Partners for Fish and Wildlife

Federal Program: Department of the Interior, United States (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 15.631Authorizing Legislation: Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act of 2006, S.260 Public Law 109-294; Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956, 16 U.S.C. 742a-c, 747e-742j; and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958, 16 U.S.C. 661 667(e). The Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Program is a voluntary, incentive-based program that provides direct technical assistance and financial assistance in the form of cooperative and grant agreements to private landowners to restore and conserve fish and wildlife habitat for the benefit of federal trust resources. The PFW Program is delivered through more than 250 full-time staff, active in all 50 States and territories. Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program staff coordinate with project partners, stakeholders and other Service programs to identify geographic focus areas and develop habitat conservation priorities within these focus areas. Geographic focus areas define where the program directs resources to conserve habitat for federal trust species. Project work plans are developed strategically, in coordination with partners, and with substantial involvement from Service field staff. The program has been in existence since 1987 and has over 30 years of successful delivery. Project selection will seek to align or support the Secretary's priorities. It also advance the Department of the Interior's mission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mission, and PFW's mission, promote biological diversity, and based upon sound scientific biological principles. Program strategic plans inform the types of projects funded under this opportunity. ***Applicants seeking technical or financial assistance from the PFW Program are requested to consult with the Regional PFW Program office BEFORE developing or submitting an application (see Section VIII. Agency Contacts at the end of this announcement). ***Project selection will seek to align or support the Secretary's priorities. Program funding will enhance the missions of DOI, FWS, and PFW. 1. Restoring trust with local communities: The PFW program has local field biologists across all 50 states stationed and living in the communities they serve which enhances trust and allows sustainable relationship building. Projects which support and build trust with local communities will receive high prioritization. 2. Modernizing our infrastructure: The PFW program will assist with modernizing fish passage structures to allow safe travel by aquatic resources and at the same time, allow for structural stability by designing units to avoid flood damage. Additionally, wetland levees, water control structures, and fencing projects are a few examples of modernizing infrastructure to support American conservation.3. Ensuring sovereignty means something: Many PFW projects support tribal operations and PFW staff will continue to recognize opportunities to enhance those relationships.4. Hunt/Fish: The PFW Program will continue to deliver on-the-ground habitat to support robust populations of wildlife for recreational use by the American public. These will support Secretarial Orders 3347, 3356, and 3362.5. National Wildlife Refuge System. PFW Program staff will favor conservation activities and projects that are on private lands near National Wildlife Refuge (Refuges) lands. Activities or projects that complement conservation practices on Refuges or resolve problems on Refuges that are caused by off-refuge land use practices will be given higher priority.6. Expand priority habitats, reduce habitat fragmentation, establish conservation buffers, and provide wildlife movement corridors that result in self-sustaining systems. Our staff will give preference to habitat improvement projects near protected land, including land owned or controlled by the National Wildlife Refuge System, National Forests, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, other federal agencies, tribal, state agencies, or nongovernment entities.7. Regional strategic plans and priorities. PFW Program regional and field staff work with conservation partners to identify habitat conservation priorities and delineate geographic focus areas in our Regional strategic plans. The geographic focus areas represent an integration of shared habitat conservation priorities among the Service, conservation partners, and stakeholders. We will concentrate our technical and financial resources in these focus areas to conserve priority habitat. Habitat improvement projects that meet region-specific priorities and are located within geographic focus areas will receive higher priority. However, field staff are not prohibited from implementing high-value habitat improvement projects outside of these geographic focus areas. VIII. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) ***If you have a potential project that meets the VI. APPLICATION REVIEW criteria, we request that you consult with your Regional PFW Program office below BEFORE developing or submitting an application.*** · Columbia-Pacific IR 9, Pacific Islands IR12, (ID, parts of OR, WA, HI, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa and Guam,): 503-231-6156 · Lower Colorado Basin IR8, Parts of Upper Colorado Basin IR7, and Arkansas- Rio-Grande-Texas Gulf IR6 (AZ, NM, OK, TX): 817-277-1100 X22126 · Great Lakes IR3, Parts of Mississippi Basin IR4 (IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI): 612-713-5475 · SouthAtlantic Gulf IR2, Parts of Mississippi Basin IR4, and Parts of North Atlantic Appalachian IR1 (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, NC, SC, TN, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands): 404-679-7138 · NorthAtlantic-Appalachian IR1 (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV): 413-253-8657 · Missouri Basin IR5, Upper Colorado Basin IR7, Parts of Columbia-Pacific Northwest IR9 (CO, KS, MT, ND, NE, SD, UT, WY): 303-236-4316 · Alaska IR11 (AK): 907-786-3523 · California-Great Basin IR10, Parts of Lower Colorado Basin IR8 (CA, NV and Klamath Basin): 916-335-7054 Or, visit our website to find the nearest Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program office: http://www.fws.gov/partners/contactUs.html