Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund "Section 6"

Non-Traditional "Section 6" Conservation Grant Program

What's Already Happened?

July 2009

Request for Proposals for the 2010 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 state-federal Request for Intent Forms and Proposals for grants under the 2010 Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.  This national fund is established pursuant to Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 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.

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 ESA-listed (endangered or threatened) 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

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 to have the state consider sponsoring your proposal.  In addition, if you intend to have WDFW sponsor your proposal, you must also answer and submit responses to four review questions.  Intent forms were due on Monday, June 8, 2009.

No Intent Form is needed if you are seeking a grant for HCP development.

WDFW or DNR will notify you by July 1, 2009 as to whether they will sponsor your project, and then you will have to submit a draft and final proposal.

Due Dates for Draft and Final Proposals

Draft proposals for land acquisition and planning grant programs are due by 5:00 p.m. (close of business) on Friday, July 24, 2009. Final proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 6, 2009. 

Both draft and final proposals should be submitted electronically to: joanne_stellini@fws.gov 

In addition, hard copies of the final proposals are also required.  Please contact one of the USFWS, WDFW or DNR contacts listed above for more details.

Important 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.    In particular, please note the section of the federal RFP entitled “Changes to the Nontraditional Programs for Fiscal Year 2010”.

• 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.
  
  
  • For Westside species, their legal status, and listed species recovery priority numbers, see http://www.fws.gov/westwafwo/pdf/species_list_Aug2007.pdf
  • For Eastside species and their legal status, see http://www.fws.gov/easternwashington/documents/UCFWO%20listed-candidate%20spp%204-24-2009.pdf
  • For a list of federal recovery plans, see http://www.fws.gov/westwafwo/pdf/Restoration_plans_WWFWO.pdf  or http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/TESSWebpageRecovery?sort=1
    
    
• Points will be given to proposals that benefit Washington State-listed species.  http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/endangered/ 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 2010 awards by summer 2010, pending appropriations.  Availability of awarded funds should be planned for no sooner than July 1, 2010.
  
  
• 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 (Yellow Book).  The state agency sponsor will conduct the appraisal and review after grants are awarded and deduct this cost from the grant.  However, 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.