Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-Joint Venture Habitat Restoration and Protection | F17AS00082

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00082

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Joint Venture Habitat Restoration and Protection grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F17AS00082) is a competitive U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program designed to address major environmental challenges in the Great Lakes ecosystem by supporting on-the-ground habitat work. The basic purpose is to fund projects that deliver lasting habitat protection, restoration, or enhancement actions that benefit native Great Lakes fish and wildlife, with a clear emphasis on migratory birds. This opportunity sits within the broader Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which focuses federal resources on the most significant ecological problems across the Great Lakes watershed and funds projects intended to produce measurable, long-term conservation outcomes.

A defining feature of this opportunity is how it is coordinated through established bird habitat partnerships. The Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture and the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, both operating within the Great Lakes watershed, partner with the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration programs in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest and Northeast Regions to direct funding toward strong state and partner proposals. In practice, this means applicants are expected to align proposed habitat work with regional conservation priorities that have already been identified through collaborative planning processes, rather than proposing isolated or purely local efforts that do not connect to broader ecosystem strategies.

The program gives preference to projects that clearly advance the habitat goals laid out in major, existing conservation plans. Specifically, priority is given to activities that help meet objectives in the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture Implementation Plan and/or the Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain (Bird Conservation Region 13) Bird Conservation Region Plan. Projects that support other relevant bird conservation plans and State Wildlife Action Plans are also favored, which signals that proposals should show a strong line of sight between proposed actions and documented conservation needs, priority species, and targeted habitat types identified by these planning frameworks. In other words, applicants are better positioned when they can demonstrate that their project fills a known gap, contributes to a quantified habitat objective, or addresses a recognized limiting factor for priority species in the Great Lakes region.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant program under the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and it falls under the Natural Resources funding activity category. The CFDA number associated with the opportunity is 15.662. Eligible applicants include state governments and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The opportunity, as posted, anticipated approximately 10 awards, with an award ceiling of $300,000 per award, indicating a program scale intended to fund multiple projects while still supporting substantial habitat outcomes per grant.

The timeline in the source notice shows a creation date of December 22, 2016, with an original closing date of February 28, 2017, which reflects the specific application window for that cycle. Even so, the underlying structure of the opportunity provides a clear picture of what the funder is seeking: competitive proposals that deliver durable conservation benefits in the Great Lakes basin, are tied to Joint Venture and other recognized conservation plans, and focus on protecting and improving habitats that sustain native fish and wildlife populations, especially migratory birds.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-Joint Venture Habitat Restoration and Protection" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.662.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 22, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 28, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for F17AS00082

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