Walmart Foundation and McDonald's Back $10M Great Plains Grassland Fund

Up to $10 million will be available when the Great Plains Grassland Fund issues its first competitive request for proposals, with awards expected to be announced in 2027, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has confirmed.

The fund, backed by grants from the Walmart Foundation plus investments from McDonald's USA and several key beef and beverage suppliers, aims to permanently protect 150,000 to 200,000 acres of grasslands at risk of conversion to cropland or development. It also targets improvement of another 150,000 to 200,000 acres — roughly the scale of a mid-sized county — while keeping ranching the primary use of participating properties.

The money flows through the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, which NFWF, McDonald's USA and USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service launched in 2025 with suppliers including Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Dorada, OSI and The Coca-Cola Company. That initiative aims to improve the health and resilience of 4 million acres of grasslands over seven years and has already supported two rounds of grantees.

What does the fund pay for?

Projects will focus on four priorities:

• protecting intact grasslands through voluntary conservation easements (legal agreements that permanently limit development on working land) and other locally led approaches;
• conserving wildlife habitat and migration routes;
• improving water quantity and quality;
• supporting ranching livelihoods and local economies.

Chris West, director of NFWF's Rocky Mountain Regional Office, said the practices share one common thread: they build plant growth above and below ground while keeping land in ranching hands.

"When we talk about sustainable management, we mean helping ranchers manage grasslands in ways that keep them healthy, productive and resilient over the long term, both for ranching operations and wildlife," West said. "That can include voluntary, rancher-driven practices on working lands such as improved grazing plans and infrastructure, prescribed fire, invasive species management and grassland restoration."

Why the stakes are high

Roughly half of the historic grassland footprint in the Great Plains has been lost, according to West. And the loss is effectively permanent.

"Once intact grassland is plowed, its wildlife habitat, soil health, water-filtering capacity and grazing value cannot be easily restored," he said.

The fund connects ranchers with grantee organizations — typically nonprofits — that deliver financial and technical support. West said that support could cover voluntary easements, improved grazing management and infrastructure, wildlife-friendly fencing, virtual fencing (GPS-based systems that move cattle without physical wires), invasive species removal, prescribed fire, and grassland or riparian habitat restoration.

"Ranchers have been stewarding these landscapes for generations, and conservation needs to work for them, too," West said. "Ranching families are some of the nation's most important stewards of amazing grassland habitats and iconic wildlife populations, from grassland birds to migrating waterfowl to big-game species such as mule deer, pronghorn and elk."

Corporate logic behind the money

For Walmart and McDonald's, the investment ties directly to beef supply chain resilience.

"For Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, regeneration is a long-term commitment to the natural resources and people our business and communities depend on," said Julie Gehrki, senior vice president of Walmart and president of the Walmart Foundation. "Two decades of work with NFWF through Acres for America have shown the value of sustained investment in critical habitats."

"Since the initiative launched last year, it has supported two rounds of grantees advancing voluntary conservation practices across U.S. grasslands," said Cesar Piña, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer North America at McDonald's USA.

NFWF executive director and CEO Jeff Trandahl said the fund establishes a framework where public and private partners can add further support across the region, creating a long-term pooling mechanism for community-led, rancher-driven conservation.

What happens next

Beyond easements, funded projects may use grassbanks, grazing associations and other community-based models. NFWF will work with implementation partners to track outcomes on grassland protection, biodiversity, water resources and ranching livelihoods.

Ranchers and landowners unsure where to start can access fund resources to help implement conservation practices, with awarded nonprofits guiding the process. Watch for the formal RFP from NFWF — up to $10 million is on the table, with award decisions expected in 2027.