Project WINGS Sign Up Begins May 15

For qualifying hunters, it will soon be time to apply for 2023 Project WINGS grant money to help offset food plot costs.

Project WINGS (Wildlife Incentives for Non-Game and Game Species) is a program that makes cash grants and technical assistance available to groups and individuals interested in converting transmission rights-of-way (on the large transmission lines) into various types of wildlife habitat statewide. Two Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. is the agency that created and administers the program yearly.

Project WINGS pays up to $2,250 for planting food plots on utility right-of-way property.

Big Bucks On Small Food Plots

Georgia Power and Two Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Council launched project Wings in 1996 as an incentive program to encourage landowners and hunting clubs to turn idle right-of-way acres into wildlife openings. Since the program began, more than 3,100 people have converted more than 24,500 acres into productive habitat for wildlife.

If there is a transmission line running through your property that is owned by Georgia Power, Atlanta Gas Light, Georgia Transmission Corporation or MEAG, you can apply for the program.   

Distribution right-of-ways do not qualify for the program.

To qualify for Project WINGS, right-of-ways can’t be in row crops or pasture land, unless the landowner is willing to convert those acres to wildlife food plots.

You don’t have to own land to apply for this assistance.

“You can own, lease or you can be an individual, a corporation or a government entity,” said Tina Gross, Project WINGS Administrator. “We have Project WINGS sites on some Wildlife Management Areas.”  

Warm Season Deer Food Plots

To apply for this cash assistance, you must contact the nearest Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office between May 15 and July 15. They’ll verify your qualification for Project WINGS, and if you do, they’ll help you decide what plantings are best suited for your particular needs.

For more information, call the Two Rivers Office at 706.885.0101 or contact your local NRCS office.