The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it will extend the deadline by 45 days for receiving grant proposals for the Fiscal Year 2006 Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program. The Service is responding to extension requests received from several States affected by the recent hurricanes. BIG funding goes to the state agencies responsible for managing recreational boating for work with interested marina operators.
Marinas and other boating facilities in many States have been affected by the hurricanes. The extension will allow marina operators and other boating stakeholders additional time to prepare proposals for funding consideration in the coming fiscal year. The new deadline for proposals is December 15, 2005.
"Docks and other boating facilities are important to boaters and local communities. This extension will allow States to assess their needs and to prepare proposals for funding consideration in the immediate future, rather than having to wait until next year," said Service Director Dale Hall.
The Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for the Boating Infrastructure Grants is 15.622.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the nearly 100-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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