Deadline: 12-Mar-24
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is soliciting proposals to voluntarily conserve and restore grasslands and wildlife species in the Northern Great Plains.
The goal of the Northern Great Plains program is to maintain and/or improve interconnected grasslands in focal areas to sustain healthy populations of grassland-obligate species while fostering sustainable livelihoods and preserving cultural identities including tribal cultures and food sovereignty.
Major funding partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Bureau of Land Management, Bezos Earth Fund, Marathon Oil, Altria Group, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and the Margret A. Cargill Philanthropies.
Program Priorities
- All proposals must specifically address how projects will directly and measurably contribute to the accomplishment of one or more of the program priorities as identified in the Northern Great Plains Program Business Plan. Projects that increase organizational capacity and utilize innovative and community-based approaches are encouraged.
- The Northern Great Plains Program seeks projects that address the following desired outcomes:
- Demonstrate successful models for grassland habitat conservation that:
- Increase grasslands connectivity through voluntary, permanent conservation efforts that maintain working ranches and restrict sub-division and sod-busting activities (conservation easements, grass banking, etc.). Projects in areas at high risk of tillage will be more competitive.
- Strengthen tribal buffalo culture and food sovereignty through the restoration and improvement of grassland habitats on reservations and other tribal lands.
- Increase grassland connectivity through habitat restoration efforts (e.g., re-seeding, removal of woody invasives, prescribed fire, etc.). Strategies that complement the NRCS Great Plains Biome Framework are encouraged.
- Improve voluntary management at large scales that facilitates persistent long-term behavioral changes that benefit grasslands and focal species (e.g., conversion of expiring Conservation Reserve Program to managed grazing systems, installation of grazing management agreements etc.)
- Improve population levels and related outcomes for grassland species in targeted focal areas including:
- Improve landscape permeability for pronghorn by removing and modifying fence and installing structures to minimize mortality at road crossings and bottleneck sites.
- Sustain populations of greater sage-grouse through voluntary restoration of meadows and removing or marking fence around key leks in Sage Grouse Focal Areas.
- Projects that help identify and address limiting factors for grassland obligate songbirds specifically: Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, chestnut-collared and thick-billed longspurs, and lark buntings.
- Promote black-footed ferret conservation through the distribution of sylvatic plague vaccine in targeted prairie dog colonies.
- Capacity Building
- Additional funding is available in this RFP specifically for capacity building and technical assistance that aligns with NRCS priorities. Projects working on private, working lands should provide technical assistance to interested producers to develop management plans, design and implement conservation practices, and participate in Farm Bill programs, especially the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). A particular emphasis should be placed on promoting, designing, and implementing climate-smart agriculture and forestry (CSAF) conservation practices and reducing the Farm Bill practice contracting and implementation backlog. Successful projects will also seek to increase conservation program participation and practice adoption among Historically Underserved and Special Emphasis producers and forestland owners.
- Please ensure the project is in alignment with NRCS goals and priorities by conferring with the NRCS State Conservationist and their staff in the state in which your project is located. A list of NRCS state contacts can be found here.
- Demonstrate successful models for grassland habitat conservation that:
- Community Impact and Engagement: Projects that incorporate outreach to communities, foster community engagement, and pursue collaborative management leading to measurable conservation benefits are encouraged. When possible, projects should be developed through community input and co-design processes. Additionally, projects should engage community-level partners (e.g., municipalities, NGOs, community organizations, community leaders) to help design, implement, and maintain projects to secure maximum benefits for communities, maintenance, and sustainability post-grant award.
Funding Information
- The Northern Great Plains program will award approximately $22 million in grants this cycle to 20-25 grants. Grants may be up to three years in length.
Project Activities
- Greater sage-grouse population
- Conservation easements – general
- Conservation easements – sage grouse
- Instream restoration – # structures installed
- Land restoration – general
- Land restoration – sage grouse
- Riparian restoration- sage grouse
- Riparian restoration
- BMP implementation for fencing improvements – sage grouse
- BMP implementation for fencing improvements – pronghorn
- Improved management practices
- Black-footed ferret disease control
- Black-footed ferret disease control
- Research
Geographic Focus
- The following are the Northern Great Plains focal areas; Dakota Grasslands, Missouri-Milk River Grasslands, Nebraska Sandhills, and the Powder River-Thunder Basin Grasslands.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, U.S. Federal government agencies, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Tribal agencies, and educational institutions.
- Ineligible applicants include businesses and unincorporated individuals.
For more information, visit National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.