The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking high quality proposals for projects that will further the conservation and recovery of federally listed threatened and endangered wildlife, plant, and certain fish species in the state.
Donor Name: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/29/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
CDFW distributes grant funds made available through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (Traditional Section 6) Grant Program for threatened and endangered species conservation and recovery actions through Endangered Species Conservation and Recovery Program Grants. CDFW is responsible for managing native fish, wildlife, and plant species in California, and directs the solicitation and implementation of Traditional Section 6 Grant funded projects to promote species conservation and recovery in coordination with the USFWS through a Section 6 Cooperative Agreement.
The primary objective of endangered species conservation and recovery grants is to support the development and implementation of state programs to conserve and recover federally threatened and endangered inland fish and wildlife species. Grant funds to support the conservation of certain marine species and anadromous fish species are administered under separate programs. Project proposals must be developed in close coordination with CDFW and USFWS biologists and identify a CDFW employee who will sponsor the project by administering the grant. Eligible projects are those which target recovery actions for species listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Additionally, monitoring projects targeted at certain at-risk species such as those for which a positive federal 90-day finding has been made, species that are the subject of a proposed federal listing rule, species for which the USFWS has initiated a status review and has announced the review in the Federal Register, and species de-listed by the USFWS within the last five years are eligible. Applicants must provide a minimum of 25% of the total project cost in non-federal matching funds or in-kind services. Projects must focus on one or more of the following areas:
- Introduction of federally listed species into suitable habitats within their historic range
- Enhancement or restoration of federally listed species habitat
- Surveys and inventories of federally listed species habitats
- Federally listed species status surveys
- Propagation of federally listed animals and plants
- Research on federally listed species such as genetic analysis to determine genetic health and population structure
- Monitoring of federal candidate, at-risk and recently recovered species
- Public education and outreach tools such as website development or coordination workshops with local landowners to address a specific threat to a federally listed species identified in a federal Recovery Plan.
Funding Priorities
Funding priority is given to projects that have a direct impact on the recovery of listed species, prevent extinction of a listed species or prevent the need to list a species through implementation of tasks identified in a final or draft recovery plan, recovery outline, or similar conservation or management strategy. Proposals that involve only research must produce information that can be directly used to prevent listing, recover, manage, or improve current management strategies for a species.
Funding Information
Anticipated total funding available for the 2024 grant cycle is estimated to be approximately $2 million; however, the actual available funding depends on the federal budget allocation. Awards are generally limited to $400,000 per project (exclusive of match). Proposals requesting more than $400,000 in grant funds should include a description of project alternatives with fewer objectives, a narrower scope, or break the project into multiple phases that could be funded with smaller awards.
Eligibility Criteria
- Entities eligible to submit grant proposals in response to this PSN include public agencies, state departments, colleges and universities, tribal governments, and nonprofit entities.
- The proposed project must address the conservation of federally listed endangered, threatened, candidate, proposed, recently delisted, or at-risk wildlife, plant, or fish species that are managed by USFWS. Projects targeting marine species, including sea turtles, marine mammals, and anadromous fish are not eligible as those species are not managed by the USFWS.
- For candidate and at-risk species and recently recovered species, only species monitoring projects are eligible.
- Proposals must be developed in consultation with USFWS biological staff and CDFW biological staff. Proposals developed by non-CDFW organizations must identify a CDFW staff person willing to sponsor the project by administering the sub-grant between CDFW and the project lead. Proposals developed without consulting agency biologists, and those that fail to identify a CDFW sub-grant sponsor will not be considered for funding.
- Funded activities must be completed within the grant performance period which may not exceed 3 years from the project start date. For “pass through” projects providing funding to non-CDFW partner organizations be sure to allot for time within the 3-year performance period for CDFW sponsors to execute and close out payable grants or contracts with the partner organization. Plan to allow at least 3 months between the USFWS grant award and the beginning of project work to execute the payable grant or contract, and at least 3 months prior to the end of the 3-year federal grant performance period to close out contracts and payable grants.
- A minimum non-federal match of 25% of the total cost of the project is required and must be provided by applicants. This means 25% of the sum of the federal amount requested and the non-federal match. For example, a proposal requesting $150,000 of federal funding must supply $50,000 of match (25% of the $200,000 total project budget). Match must be contributed during the grant term, and applicants must describe in the proposal how the minimum match will be provided, including the match source and amount. Match may include in-kind services of non-federal employees, volunteer contributions, use of donated equipment, or cash funding for the project from a non-federal source. If match will be provided by entities outside of CDFW, a letter on the entity’s letterhead indicating their commitment to provide the described non-federal match contribution must be included with the application.
- Grant funds cannot be used for federal compliance or to obtain any federal permits for the project.
- Grant funds cannot be used to satisfy federal, state, or local regulatory requirements, including mitigation, avoidance, minimization, and monitoring.9. Funds may be granted for EITHER the planning phase, OR the implementation phase of habitat restoration projects, but not both phases in the same grant cycle.
- Landowner Permission: For work proposed to be performed on lands not owned or managed by the applicant, written proof of permission to access the land from the fee title owner or land management agency must be supplied. For projects involving multiple landowners, all landowners or appointed designees must provide written permission to access properties and carry out the project. Applicants for projects proposing on-the-ground habitat improvement must submit documentation showing that they have adequate tenure to the properties to be accessed, improved, or restored for at least 25 years. Proof of adequate land tenure includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
- Fee title ownership
- An easement or license agreement
- Other agreement between the applicant and the fee title owner, or the owner of an easement on the property, sufficient to give the applicant adequate site control for the purposes of the project and long-term management
- Environmental Compliance and Permitting: Activities funded under this program must comply with all applicable state and federal environmental laws and regulations, including California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), CESA, ESA, and other environmental permitting requirements. State Scientific Collecting Permits, CESA Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and federal ESA Recovery Permits must be current for staff identified to conduct work that “takes” or otherwise impacts state or federally listed species, and such authorizations must be in place prior to start of the grant performance period. The applicant is responsible for obtaining all permits necessary to carry out the proposed work. Applicants must identify the project’s expected permitting requirements and state which permits have been obtained and the process through which additional permits will be obtained, including the anticipated timeframe for obtaining each permit. The applicant must coordinate with CDFW prior to proposal submission if CDFW is anticipated to act as the CEQA lead agency for the project. Projects that fail to comply with this requirement will not be eligible for funding.
- Data and Reports: CDFW’s intent is to improve the management of biological resources over time by incorporating adaptive management principles and processes into conservation planning and resource management. Recipients of ESCRP subgrants or contracts will be required to submit data and information in a format acceptable to CDFW prior to close of the grant. Reports must be compliant with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If wildlife cameras, audio recording equipment, and/or similar equipment is used, raw images, audio files, and the corresponding data shall be submitted to CDFW on an annual basis. Recipients of a grant or contract will be provided with metadata (deployment and project information) and processed data (species identifications) templates by their grant or contract manager, which must be completed, and will work with the manager to determine the best way to transfer photo and sound files.
For more information, visit CDFW.
