Deadline: 21-Jul-22
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), through anticipated cooperative agreements from the Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is pleased to announce the launch of America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC) 2022 Request for Proposals (RFP).
The ATBC vision is to streamline grant funding opportunities for new voluntary conservation and restoration projects around the United States. This Request for Proposals is a first step toward consolidating funding from multiple federal agencies and the private sector to enable applicants to conceive and develop large-scale, locally-led projects that address shared funder priorities spanning public and private lands.
Program Priorities
- ATBC will prioritize proposals that implement voluntary large-scale, on-the-ground conservation activities or otherwise lead to on-the-ground implementation through capacity building, community engagement, planning, and project design.
- The overarching goal is to advance existing landscape conservation plans and/or propose to knit together a diverse stakeholder partnership that develops and/or implements new conservation plans.
- As part of this, projects should address priority species and/or habitat conservation actions identified in existing plans or other species recovery or conservation plans.
- Projects that are informed by Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) and promote Tribal co-stewardship are also encouraged.
- Competitive proposals will increase interagency and intergovernmental collaboration and address more than one of the program priorities below.
- Benefit At-Risk Fish, Wildlife, and Plant Species
- Expand Habitat Connectivity
- Provide a Range of Ecosystem Services
- Strengthen Ecosystem and Community Resilience
- Expand Public and Community Access to Nature
- Engage Local Communities
- Support Tribally Led Conservation and Restoration Priorities
- Contribute to Local or Tribal Economies
- Contribute to Workforce Development
Funding Information
- Approximately $85 million will be available for 2022, with four categories of grants, of which ATBC expects to award at least 10% for Tribal grants and 3% to U.S. territories.
- States, Territories, and Tribal Implementation Grants: Grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million will be awarded.
- Planning, Collaboration, and Engagement for States, Territories, and Tribes: Grants of $200,000 to $1,000,000 will be awarded.
- Grants to Buffer and Benefit Public Lands: Grants ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million will be awarded.
- Private Forests, Rangeland, and Farmland Grants: Grants ranging from $200,000 to $500,000.
Geographic Focus
- ATBC is a nationwide program.
- Projects throughout the U.S., U.S. territories, and Tribal Nations are eligible for funding.
- Projects can be on public lands, Tribal lands, and private lands, and ideally, span multiple land ownership boundaries.
- Locations will be prioritized where projects are guided by existing conservation plans as well as the program priorities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Based on legislative funding authorities, the DOI funding in this round can only support states, territories, tribal governments, and Tribal-affiliated organizations.
- Eligible and Ineligible Entities
- State government agencies, territories of the United States, and Indian Tribes are eligible to apply for all four grant categories.
- Non-profit 501(c) organizations, local governments, municipal governments, and educational institutions are eligible to apply for grants in categories (3) Grants to Buffer and Benefit Public Lands, and (4) Private Forests and Farmland.
- Ineligible applicants include U.S. Federal government agencies, businesses, unincorporated individuals, and international organizations.
For more information, visit https://www.nfwf.org/programs/america-beautiful-challenge/america-beautiful-challenge-2022-request-proposals