Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund "Section 6"

Non-Traditional "Section 6" Conservation Grant Program

What's Already Happened?

Request for Proposals for the 2006 Cooperative Endangered Species
Conservation Fund

• Recovery Land Acquisition grants
• Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition grants
• Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance grants

Introduction

This is the State of Washington announcement of a joint federal-state Request for Proposals for 2006 grant programs under the federal Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund. This fund is established pursuant to Section 6 of the federal Endangered Species Act, which calls for federal government cooperation with states to conserve threatened and endangered species.

This Request for Proposals, due February 10, 2006, seeks parties interested in obtaining grant funds to either:

1. protect lands in perpetuity for habitat conservation, or
   
2. develop habitat conservation plans in support of a federal incidental take permit.

Parties interested in #1 above may submit a proposal for a Recovery Land Acquisition grant or a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Land Acquisition grant. Parties interested in #2 above may submit a proposal for a Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance grant. These grants are highly competitive regionally and nationally; submission of a proposal does not ensure that your proposal will successfully compete or be awarded funding.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), together with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), have developed a joint federal-state process for these grant proposals in Washington State.

Parties in Washington state interested in applying for these grants must follow state guidance provided at this website AND federal guidance provided at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6

Information about the grant programs and the joint federal-state process follows, as listed below. Review all this information carefully!

• Overview
  
• Information & Links
  
• How to Submit a Proposal in Washington State
  
• Information Required in a Proposal in Washington State
  
• Your Proposal (more information required and some tips to improve your proposal)

Overview

The following table provides a quick look at the 3 subject grant programs.

Proposals MUST be coordinated with either the Washington Department of Natural Resources or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife before submission, and sponsored by one of these agencies. The sponsoring agency may request changes to the proposal, or may withhold proposals from competition beyond the state level. DNR or WDFW will administer grant funds, if awarded. If you are not already coordinating your proposal with a state contact listed in the table above, call the USFWS contact.

Land acquisition proposals should be submitted by the entity that will help acquire, or will conserve, the land. Planning proposals may be submitted by state agencies, local governments, land trusts, conservation districts, non-profit organizations, tribes, conservation partnerships, industry, and private individuals.

Information & Links

This Washington state announcement contains partial grant information, so you MUST also access the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.html for the complete USFWS Request for Proposals for the subject grant programs for 2006.

• All 3 grant programs are intended to benefit USFWS-listed species through land acquisition or planning. 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.
  
  
  • For Westside species, their legal status, and listed species recovery priority numbers, see
    http://www.fws.gov/westwafwo/se/species%20list.pdf
    
  • For Eastside species and their legal status, see http://easternwashington.fws.gov/Documents/UCFWO%20listed-candidate%20spp.pdf
    
  • For a list of federal recovery plans, see http://www.fws.gov/westwafwo/se/recovery%20plans%20final1-05.pdf?sort=1
    
    
• 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 is expected to announce final award selection no later than October 1, 2006. Due to the State's spending authority limitations, availability of awarded funds should be planned for no sooner than January 10, 2007, but potentially as late as July 1, 2007.
  
  
• 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 (see budget sheet, item II.) before submission. To ensure this is properly done, contact agency staff indicated on the budget sheet template before finalizing your proposal's budget sheet.
  
  
• 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 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

To submit a proposal in the State of Washington, for a Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund grant, follow these steps.

Review each grant program's description, eligibility criteria, and ranking factors at the federal website at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.html

Prepare documents specified under "Information Required in a Proposal in Washington State" at this website for the grant program that best fits with your proposal. Only Word format can be accepted for text, and budgets may be prepared in Excel, by downloading the budget sheet template provided in this announcement.

For each proposal, submit 4 identical paper originals in person or by mail. Also, electronically mail the cover sheet, project statement, and budget sheet to: joanne_stellini@fws.gov Do not email maps or photographs.

Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2006.

Proposals may be delivered to the reception desk at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Western Washington office, located on St. Martin's campus, 510 Desmond Drive SE, Lacey, WA.

OR

Proposals may be mailed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond Drive SE, #102, Lacey, WA 98503-1263. Attention: Joanne Stellini. (Be sure to allow ample mailing time, postmarks will not be considered.)

Late proposals will not be considered. Proposals will not be accepted by fax.

Information Required in a Proposal in Washington State

Proposals must be on standard size (8.5" x 11") paper, using 12-point font, except as noted below. All items should be readable when reproduced in black and white. All pages should be numbered sequentially. Attachments should contain information integral to your project proposal. Do not include your own cover letter. Pages in excess of the number allowed below will be discarded.

Only the following items should be submitted, in the order listed.

• Cover Sheet (required, 1 page only) [updated format this year, from this website] right click - "save target as" to download
• Project Statement (required, up to 5 pages) [from this website or see federal website] right click - "save target as" to download
• Budget Sheet (required, 1 page only) [updated format this year, from this website] right click - "save target as" to download
• Maps (optional, up to 3 pages, do not exceed 11” x 17” size paper)
• Attachments (optional, up to 4 pages, on standard size paper, no font requirement)

Your Proposal (tips to improve the competitiveness of your proposal)

• Proposals for both Recovery Land Acquisition and HCP Land Acquisition grants must show, in table format: parcels to be purchased in priority order; parcel location by township, range, and section; parcel cost; and parcel acreage. This information may be used to determine awards if proposals are partially funded.
  
  
• Proposals for both Recovery Land Acquisition and HCP Land Acquisition grants must show, in table format, items listed below and illustrated in table header below:
  
  1. common and scientific name of species considered in your land acquisition proposal;
     
  2. each species' federal and state status (threatened, endangered, species of concern, etc);
     
  3. if the species are covered under the associated HCP (use just for HCP Land Acquisition);
     
  4. if the parcel to be acquired lies within the species' range;
     
  5. if there is suitable habitat present on the parcel for the species; and
     
  6. if there is any known use of the parcel to be acquired by the species (note data source).
     

For item d above, note the source of data and its date. For item e, an example of suitable habitat for a particular species might be old growth conifer, wetland, riparian, snags, cliffs, etc. For item f, note the source of data and its date.

• Proposals for HC Planning Assistance grants must show, in table format, items listed below and illustrated in the table header below. This information may be used to determine awards if proposals are partially funded. This table may be incorporated into the text of your proposal, or included as an attachment.
  
  
1. Planned task to be accomplished (identify specific activities or tasks that will be undertaken during a specific time period to help develop the HCP).
   
2. Expected deliverable that will be provided to sponsoring state agency and/or USFWS upon invoicing.
   
3. Anticipated start and end dates (month/year) during which the task will be completed and the deliverable will be produced.
   

• Your budget sheet must be accurate and must be coordinated with state contacts listed on the budget sheet. Be sure your budget sheet figures are consistent with figures on your cover sheet and in your narrative. Provide detail about your non-federal match in the Estimated Cost section of the narrative. If your proposal is awarded funds, you may be asked to supply additional budget detail, so be sure costs and cost share/match are supportable.
  
  
• Use the ranking factor points to self-score your proposal. If the proposal does not score at least 75 points, consider modifying your project to increase your score if possible, or consider not submitting your proposal. Past experience indicates successful proposals score higher than 75. (Do not submit self-scores.)
  
  
• Have several others proofread your application for mistakes, redundancies, and to ensure that you have addressed each of the ranking factors in your narrative.
  
  
• There is no need to include Standard Form 424 with your proposal. This will be handled by the appropriate state agency.