The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is inviting applicants to apply for the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) Grant.
Donor Name: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
State: Montana
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/22/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $2M
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
FWP’s Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) is a federal grant program for conducting noxious weed management to restore wildlife habitat.
WHIP projects should include:
- ecologically important wildlife habitat that is directly threatened by noxious weed invasion;
- a landscape or watershed-scale approach;
- multiple partners and landownerships;
- access for public hunting;
- and a plan to maintain or restore native plant communities following weed management activities.
Funding Information
Up to $2M of federal Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration funds are available annually for new WHIP projects and requires a dollar of nonfederal matching funds (cash) for every 3 dollars of federal grant funding. Grants, which are paid in the form of reimbursed expenses, may be up to five years in duration.
WHIP Project Requirements
- To qualify for a grant, a WHIP project must:
- enhance ecologically important wildlife habitats through the management of noxious weeds that directly threaten habitat functions;
- have a reasonable probability of treatment effectiveness through appropriate planning and methodology, anticipated native plant community recovery, preservation of non-target plant species, and post-treatment management;
- use a landscape or watershed-scale approach;
- include a minimum 25% non-federal cash match; and
- report on measurable objectives and vegetation monitoring to allow the department to analyze how noxious weed management is enhancing land as wildlife habitat.
- In addition to the eligibility requirements, the proposal ranking process will consider projects that:
- include funding commitments from multiple partners;
- involve effective collaboration across multiple land ownerships (public and private); and
- include access for public hunting.
Eligible Expenditures
- Eligible Expenditures Grant dollar and non-federal cash match eligible expenditures:
- Herbicides and additives (supplies and application services)
- Biological control agents (supplies)
- Reseeding (supplies and application services)
- Mechanical weed control
- Grazing improvements – permanent fencing (materials and installation)
- Grant administration, vegetation monitoring, and related administrative costs – up to 10% of total project amount
- Non-federal cash match eligible expenditures:
- Grazing improvements – additional infrastructure such as stock water tanks, underground water pipelines for stock tanks, and spring developments or wells for livestock (materials and installation) Grant funds can only be expended by reimbursement.
Eligibility Criteria
- Entities that have the capacity to administer grant projects and that are financially able to take on grant expenditures may apply to receive a WHIP grant. This includes:
- communities
- noxious weed management districts
- conservation districts
- 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations
- state, federal, and tribal agencies
- other entities FWP considers appropriate for wildlife habitat improvement grant projects
- WHIP recommends working with your local county weed district coordinator to select herbicides appropriate for the site and type of noxious weeds to be controlled. They can also help calculate the cost of weed treatments needed to accomplish your treatment goals and objectives.
For more information, visit MFWP.
