For its fiscal year 2026-27, the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) will direct $2 million in Grant-In-Aid (GIA) funding for wild sheep conservation and management projects, primarily requested through its Chapter and Affiliate network.
"Our Grant-in-Aid conservation funding keeps growing every year and is a vital component of our overall Mission Program Funding," said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. "While this $2 million represents only a portion of our Mission Program Funding, it is where the rubber meets the road, as they say – direct to on-the-ground and research projects.”
Twenty-four projects, spanning from the Yukon Territory to Sonora, Mexico, from Nebraska to New Mexico, and internationally in Central Asia and Europe, were awarded grants. The largest grant is $220,000 to support continuation of a multi-year, comprehensive disease surveillance and recovery effort in Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada. All funded projects will benefit areas of critical need, including habitat management, water development, population reestablishment, GPS radio-collar telemetry, and expanded pathogen surveillance and disease management.
In its past fiscal year from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, WSF raised and directed a record $11.7 million to its Mission programs. In this total, WSF raised and returned $6.95 million to state, provincial, territorial, and tribal/First Nation wildlife agencies to help fund their wild sheep and wildlife programs by auctioning their conservation permits at the Foundation’s 2026 Sheep Show® in Reno.
“Directing more than $11 million annually for three consecutive years to benefit a wildlife resource is an extraordinary accomplishment for any organization, particularly one of our size,” Thornton concluded.
“Our responsibility goes beyond simply raising money. We serve as a catalyst, bringing together the people, resources, and partnerships necessary to put more wild sheep on the mountain and ensure they remain there for generations to come. More wild sheep create greater interest, stronger advocacy, and expanded hunting opportunities. Those opportunities, in turn, generate additional funding that can be reinvested directly into conservation, creating a sustainable cycle of growth and long-term stewardship. It is a specialized economy, but one that demonstrates how sportsmen, conservation, and strategic investment can work together to deliver meaningful results for wildlife.”
Many of the projects this grant money is used for are presented annually in the Foundation’s Conservation Impact report, available here.
Tags: Grant-in-Aid, Conservation, Press Release