and its suppliers, the Great Plains Grassland Fund establishes a framework where stakeholders and other public and private funding partners can provide additional support for advancing conservation throughout the Great Plains.”
To help measure conservation outcomes, NFWF will work with implementation partners to track progress related to grassland protection, biodiversity, water resources and ranching livelihoods.
NFWF will issue a competitive initial Request for Proposals through the Great Plains Grassland Fund. Up to $10 million is expected to be available for projects through this funding opportunity, and awards are expected to be announced in 2027. Additional eligibility information, program priorities and application instructions are available here.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
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