March 2011 U.S. Standard Grants Announced.

Deadlines

U.S. Standard Grants Deadlines: March 2, 2012 and July 27, 2012.

Purpose and Scope

The U.S. Standard Grants Program is a competitive, matching grants program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in the United States that further the goals of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (Act). These projects must involve long-term protection, restoration, and/or enhancement of wetlands and associated uplands habitats for the benefit of all wetlands-associated migratory birds.

History

The U.S. Standard Grants Program began supporting projects in the United States in 1990, shortly after the North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989 was passed. This program has been receiving 50 percent of the total available funding for Act-supported projects each fiscal year. In recent years, this amount has been approximately $40 million annually.

Process

Applicants submit project proposals to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Division of Bird Habitat Conservation (Division) for either of the program's two funding cycles per year.  All proposals must be submitted through Grants.Gov.  In order to apply for a grant, you and/or your organization must complete the Grants.gov registration process. The registration process for an organization or an individual can take between three to five business days or as long as four weeks if all steps are not completed in a timely manner. Please register early:

http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp

Before you can view and complete an application package, you MUST have Adobe Reader installed. Application packages are posted in Adobe Reader format. You may receive a validation error using incompatible versions of Adobe Reader. To prevent a validation error, it is now recommended you uninstall any earlier versions of Adobe Reader and install the latest compatible version of Adobe Reader.

After a preliminary review by Division staff, Joint Venture Coordinators, and North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Council) staff, eligible proposals are presented to the Council. The Council further reviews, ranks, and recommends projects to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for final funding approval. The Division is responsible for administering the grants for the approved projects.

Current Funding

Total funding for the U.S. Standard Grants Program in FY 2012 is $43 million.

Accomplishments

From September 1990 through September 2011, some 3,350 partners in 853 projects have received more than $687.1 million in grants. They have contributed another $1.82 billion in matching funds to affect 7.1 million acres of habitat and $945.6 million in nonmatching funds to affect 230,670 acres of habitat.

Contacts

Contact the Joint Venture Coordinator in your project area for assistance with developing a project proposal, for information about how proposals are ranked, and/or for guidance on Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and National Historic Preservation Act compliance requirements. For general program information, contact the U.S. Standard Grants Program Proposal Coordinators:David Buie (david_buie@fws.gov), (301) 497-5870, or Cheryl Leonard, (cheryl_leonard@fws.gov), 703-358-1725.