Walmart, McDonald’s Back $18 Million Great Plains Grassland Conservation Fund

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has launched the Great Plains Grassland Fund with an $18 million founding commitment to protect and improve grasslands across the US Great Plains. The Walmart Foundation is providing a $9 million grant, matched by $9 million in aligned investment from McDonald’s USA and several of its suppliers through the existing Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative. The fund aims to permanently protect 150,000 to 200,000 acres of high-conservation-value grassland while supporting regenerative management across another 150,000 to 200,000 acres.

 

The Fund Links Conservation With Working Ranchlands

 

Much of the remaining Great Plains grassland ecosystem is privately owned and managed by ranching families, meaning conservation depends heavily on keeping working lands economically viable. The fund will use voluntary approaches including conservation easements, grassbanks and grazing associations while allowing ranching to remain the primary use of participating land.

That structure is intended to protect habitat without removing land from agricultural production. Technical and financial assistance will also help ranchers adopt regenerative practices that improve soil health, water retention and habitat while maintaining the productivity of grazing systems.

 

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Around 2 Million Acres of Grassland Are Lost Each Year

 

NFWF says roughly 2 million acres of Great Plains grasslands are converted to cropland annually, while only around half of the region’s original grasslands remain intact. Once native grassland is ploughed, restoring its soil health, wildlife habitat and water-filtering capacity can be difficult.

The new fund is therefore targeting areas considered at high risk of conversion. Projects will also be assessed for their ability to protect habitat, maintain wildlife migration corridors, improve water quality and quantity, support ranching livelihoods and demonstrate strong local engagement.

 

The Investment Also Targets Beef Supply Chain Resilience

 

McDonald’s involvement reflects the connection between grassland health and the beef supply chain. The Great Plains Grassland Fund builds on the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative launched in 2025 by NFWF, McDonald’s USA, suppliers including Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Dorada, OSI and Coca-Cola, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

That wider initiative aims to improve the health and resilience of 4 million acres of grasslands over seven years. For companies dependent on agricultural supply chains, maintaining productive grazing landscapes can support both biodiversity and the long-term availability of livestock production.

"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, North America at McDonald’s USA.

 

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The Fund Is Designed to Attract More Public and Private Capital

 

The $18 million commitment is intended to establish a funding platform that additional public and private partners can join over time. NFWF will manage the fund and work with implementation partners to track outcomes across grassland protection, biodiversity, water resources and ranching livelihoods.

"With this critical investment from the Walmart Foundation, McDonald’s USA and its suppliers, the Great Plains Grassland Fund establishes a framework where stakeholders and other public and private funding partners can provide additional support for advancing conservation throughout the Great Plains," said Jeff Trandahl, Executive Director and CEO of NFWF.

 

First Grants Are Expected in 2027

 

NFWF plans to issue an initial competitive request for proposals, with up to $10 million expected to be available in the first funding round. Awards are expected to be announced in 2027, giving locally led projects access to capital for conservation and regenerative land-management work.

The early test will be whether the fund can turn its acreage targets into measurable protection while keeping ranchers economically engaged. If the model attracts additional funders and scales through the wider 4 million-acre initiative, it could provide a larger template for combining biodiversity protection with agricultural supply-chain resilience.

 

Source: Walmart