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- Recovery Land Acquisition
Grants
- Habitat Conservation
Plan Land Acquisition Grants
- Habitat Conservation
Planning Assistance grants
Overview
This is the State
of Washington announcement of a joint state-federal Request for Intent
Forms and Proposals for grants under the 2009 Cooperative Endangered Species
Conservation Fund. This national fund is established pursuant to Section
6 of the Endangered Species Act, which calls for federal government cooperation
with states to conserve threatened and endangered species.
Parties seeking grant
funds to protect lands in perpetuity for habitat conservation may apply
for a Recovery Land Acquisition grant or a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)
Land Acquisition grant. Parties seeking grant funds to plan and develop
an HCP may apply for a Habitat Conservation (HC) Planning Assistance grant.
All three programs are briefly described in the following table.
| Grant
program |
Recovery
Land Acquisition |
HCP
Land Acquisition |
HC Planning
Assistance |
| $
available nationwide in 2008 |
$13.9
million |
$35
million |
$7.5
million |
| $ awarded to WA state in 2008 |
No
funds awarded to WA state |
$7
million awarded to 2 proposals |
$1.3
million awarded to 2 proposals |
| Purpose |
Purchase
lands or conservation easements that support approved recovery
plans for listed species.
Not for
management or planning, not for HCP-associated lands, not
for mitigation. |
Purchase
lands that complement conservation provided by a permitted
HCP, provide species and ecosystem conservation benefits.
Not for
management or planning, not for mitigation. |
Plan
and develop HCPs (an HCP is a habitat conservation plan that
supports incidental take permit issuance).
Not for
mitigation. |
| Due
Date |
Intent
Form due June 2, 2008;
Full proposal
likely due in July or August 2008
Download intent form: MS
Word / Adobe PDF |
Full
proposal likely due in July or August 2008 |
| USFWS
contact |
Joanne
Stellini (360) 753-4323 joanne_stellini@fws.gov
Contact for general information about this program if you are
not already working closely with the USFWS or either state agency’s
contacts (listed below) on your grant proposal. |
| WDFW
contacts |
Elizabeth Rodrick (360) 902-2696 rodriear@dfw.wa.gov
|
Jane Banyard
(360) 902-2572
banyajrb@dfw.wa.gov |
| DNR
contact |
Omroa
Bhagwandin (360) 902-1059 omroa.bhagwandin@wadnr.gov |
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Land acquisition proposals
should be submitted by the entity that will help acquire, or will conserve,
the land. Planning proposals should be submitted by the entity who will
be seeking a federal incidental take permit.
Washington’s
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Department of Natural Resources
(DNR), together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have
developed a joint federal-state process for developing and reviewing grant
proposals in Washington State. Parties in Washington state interested
in applying for these grants must follow state guidance in this website
AND federal guidance at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.html
If you have never
applied for one of these grants, first determine if your project has the
ability to meet basic grant program criteria by reading through the federal
website indicated above. Remember:
- Projects should
be submitted by entities that will conserve land or develop HCPs
- Land must be conserved
and managed in perpetuity for the species intended to benefit
- A minimum 25% non-federal
cost share/match must be provided for each project
- These grants are
highly competitive and projects submitted may not be funded
Then, if you believe
your project meets the criteria, call the USFWS contact indicated in the
table above.
Intent Forms
Required for Land Acquisition Grants:
Download intent
form: MS Word / Adobe
PDF
Whether or not you
have previously applied for a grant under either of the two land acquisition
programs above, in the State of Washington you must first submit an Intent
Form (download form from this site) to have the state consider sponsoring
your proposal. Intent forms are due by 5 p.m. (close of business) on Monday,
June 2, 2008, and should be submitted electronically to: joanne_stellini@fws.gov
No Intent Form is
needed if you are seeking a grant for HCP development.
If WDFW or DNR chooses
to sponsor your project, you will have to submit a full proposal.
Due Date for
Proposals Not Yet Determined:
Full proposals
for all three grant programs may be due as early as July 2008. An exact
date will be determined and posted to this website once the national Request
for Proposals is released. Please check back.
More information about
the grant programs and how to apply for a grant follows:
- Information &
Links
- How to Submit a
Proposal in Washington State (will be updated for 2009 – check
back after May)
- Information Required
in a Proposal in Washington State (will be updated for 2009 –
check back after May)
Information
& Links
- This Washington
state announcement contains partial grant program information, so you
MUST also access the USFWS website at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.html for national grant program information, evaluation factors, and scoring
criteria. The national information on this website is expected to be
updated in June 2008. Changes in the 2009 national grant program are
expected.
- Both land acquisition
grant programs are intended to benefit USFWS-listed (threatened and
endangered) species through permanent protection of their habitat. Projects
focused on salmon recovery may not be competitive, since salmon are
not listed by USFWS. These grants are NOT for, and cannot be used to
pay for: ground-moving activities, habitat restoration or enhancement,
or compensatory or required mitigation.
- Points will be
given to proposals that benefit species the USFWS has listed as endangered
or threatened, has designated as proposed or candidate species, and/or
are covered by a USFWS-permitted habitat conservation plan, and/or have
a completed federal recovery plan.
- Points will be
given to proposals that benefit Washington State-listed species. See http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversty/soc/concern.htm for Washington State-listed species.
- Points will not
be given for listed salmon. However, additional consideration may be
given to proposals that benefit threatened or endangered salmon under
the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries).
For listed salmon information, see
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/
- Proposals will
be reviewed, scored, and ranked by a joint state-federal process. A
prioritized list of proposals for Washington State will then be forwarded
for consideration at higher federal review levels. Awards for Recovery
Land Acquisition will be determined by USFWS at the regional level;
awards for HCP Land Acquisition and HC Planning Assistance will be determined
by USFWS at the national level.
- USFWS expects to
announce the 2009 award selection by summer 2009, pending appropriations.
Availability of awarded funds should be planned for no sooner than July
1, 2009.
- If a proposal successfully
competes for funding, federal money will be awarded to the proposal
proponent through the sponsoring state agency. That state agency (WDFW
or DNR) will add a “project coordination cost” (similar
to an administrative fee), into your proposal budget before submission.
A budget sheet template will be provided by the state agency sponsoring
your proposal. Be sure to contact agency staff indicated on the budget
sheet template in order to finalize your proposal’s budget.
- Federal land acquisition
grant programs only fund the purchase of land at fair market value,
from willing sellers. Fair market value must be determined by appraisals
performed in accordance with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal
Land Acquisitions. We recommend that landowners --particularly forest
owners-- determine an accurate estimate of such fair market value for
their properties prior to submitting a grant request, to more closely
align value and expectations.
How to Submit
a Proposal in Washington State
- Will be updated
for 2009 – check back after May
Information
Required in a Proposal in Washington State
- Will be updated
for 2009 – check back after May
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