Restore Colorado

The RESTORE Colorado Program is a habitat restoration initiative managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in collaboration with several public and private partners. NFWF, chartered by Congress in 1984, is a nonprofit organization that works to sustain, restore, and enhance the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats. RESTORE Colorado is co-funded by Great Outdoors Colorado, the Gates Family Foundation, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, among others. This multi-partner approach provides a robust foundation for restoring large-scale, cross-jurisdictional habitats across Colorado’s diverse landscapes. The program specifically supports habitat restoration, expansion, and stewardship projects that occur on both public and private conservation lands within Colorado. Its geographic focus spans from the grasslands of the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains and desert canyons in the southwest. The initiative was launched in 2020 and, as of the latest data, has awarded 59 grants across five states. These investments amount to $16.1 million in direct funding, supplemented by $28 million in matching contributions, for a total on-the-ground impact of $44.1 million. RESTORE Colorado prioritizes projects in five landscape types: river corridors, riparian areas and wetlands; Eastern Colorado grasslands; sagebrush ecosystems; big game winter range and migration routes; and forestlands. Grant-funded work includes activities such as removing invasive species, restoring floodplains and wetlands, improving forest health, and modifying fencing to benefit migratory wildlife. The program’s objectives are aligned with NFWF’s Southwest Rivers Business Plan and Rocky Mountain Rangelands Business Plan, ensuring coordinated and strategic conservation outcomes. Results to date highlight substantial impacts: over 97 miles of instream habitat and 149 miles of stream opened; more than 138,000 acres of grasslands under improved management on private lands; and over 251 miles of fencing modified to improve big game migration. The outcomes demonstrate the program’s effectiveness in addressing both ecological needs and community-level conservation goals. While the fact sheet provides detailed program outcomes and goals, it does not include a specified application deadline, award ceiling, award floor, or detailed eligibility requirements such as specific applicant types or geographic sub-restrictions within Colorado. Likewise, it does not specify whether the program is rolling or has recurring deadlines, though the presence of annual outcome updates and multi-year data implies some level of recurrence. Application tips, question formats, and timelines are also not disclosed. For further information or grant-related inquiries, the primary contacts are Chris West, Director of NFWF’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office (chris.west@nfwf.org, 303-222-6484) and Daley Burns, Manager at the same office (daley.burns@nfwf.org, 202-595-2440):contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.