Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)

Download the Healthy Creeks Initiative information packet and return the signed landowner permission form to healthycreeks@tpwd.texas.gov (fax 512-389-4405, or mail to the Healthy Creeks Initiative at TPWD), or contact the local partner for your river. TPWD then schedules a site visit to map the infestation.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline. Treatment is 'currently being provided at no cost to landowners in priority areas'. The information packet was updated May 2026.

Healthy Creeks Initiative

Angela England

Project Manager (all regions)

TPWD-led program that treats invasive Arundo (giant reed) and elephant ear on private creek and river frontage in the Texas Hill Country at no cost to landowners, to restore native streamside plants and healthy streams. It began in 2015, and by the end of 2024 it had more than 380 participating landowners in five watersheds across eight counties.



- Landowners along creeks and rivers in the service area: the Blanco, Guadalupe, Llano, Medina and Pedernales watersheds in Bandera, Blanco, Comal, Gillespie, Hays, Kerr, Kimble and Kendall counties (the packet also lists Sutton County).
- Landowner signs a permission form granting access for treatment and monitoring and can end the agreement at any time.

A reduction or waiving of fees for meeting a certain criteria.

Discount

Targeted, aquatic-approved herbicide application at no cost. The landowner grants access for treatment and monitoring and may terminate at any time.

Published amounts: No-cost targeted herbicide treatment of Arundo (giant reed) and, from 2025, two elephant ear species on cooperating properties. No cash payment.

Contact your local TPWD office or biologist for an ecological assessment of your land. If LIP fits, the biologist helps prepare and submit a project proposal packet. Proposals are ranked competitively and may also be reviewed by USFWS, TPWD diversity or fisheries staff. Applicants not selected can reapply.

Deadline text on the page: Exceptional projects will be funded on a rolling basis so don't wait for a submission deadline to submit.

Arlene Kalmbach

Landowner Incentive Program Coordinator

Tim Siegmund

Private Lands Program Leader

Ryan McGillicuddy

Conservation Ecologist, Inland Fisheries Division

TPWD cost-share for private, non-federal landowners doing habitat and watershed conservation work. Typical practices are native plant restoration, exotic vegetation control, prescribed burning, selective brush management, wetland enhancement, riparian restoration and forest stand improvement. Proposals are ranked competitively, and landowners are reimbursed 50-75% of project cost once the practices are completed.



- Private, non-federal landowners in Texas.
- Project must meet the requirements of the targeted LIP funding series (currently the LIP Partners Watershed Funding Series).
- Landowner must allow biologists onto the property for a pre-agreement survey and periodic progress checks, and must sign a project agreement.
- Not eligible: pond or tank development without a direct tie to federally listed species. Current TPWD employees and acting TPWD Commissioners are not eligible.

A payment that requires some percentage of matching contributions by the recipient.

Cost Share

Reimbursement only. Payment comes after the planned practices are complete and valid invoices are submitted, and depends on the landowner meeting the agreement. Match can be materials or in-kind services. The landowner works with the TPWD biologist to document results.

Published amounts: LIP is a cost-share reimbursement program. Depending on the funding series, TPWD will contribute between 50% and 75% of a total project cost, while the applicant is expected to contribute the balance (materials or in-kind services are acceptable match).

Contact the Public Hunting Program at (800) 792-1112 (menu 5, selection 1) or (512) 389-4505, email hunt@tpwd.state.tx.us, or contact your local wildlife biologist.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published. 'The length of the lease and price per acre are negotiable.'

TPWD Public Hunting Program

TPWD Private Lands and Habitat Program

TPWD leases private land for public hunting of dove, waterfowl, pheasant, quail, feral hog, squirrel and rabbits at a negotiated per-acre price and lease length. TPWD also pays landowners to host two-day drawn public hunts for deer, pronghorn and exotics; TPWD draws the hunters and the landowner controls how the hunt is run.



- Private landowners with land suitable for the listed game species; terms are negotiated case by case.

Payment per unit of land to do or avoid certain practices related to land management.

Easement

Lease length and per-acre price are negotiated. For drawn deer, pronghorn and exotic hunts, TPWD selects the hunters and the landowner runs the hunt.

Published amounts: The length of the lease and price per acre are negotiable. TPWD can also pay landowners to host a two-day public hunt for white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn and exotics. No rates are published.

Email Brazos.Saltcedar@tpwd.texas.gov (the page calls this the best option) or call Monica McGarrity at 512-552-3465, and return the Landowner Permission Form in the program information PDF.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline; landowner participation requires a signed permission form (2021 information packet).

Upper Brazos Saltcedar program

Monica McGarrity

Senior Scientist for Aquatic Invasive Species

TPWD provides no-cost aerial herbicide treatment of invasive saltcedar on ranches along rivers and major creeks of the upper Brazos River basin (Double Mountain Fork, Salt Fork and the main stem). The goal is to restore riparian and in-stream habitat and possibly increase river flow. Since 2016, nearly 26,000 acres have been treated on about 230 ranches, and treatment may eventually extend downstream to Possum Kingdom Reservoir.



- Ranches along the Double Mountain Fork, Salt Fork or main stem of the upper Brazos River where the forks join (project area), upstream of Possum Kingdom Reservoir.
- Landowner signs a permission form to participate.

Helicopter-applied imazapyr. Pilots leave about a 20-foot buffer around cottonwoods and avoid other large trees and non-target plants where possible.

Published amounts: No-cost helicopter application of aquatic-approved imazapyr on saltcedar. Since 2016, nearly 26,000 acres have been treated on nearly 230 ranches.

Apply during the funding window; the next cycle opens July 2027. Contact Program Coordinator Chris Abernathy (TexasFarmandRanch@tpwd.texas.gov, 512-389-4429). Applications are scored by the program's Council on threat of development (30), value (20), watershed (20), fish and wildlife (15) and other criteria.

Deadline text on the page: The application window for grant funding through the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation program is closed. The next funding cycle will open in July 2027. (The how-to-apply page says the 2026-2027 biennium window ran June 1, 2025 through July 30, 2025.)

Chris Abernathy

Program Coordinator

TPWD grant program that buys perpetual agricultural conservation easements on working farms, ranches and timberland to keep them from fragmentation and development. The land stays in private ownership and production, and the easements are held by accredited land trusts. Funding comes in biennial cycles; the next window opens in July 2027.



- 'Only projects that are on working lands (in general, lands that are under special ad valorem tax valuation for farming, ranching, timber production or wildlife)' (scoring criteria).
- Projects must conserve water or protect water quality, conserve native wildlife habitat, conserve rare or sensitive species, add to a landscape of conservation lands, or protect productive open space threatened by fragmentation or development.
- Scoring favors a perpetual easement, an accredited and stable easement holder, and easement terms that prohibit fragmentation and encourage stewardship.

Perpetual conservation easement. Donated or bargain-sale easements and outside matching funds score higher. Awards depend on legislative appropriation.

Published amounts: Grants buy agricultural conservation easements. The Approved Grant Projects page lists 30 easements with CE acquisition prices ranging from donated up to $1,750,000. 'The funding of projects in this cycle is subject to appropriation of funds to the TFRLCP by the Texas Legislature.'

List of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Funding Opportunities