USDA Invests $21 Million to Expand Public Hunting and Fishing Access on Private Lands: Texas Receives $3 Million, Two Rounds Total $70 Million
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on November 3 that USDA is investing $21 million in an additional 10 projects to increase public access to private lands for hunting, fishing and other wildlife-dependent recreation, while benefiting farmers, ranchers and private landowners, through the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP).
The second round of award selections includes projects in Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. In Oklahoma, the Choctaw Nation will establish and expand a new Tribal voluntary public access program that incentivizes private landowners to provide public access for hunting, fishing and other wildlife-dependent recreation across Tribal lands in southeastern Oklahoma. Kansas will expand its existing Walk-In Hunting Access (WIHA) and Walk-In Fishing Access (WIFA) programs.
Texas receives $3 million, the top single-project amount in this round, with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) as the implementing agency. Projects in this round receive between $833,000 and $3 million and may run for up to three years. TPWD plans to expand the number of public hunting areas and days, increase the acreage of its current leased public access program and the number of private-land drawn-hunt permits available through the state-run system, maintain existing leased river access sites, and establish new leased river access sites for fishing, paddling and wildlife viewing.
Other state awards include $2.655 million for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, $1,074,400 for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and $3 million for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, which proposes to enroll 150,000 acres of private land into public hunting access programs through multi-year agreements.
Through VPA-HIP, NRCS helps state and Tribal governments encourage private landowners to allow public access to their land. NRCS says the Working Families Tax Cuts Act restored funding for VPA-HIP, enabling the competitive grant program for state and Tribal governments. NRCS awarded $49 million to 19 projects in the first round announced in July 2026; between the two rounds, NRCS has invested a total of $70 million in 29 projects.
(Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：德克萨斯州 Texarkana 附近 Wright Patman 大坝下游的 Sulphur 河畔，钓客在岸边垂钓。Tony Webster 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Anglers fishing on the Sulphur River below Wright Patman Dam near Texarkana, Texas. By Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
