The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service anticipates receiving a combination of base funded appropriations and the Administration’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in FY 2015 to support the Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership (GLBFHP) and its efforts to complete on-the-ground, fish habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement projects. The Service and the GLBFHP recognize that a substantial amount of the protection, restoration and enhancement of fish habitat will be done at the local level by local watershed associations, municipalities, tribes, states and non-governmental organizations. The Service and the GLBFHP will work with organizations to encourage local conservation actions that fit within the GLBFHP’s Strategic Plan priorities.
A “project” is defined as an action that will protect, restore or enhance Great Lakes fish habitat. Project proposals will be reviewed and ranked by a subcommittee of the GLBFHP. The Service will use the recommendations provided to them by the GLBFHP in making final decisions regarding project funds and anticipates making final decisions regarding project selection by early spring 2015.
Please use the following guidelines in this RFP to submit your proposal using the online application at http://midwestfishhabitats.org/apply by November 7, 2014. For questions, please email or call either Rick Westerhof at rick_westerhof@fws.gov; 231-584-3553 or Andrea Ania at andrea_ania@fws.gov; 989-356-5102 ext. 1020.
The Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership will accept proposals for fiscal year 2015 fish habitat projects in the Great Lakes Basin as follows.
Focus Areas:
Fish habitat protection and restoration, specific to one or more of the following
Tributary stream restoration or protection to improve
Fish and aquatic species passage
Riparian habitat
Large woody debris
Water temperatures
Natural stream flow functions
Natural stream channel form
Coastal and connecting channel wetland restoration, enhancement and protection
Connecting channel restoration or protection to improve:
Fish and aquatic species passage
Riparian habitat
Eligibility:
• Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership (GLBFHP) funding requests should range between $10,000 and $100,000. Larger project requests can be submitted and will be considered if additional funding becomes available. We anticipate funding approximately 5 projects, averaging $50,000 to $75,000.
• Projects must be within the Great Lakes watershed.
• States, tribes, tribal authorities, local governments and non-profits can apply. Federal agencies can also apply, but might not be eligible for all funding sources.
• Match and partner contributions are encouraged. In-kind and federal match is allowed.
• Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Applications submitted after the deadline of midnight, November 15, 2013 will not be accepted.
Fund Request Restrictions: GLBFHP funding cannot be used for:
• Realty costs (e.g., lease or purchase interests in real property or to make rental or other land use incentive payments to landowners).
• Operation and maintenance of facilities or structures.
• Actions required by existing regulatory programs, except that funds may support activities under voluntary agreements that exceed regulatory requirements for conserving habitats (e.g., hydropower licensing in which the licensee enters into a voluntary agreement to restore habitat that exceeds regulatory requirements).
• Projects that are primarily research studies. See the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act RPF for possible research grants available: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/fisheries/glfwra-grants.html
Priority will be given to projects that:
• Are directly related to the focus areas of the GLBFHP’s Strategic Plan, as stated above.
• Consider watershed-scale ecological and hydrological processes that affect fish habitat and fish populations.
• Are part of a watershed restoration effort that works to provide permanent solutions to the root cause of habitat decline.
• Are integrated and aligned with other conservation plans (e.g. State Wildlife Plans, Watershed Management Plans, etc.).
• Evaluate their actions on target habitats, ecosystem processes and fish populations over time.
• Leverage resources from partners.
• Provide benefits to broad spatial scope of aquatic resources, beyond the immediate project site (e.g. reconnects multiple miles of river)
• Identify measures of success and performance targets that are observable and amenable to pre- and post- project monitoring.
• Include an outreach/education component in the local community.
• Where applicable, incorporate best management practices that:
o Ensure they will not spread invasive species
o Use the most current science and technology for project design.
o Incorporate climate change adaptation.
• Can be completed within 2 years of receipt of GLBFHP funds.
Other Considerations:
• If you have multiple projects that are different project types, please submit separate proposals for each project type. For example, a project that will restore fish passage in one stream or watershed in three different locations is considered one project, but a project that removes a fish passage barrier and restores a coastal wetland downstream of the barrier is considered two projects.
• Fund recipients must follow federal requirements for accounting, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and other applicable laws.
• Please note that additional information describing predicted and/or final resource outcomes for projects selected for funding through this call for proposals may be required at a later date (due to funding requirements of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative).
Additional Information about the Online Application Process
The GLBHP is one of six Fish Habitat Partnerships in the Midwest that share an online application process housed on the Midwest Fish Habitats website at http://midwestfishhabitats.org . In order to submit project funding applications, you will need to create an account on the Midwest Fish Habitats website and login.
Once you have logged in, you can begin your application by clicking the Apply for Project Funding link on at http://midwestfishhabitats.org/apply. Applications include questions under the broad headings/tabs at the top of proposal pages. You must complete all required fields under each of these tabs before you can proceed. Below is an outline of the information that is required to help guide you through the submission process.
Fish Habitat Partnership
Select Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership in the drop down list.
Overview
Enter project title and type.
Provide a project description in 500 characters or less.
Identify project location. If your project includes multiple sites in a watershed, select a latitude and longitude for one of those sites. You can provide additional information about project locations later in the application.
Select the 12-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) for your project location. You may select more than one watershed.
Identify the state/federal agency responsible for fish management.
Enter land ownership at the project site.
Enter if public fishing access is available at the project site.
Contacts
Provide contact information for the project officer for this proposal, and co-officer if appropriate.
Funding
ASAP: Applicants should be aware that the Service began using Treasury’s Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system for grant and cooperative agreement payments to domestic recipients in December 2011. State and local governments, non-profits, and universities are required to register in ASAP. Individuals or sole proprietors/limited liability corporations already enrolled in ASAP with another bureau within the Department must also register with the Service ASAP system. Include a statement about your ASAP registration status with the Service (registered, waived, or unregistered).
Indirect Costs: Please include your Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), OR memo from recipient organization indicating they are waiving reimbursement for indirect costs for the proposal, OR memo indicating recipient organization does not have a NICRA. We encourage minimizing indirect costs.
Funding (continued)
A-133 Single Audit Statement: Choose and complete the appropriate statement below:
o Applicant was required to do a single audit report for FY 2014 and the report is not yet available on the website. Their FY 2014 single audit was completed in (month) 2014 and is being submitted to clearinghouse OR
o Applicant was not required to do a single audit report for FY 2014.
Below is a list of documents used to navigate the financial assistance process, if the proposal is selected for funding. Please review these materials and be prepared to provide them upon request.
o SF-424 (Application), SF-424A or SF424C (Budget), SF-424B or SF-424D (Assurances);
o Complete NEPA, SHPO and ESA Compliance with FWS assistance.
Enter your project funding request and match. Applicants are encouraged to meet a one to one match for proposed projects. Matching funds may be federal or non-federal, in-kind or cash that has been applied to the proposed project within 2 years of the start date of this proposal.
To provide budget information, you may use the federal form SF 424a for non-construction projects: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/fisheries/pdf/cga/9a_sf424a.pdf or form SF 424c for construction projects: http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/subpages/toolkitfiles/sf424c-f.pdf.
Alternately, you may upload a file indicating how GLBFHP funding money would be spent using the excel spreadsheet below.
In a narrative statement, explain and justify all requested budget items/costs. Detail how the SF 424 Budget Object Class Category totals were determined and demonstrate a clear connection between costs and the proposed project activities. For personnel salary costs, include the base-line salary figures and the estimates of time (as percentages) to be directly charged to the project. Describe any item that under the applicable Federal Cost Principles requires the Service’s approval and estimate its cost. Insert any other specific information for applicants to detail in their budget justifications. Please itemize costs and rationale for costs with as much detail as possible (e.g. purchase of 100’ bottomless culvert = $22,500; labor for backhoe operation and planting vegetation (100hrs @ $25/hour) = $2,500). The column at right will automatically add the total as each expense is entered. Please do not inflate or underestimate costs.
Summary
Identify one or more GLBFHP priorities that your project addresses.
Enter the aquatic species that your project benefits.
Describe project objectives and methods using SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound).
Enter metrics that will be used to measure success for assessment and/or conservation projects.
In the section titled, “What are the root causes of habitat degradation?” select a general category of habitat degradation that your project addresses. Common root causes will then appear in the adjacent drop down list. You may select one of these, or add your own description using 250 characters or less. You may enter as many root causes as your project addresses.
Management
Enter the start date and project duration.
Describe how the project is part of a watershed scale effort in 1,000 characters or less.
Describe how the project will be monitored in 1,000 characters or less.
You may provide additional information you feel is relevant to your proposal and not covered elsewhere in 1,000 characters or less.
Provide a map and photos of your project site.
In the field titled “Documents” at the bottom of the page, please answer the following questions (please limit each response to 1,000 characters) and upload responses as a pdf.
1. Describe why you feel you and your organization are qualified to successfully complete all aspects of this project.
2. Describe any planned outreach or educational component(s) and partner(s) involved.
3. What methods will you use to promote the project if it is funded?
4. Will the project prevent the spread of invasive species, and if so, please describe how.
5. Describe how the project will use best management practices and/or use most current science/technology.
6. Does the project incorporate strategies that will respond to climate change?
You may include additional information that you feel is relevant to your proposal in this section, including planning documents, additional information on project sites, project fact sheets, etc. Please limit uploaded materials to 10 pages total. Links to a website that has additional information are welcome.
Partnership Info
Select and/or enter existing plans that your project addresses or is integrated with.
Once you select the “Submit Proposal” button at the bottom of the page, your proposal will be considered complete, and you will no longer be able to make changes.
Source: Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership