S. 871 — Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Act of 2025

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) eligible entity as the State of Hawaii, a unit of local government therein, a Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 4352), a nonprofit organization, a business, or an institution of higher education; (2) grant program as the Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Grant Program established under section 3(a); (3) native species as a plant, fungi, or animal species native to the State; (4) Secretary as the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and (5) State as the State of Hawaii.

This section establishes the Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Grant Program, to be administered by the Secretary not later than 180 days after appropriation, to provide annual grants, microgrants, cooperative agreements, or other funding to eligible entities for evidence-based projects conserving and recovering native species in Hawaii. The program addresses invasive species and pests; climate change impacts; habitat loss and degradation; native species population management and restoration; scientific, planning, monitoring, and research capacity; information collection and ecological monitoring; and public outreach, education, and community involvement. In coordination with federal agency heads (including NOAA, EPA, and Agriculture), Hawaii state boards, and stakeholders, the Secretary develops annual funding priorities and project ranking criteria, publishes requests for proposals in the Federal Register, allows 100 percent federal cost-sharing (generally limited to 75 percent) for projects by Native Hawaiian organizations, those enhancing youth workforce readiness, or microgrants of $50,000 or less, and reserves at least 5 percent of funds for such projects; state and local representatives recuse from funding decisions on their applications, and funds supplement—not supplant—other conservation resources.

This section directs the Secretary to submit an annual report to Congress on the implementation of this Act, including (1) a description of each project that has received funding under the grant program, and (2) the status of each such project that is in progress on the date of the report.

This section authorizes appropriations of $30 million to the Secretary annually for the first fiscal year after enactment of this Act and each of the nine fiscal years thereafter to carry out this Act. Of those amounts, the Secretary may use no more than 5% for administrative expenses relating to the grant program.