The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is requesting proposals for its 2025 Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Restoration Fund.
Donor Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/24/2025
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 4 Years
Details:
The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Restoration Fund (Fund) seeks to award grants to:
- Restore, enhance and maintain bottomland hardwood forests and wetlands
- Implement voluntary conservation practices on working agricultural lands to improve soil health, wildlife habitat and water quality
- Promote aquatic connectivity to improve wildlife habitat and water quality
- Improve community resilience for people and wildlife.
Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), International Paper’s Forestland Stewards Partnership, the Walton Family Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Program Priorities
The Fund is guided by NFWF’s Business Plan for Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The Business Plan identifies Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) and swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) as focal species that serve as indicators of healthy bottomland hardwood forest and aquatic habitat, representing the habitat needs of a broader suite of species dependent upon these systems. The Plan also identifies strategic priorities for voluntary restoration and enhancement of those habitats to benefit these species. Projects should consider the habitat goals for these species and address the priorities identified in the Business Plan. Additional species that are indicators of healthy bottomland hardwood wetlands and improved aquatic connectivity will also be considered in a proposal, including: forest birds, waterfowl, and freshwater fish such as gar. Work that benefits these species is important to private landowners and will improve habitat for a suite of other species including white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. Projects should seek to benefit at least one of these species or groups. Proposals should also draw linkages to how project activities will advance specific goals and objectives of any other relevant conservation plans.
In pursuit of habitat and species restoration goals, applicants are encouraged to develop projects that also help create jobs, address conservation co-benefits, and benefit local communities including new and veteran farmers and ranchers.
- Community Impact and Engagement: Projects that incorporate outreach to communities, foster community engagement, facilitate job development and pursue collaborative management are encouraged. Applicants are also encouraged to incorporate relevant traditional ecological knowledge. Applicants are encouraged to meaningfully engage and partner with community-level groups such as municipalities, non-governmental organizations, community organizations, community leaders, tribes and private landowners.
- Conservation Co-Benefits: Habitat restoration and other practices that benefit wildlife while also sequestering carbon and/or protecting and improving water quantity or quality are encouraged. Applicants should reach out to program staff prior to submitting a proposal to discuss projects that will explicitly address carbon and water outcomes.
- Note: NFWF may calculate the estimated carbon benefits associated with any given project. These calculations will not be used for carbon credits, but rather for narrative and demonstration of the potential carbon value of any project and conservation practice(s) supported through this program.
- Nature-Based Solutions (New This Year): Projects should consider nature-based solutions that restore habitat and decrease communities’ risk to climatic and other environmental impacts and natural disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state emergency management agencies are good sources for more information. Examples include:
- Improving community resilience to flooding by restoring wetland hydrology
- Reduce demands on groundwater and improve aquifer recharge, such as by restoring marginal cropland to forested habitat
- Improve water quality by restoring wetlands
- Benefit to National Wildlife Refuges/State Wildlife Management Areas (New This Year): Projects that are on or proximate to National Wildlife Refuges or State Wildlife Management Areas such that they provide benefit to those areas are encouraged. Particular interest in projects that pursue bottomland hardwood, wetland and aquatic habitat restoration projects to benefit forest resilience, hydrologic restoration.
Funding Categories
Projects should seek to address one or more of the following categories to address the earlier mentioned program habitat priorities and populations of at-risk, listed and other wildlife species, with preference given to projects that benefit Business Plan focal and prospective species such as the Louisiana black bear, swamp rabbit, forest birds, waterfowl and/or freshwater fish.
- Bottomland Hardwood Forest Enhancement and Maintenance (Management): Manage and enhance existing bottomland hardwood forests to improve wildlife habitat and water quality, including, but not limited to National Wildlife Refuges, state Wildlife Management areas, and lands enrolled in the NRCS Wetland Reserve Program (WRP)/Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and/or Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Examples of eligible enhancement and maintenance treatments include:
- Forest thinning
- Pre-commercial thinning
- Invasive species control
- Crop tree release
- Bottomland Hardwood Forest Restoration (Planting): Restore bottomland hardwood forests in targeted areas that expand existing bottomland hardwood forests and create corridors between existing blocks of bottomland hardwood forest to promote wildlife dispersal and expansion. For the purposes of the Fund, “restoration” refers to the establishment of new bottomland hardwood forests, including reforestation of harvested sites and afforestation of cropland. Specific strategies may include:
- Bottomland Hardwood Plantings: Establish new bottomland hardwood stands through site preparation and planting of bottomland hardwood seedlings, including residual stocking/plantings within existing stands.
- Natural Regeneration: Implement practices that promote natural regeneration of bottomland hardwood forests.
- Addressing Barriers to Reforestation: Implement strategies that increase seedling availability and address other potential barriers to bottomland hardwood reforestation, including but not limited to, seed collection and storage and expanding seedling nursery capacity. Applicants requesting funds to address reforestation barriers should contact NFWF staff prior to submitting.
- Restore Wetland and Floodplain Hydrology: Improve water quality, natural hydrological function and wildlife habitat through implementation of practices including, but not limited to:
- Connecting wetlands and water features between adjacent properties
- Improving wetland habitat and function through vegetation management
- Managing for moist soil plants
- Installation of low-maintenance water control structures, such as flashboard risers, for water management capability
- Implement Conservation Practices on Working Agricultural Lands: For the benefit of wildlife, support practices that reduce runoff and sedimentation, improve soil health, and enhance wildlife habitat through the implementation of conservation practices on working agricultural lands, including but not limited to:
- Rerouting agricultural runoff to constructed or restored wetlands
- Rehabilitating or stabilizing ditches and/or gullies
- Integrating sustainable agricultural practices such as cover crops, no-till, conservation crop rotation and establishing buffer strips
- Outreach and Technical Assistance to Private Landowners, Forest Practitioners and Other Key Constituencies: Funding is available this year from NRCS to support technical assistance and outreach to private landowners/producers. The Fund desires to support projects that direct staff resources to help agricultural producers design and implement conservation practices and increase Farm Bill program participation and conservation practice implementation among agricultural producers.
Eligible Funding Strategies
- Landowner/producer outreach and assistance: Targeting outreach and assistance to landowners/producers to increase landowner implementation of conservation practices. Where applicable, applicants should describe how they are coordinating with or plan to collaborate with NRCS to prioritize, plan, and deliver NRCS financial assistance.
- Landowner/producer technical assistance: Grant recipients will provide technical assistance to interested farmers, ranchers, and private forestland owners to develop management plans, design and implement conservation practices, and participate in Farm Bill programs, especially the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE). A particular emphasis should be placed on promoting, designing, and implementing conservation practices that improve soil health, support grazing system resiliency, restore wetlands, develop perennial wildlife habitat, improve nutrient management and enhance forest health.
- NRCS Coordination – Please ensure the project aligns with NRCS goals, priorities and capacity needs by conferring with the NRCS State Conservationist and their staff in the state in which your project is located. A list of NRCS contacts can be found here.
- Increase forest practitioner technical capacity: Investments to improve forest practitioners’ technical knowledge of management treatments that will achieve desired forest conditions for wildlife through peer-to-peer learning, workshops and field days.
- Public engagement to minimize human-bear conflicts: Capacity for outreach, education, training, technical assistance and implementation of practices to promote human-bear coexistence and improve perceptions toward Louisiana black bears in the LMAV. Projects may also include engagement with the public to increase awareness of and support for Louisiana black bear recovery, such as workshops and outreach events that reduce opposition to Louisiana black bear recolonization.
Funding Information
Grant awards are expected to range from $150,000 to $1,000,000, depending on the overall scale of the project.
Grant Period
Anticipated completion time for funded projects typically will be 24-48 months following finalization of a grant agreement.
Geographic Focus
The Fund will award grants within the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV) region of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Preference will be given to projects that are:
- Located within focal geographies
- On or proximate to National Wildlife Refuges or state Wildlife Management Areas, such that the work benefits the Refuge/Wildlife Management Area.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, U.S. Federal agencies, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Tribal Governments and Organizations, and educational institutions.
- Ineligible applicants include businesses, unincorporated individuals and international organizations.
For more information, visit NFWF.
