The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now accepting aquatic habitat restoration project proposals for FY 2012 funding through the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP) and the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP). All proposals should be developed in coordination with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fisheries Resource Office listed for your state in the proposal form. Please provide the information listed in the downloadable "SARP FY 2012 Aquatic Habitat Restoration Proposal Form" for each project. Proposals should be emailed to Tripp Boltin of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or they can be submitted online at the SARP website under the Opportunities tab. Proposals should be submitted by October 11th, 2011.
Projects eligible for funding include those which directly restore or enhance aquatic habitat via on-the-ground modification. Minimal funding should be included within the proposal for post-project monitoring. Additionally, projects to remove or by pass barriers to fish migration, excluding those activities prescribed within a license issued through FERC, should be included. An electronic photo (jpeg format) of the barrier(s) should be provided.
We expect proposal awards to range from $10,000 to $75,000, however, larger projects may be considered. These funds can only be used for direct on-the-ground habitat conservation and improvement projects and should have a minimum of a 1:1 match from other sources. They cannot be used for acquisition in fee or easement. Projects can include related design, monitoring, and outreach activities. Recipients will be expected to provide biannual reports until project completion. The funding amount and time of availability are unknown at this time. You will be notified of your project's SARP ranking and funding status as that information becomes available. Please pay close attention to the proposal form requests.
The project scoring criteria have largely been unmodified from the criteria used in FY 2011 and can be accessed below. During the last SARP meeting, conservation focus areas were defined. Projects within these focus areas will receive additional points. Please review the downloadable project scoring criteria and ensure the information provided appropriately allows for your proposal to be easily and accurately scored. Please reference the SARP web page for the boundaries of these conservation focus areas. Previously submitted projects will not be reviewed and should be resubmitted for consideration.
As a note, the Service will add 30% of the project costs to the final project amount for projects that are selected for funding. This is to provide support for the administrative costs of project selection, funding, and tracking process.
For more information, contact Tripp Boltin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Fisheries Fish Habitat and Fish Passage Coordinator, 843-819-1229, walter_boltin@fws.gov.
Please share this announcement with all who may be interested in aquatic habitat restoration for the benefit of the southeastern United States.
Click the appropriate link below to download the RFP form and habitat project ranking criteria or to submit a proposal.