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The Network for Landscape Conservation (NLC), a network of more than a hundred organizational partners and two thousand individual practitioners working to advance and implement the practice of conservation at the landscape scale, has announced a Request for Proposals for the first annual funding cycle of its Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund. The purpose of the fund is to help accelerate the pace and effective practice of place-based, collaborative landscape conservation across the United States, with a specific focus on building critical capacity and forward momentum in landscape conservation partnerships through support for key building-block activities and collaborative processes that move partnerships forward. 

Joint ventures, the partnerships were originally formed to implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, are regional, self-directed organizations involving Federal, State, and local governments, corporations, and a wide range of non-governmental conservation groups that have proven to be a successful means of developing cooperative conservation efforts to protect waterfowl and other bird habitats. Joint ventures address multiple local, regional, and continental goals for sustaining migratory bird populations by developing scientifically based landscape conservation plans and habitat projects that benefit migratory birds and other wildlife populations. Using the products of biological planning, joint ventures create landscape conservation designs that can direct individual habitat management actions to where they have the greatest effect. These conservation designs are used in turn to enable and encourage partners to focus their conservation programs and resources on the highest priority areas in the amounts needed to sustain healthy populations of migratory bird species. The joint ventures incorporate biological planning, conservation design, and conservation delivery with monitoring and research in an adaptive resource management framework (i.e., strategic habitat conservation) to create the biological-science and conservation-partnership base which will allow the joint venture partners to pool resources for regional projects in critical habitats for priority bird species.

As authorized under the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 742A-754; Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958, 16 U.S.C. 661-667(e); Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 2901-2911; and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 16 U.S.C. 709a, USFWS Region 3 Division of Migratory Birds solicits proposals for its Midwest Migratory Bird Conservation Program. This program provides grants for the conservation of birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act but not Federally-listed as Endangered or Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Proposals should address projects in the geographic area that includes USFWS Region 3 (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin); non-breeding season areas important for birds breeding in Region 3 states; or broad-scale actions that will have tangible benefits that include birds in these states. This grant program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance under CFDA 15.647 Migratory Bird Conservation.This grant program was created in the late 1980s. Funding available for the program fluctuates annually because it is derived from discretionary funds within the USFWSâ¿¿s Midwest Migratory Bird Conservation Programâ¿¿s annual budget and those funds are subject to varying levels of Congressional appropriations and are affected by other program needs.To focus conservation on the highest priority issues with the greatest probability of making a difference for birds, the Midwest Migratory Bird Conservation Program operates under the USFWS business model known as Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC). SHC integrates biological planning, landscape design, conservation delivery, and monitoring and evaluation in a way that generates adaptive feedback that enables sound decisions and constantly improves our efficiency and effectiveness in conserving birds.

The Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund is intended to help accelerate the pace and effective practice of place-based, collaborative landscape conservation across the United States. The Fund specifically seeks to build critical capacity and forward momentum in landscape conservation partnerships by supporting the key building block activities and collaborative processes that move partnerships forward.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is pleased to announce the Funding Opportunity for Science Applications Region 4 2019-2020. The overarching objective of this funding opportunity is to support projects that advance the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS, http://secassoutheast.org/). SECAS is providing a more comprehensive and collective vision for conservation in the southeast United States by identifying the most important lands and waters that will meet the needs of fish and wildlife for future generations. The unique role of SECAS is to identify and support the steps necessary to regionally plan, implement, and evaluate actions that sustain habitat, mitigate threats, and adapt to future conditions. Guided by a conservation blueprint that represents the landscape conservation priorities of the conservation community, SECAS provides the comprehensive vision for a desired future conservation landscape that will guide decision making to generate more robust conservation outcomes between now and 2060 in the Southeast United States. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 15.669, 15.670, or 15.678

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund supports projects that implement effective interventions for wildlife adaptation to climate change. Grants of $50,000 to $250,000 are provided to nonprofit conservation organizations for applied, on-the-ground projects focused on implementing priority conservation actions for climate adaptation at a landscape scale. In 2018, the Fund is inviting applications for projects that implement joint mitigation and adaptation approaches, in addition to the continuing priority to support wildlife adaptation projects in both urban and rural landscapes. The Fund prioritizes projects that manage dynamic ecological processes, landscape functionality, and species assemblages, rather than those aimed at maintaining historic conditions or individual species. Grants are provided to U.S.-based nonprofit conservation organizations for projects within the 50 states and six U.S. territories. Pre-proposal application forms are due April 6, 2018. Visit the Wildlife Conservation Society's website to download the Request for Proposals.

The Wildlife Conservation Society is inviting proposals from nonprofit conservation organizations through its Climate Adaptation Fund. Building on the society's 120-year history in long-term conservation efforts, the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund will award up to $2.5 million in grants in 2018. The grants are designed to strengthen the capacity of wildlife and ecosystems to adapt to climate change by enhancing dynamic ecological processes and ecosystem functionality (as opposed to projects that benefit a particular species or landscape attribute). Projects should focus on improving the adaptive capacity of ecosystems rather than simply conserving or restoring their historic conditions. Projects that implement joint mitigation and adaptation (JMA) approaches are encouraged. To be eligible, applicants must be a U.S.-based nonprofit conservation organization with 501(c)(3) status that incorporates climate adaptation science into its proposal and uses strategic communications to increase the conservation impact of its results. The fund also seeks on-the-ground projects using strategic communications to leverage broader impact through replication of adaptation practices across landscapes.

The USFWS uses a science-based, adaptive framework for setting and achieving cross-program conservation objectives that strategically address the problems fish and wildlife will face in the future. This framework, called Strategic Habitat Conservation, is based on the principles of adaptive management and uses population and habitat data, ecological models, and focused monitoring and assessment efforts to develop and implement strategies that result in measurable fish and wildlife population outcomes. In addition, by leveraging resources and strategically targeting science to inform conservation decisions and actions, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) have created a network of partners working in unison to ensure the sustainability of America's land, water, wildlife and cultural resources. Financial assistance may be awarded for science projects and LCC-prioritized biological planning, conservation design and adaptive management projects to include: research; inventory design and implementation; monitoring; goal and priority setting associated with efficient and effective conservation; development of implementation strategies; and projects supporting all other FWS organizational efforts, including planning, establishment maintenance, and general business operations. Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated on a rolling basis subject to available funding.

Financial assistance will be awarded for projects that advance the LCC Network Vision and Mission by addressing the following priority theme areas addressed in Section XI of the full announcement: Theme A - Integrating Assessment and Planning for Aquatic Resource Conservation at Landscape Scales. Theme B - Developing a Network of Ecologically Functional and Connected Landscapes by Facilitating Landscape Conservation Design.

Financial assistance will be awarded for projects that advance the LCC Network Vision and Mission by addressing the following priority theme areas addressed in Section XI of the full announcement: Theme A - Integrating Assessment and Planning for Aquatic Resource Conservation at Landscape Scales. Theme B - Developing a Network of Ecologically Functional and Connected Landscapes by Facilitating Landscape Conservation Design.

The USFWS is seeking proposals on behalf of the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative hereafter shown as ABSI LCC. The Mission of the ABSI LCC is to promote coordination, dissemination, and development of applied science to inform conservation of natural and cultural resources in the face of climate change and other landscape scale stressors. This Notice of Funding Availability has multiple Topics. For each the following topics we envision research efforts will primary consist of syntheses and modelling based on existing data and/or climate projections but we are also interested in possible proposals involving field research if leveraging of that existing work sufficiently addresses one or more of our topics. The following four topic areas have been identified by the ABSI Steering Committee as key information needs for managers and communities in the ABSI region relative to climate change: Topic 1: We are interested in an evaluation of how climate change might disrupt trophic function important for key prey species of importance to marine mammals. We are specifically interested in an exploration of shifts in timing and spatial distribution of primary and secondary productivity in areas important to marine mammal species. Topic 2: We want to understand how climate change might facilitate the expansion of parasites, diseases, or other pathogens in marine species important to human communities within the ABSI region. We are interested in syntheses, modelling, projections, etc. that specifically identify climatic thresholds (e.g., ocean temperatures or sea ice extent) that define the ranges of pathogens and the potential for those ranges to change or expand given future projected conditions. We are particularly interested in projects in this topic area that focus on pathogens that affect marine species important to subsistence harvest practices and human health in the region. Topic 3: We want to understand the potential negative effects of c

Next Generation Sonoran Desert Researchers, is a network of individuals and institutions committed to the rich social and ecological landscape that spans the mainland Sonoran Desert, the Baja California Peninsula, the Gulf of California, and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. This interdisciplinary network addresses the research and conservation challenges of our time within this binational region. Dedicated to the spirit of the Sonoran Desert, N-Gen catalyzes research and biocultural collaboration, develops an innovative research and conservation agenda, and influences decision makers in both countries to promote a conservation ethic that matches the grandeur of the landscape.   

The Gulf Coastal Plains & Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GCPO LCC) is a non-regulatory conservation partnership comprised of private, state, and federal organizations and agencies that have come together to collectively define, design, and deliver landscapes capable of sustaining natural and cultural resources at desired levels now and into the future.

Description of Program and/or Project Background: The project is a long-term inventory, monitoring, and assessment program of human impacts resulting from recreation uses on the Arizona Strip District using a standardized quantitative recreation monitoring approach. Using baseline data compiled in a geo-referenced database of impacts available on an easily accessed website, existing recreation sites will be monitored on a regular schedule to determine recreation-created impacts and make management recommendations for future actions. Graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in the recreation monitoring and assessment program and conference presentations and publications in pertinent scientific literature will represent the results of these studies, not required as deliverables to the BLM. Regular reporting with recommendations to management and staff will be conducted in order to assist the BLM in protecting and maintaining recreation settings and opportunities. Recreation assessments would also be conducted under this agreement for National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) areas, such as national monuments, wilderness areas and national trails. Data collected during the inventory and the BLM and recipient will jointly develop monitoring. Project data will be available to the BLM on an as needed basis. This project provides opportunities for students and/or entry-level professionals to work with experienced, professional land managers to obtain experience in complex public land management issues. This project will provide the background experience by which students may make long term career goals and decisions, and will enable continuing development between the recipient and the BLM in terms of student development, recruitment, and service opportunities between the two entities. To ensure that data collection is useful and reliable, a standard monitoring procedure will be followed. This will also include proper GPS techniques with geo-referenced data,

Program Goal: Conserve priority species, habitats and ecological processes in landscapes with high biodiversity value in South America. Program Objective: Support projects that address the underlying threats and human elements of biodiversity conservation according to the specific funding criteria for one or more of the following two focal programmatic themes: (i) threatened landscapes, and (ii) threatened species.

LCC's are fundamental units of planning and science capacity to help implement strategic landscape-scale conservation. The CA LCC undertakes its work by supporting collaborative conservation planning efforts, meeting critical science needs for resource managers and developing training and webinars.

To that end, grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded in support of projects that seek to secure permanent and quantifiable protection of a specific wild land or waterway. Priority will be given to landscape-scale projects that have a clear benefit for habitat. In addition, campaigns should engage grassroots citizen action in support of the conservation effort and must have a clear recreational benefit. To be eligible, applicants must be a 501(c)(3) organization. However, before applying for funding, an organization must first be nominated by one of the alliance's member companies. Nominations must be received no later than May 1, 2018. Upon review, selected nominees will be invited to submit a full proposal by June 1, 2018.

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service, intention to fund the following project activities without competition. North Cascades Institute (NCI) is a nationally regarded nonprofit environmental organization maintained in the State of Washington, and is dedicated to increasing understanding and appreciation of the natural and cultural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. The Institute's mission is to conserve and restore Northwest environments through education. The Institute was created for the specific purpose of providing programs of public education and involvement in conservation, natural science, history and related fields of study, in order to foster and enhance understanding and appreciation of the North Cascades bioregion. NCI has been a valued partner of North Cascades National Park Complex (NOCA) since 1986. The two agencies have a solid track record of cooperatively developing successful, cost-effective programs that meet both park and Institute educational and budgetary goals. NCI is considered to be the lead educational partner of NOCA, providing over $2.6 million in integrated education programming during the 29-year relationship. NCI operates the residential North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, an 11.6 million dollar facility which is imbedded within NOCA as required by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) agreement with Seattle City Light, operator of three hydroelectric dams within NOCA. The Learning Center is one of the required mitigation elements for Seattle City Light's federal FERC license for continued operation of three hydroelectric reservoirs on the Skagit River. The NPS and the Institute are mutually interested and desire to cooperate in conducting interpretive activities, public education, and training related to the understanding, protection, and management of the natural and cultural resources of (1) the North Cascades ecosys

The objective of this task statement is to inform planning and implementation of landscape(1) fuel treatment(2) strategies that allow for safe and effective management of wildfire to meet protection and resource management objectives. Projects funded under this task statement are intended to support the vision of the 2014 National Cohesive Wildfire Management Strategy, in particular progressing towards resilient landscapes.

The objective of this task statement is to inform planning and implementation of landscape(1) fuel treatment(2) strategies that allow for safe and effective management of wildfire to meet protection and resource management objectives. Projects funded under this task statement are intended to support the vision of the 2014 National Cohesive Wildfire Management Strategy, in particular progressing towards resilient landscapes.

The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VALL) is currently undergoing a landscape restoration project, funded under the DOI Resilient Landscapes program, to restore natural fire regimes to the forest and grassland watersheds on the Preserve. Large-scale restoration efforts involve forest thinning to reduce fuel loads, and prescribed and managed fires to further eliminate fuels and allow for natural fire regimes to return to the landscape. Fires can have varying impacts on watershed function, particularly with respect to water quality and discharge amounts and timing. Post-fire flash floods can result if watersheds are burned severely. VALL has been subjected to two recent large-scale uncharacteristic wildfires (the 2011 Las Conchas fire, and the 2013 Thompson Ridge fire), which led to multiple post-fire flash floods and subsequent damage to fisheries and aquatic macro-invertebrate communities on severely-burned watersheds. While fish and invertebrate communities are currently recovering, ongoing restoration efforts using prescribed fires may continue to impact these biological resources. The goal of the proposed work will be to monitor and characterize response and rate of recovery of the aquatic systems subjected to wildfire and restoration activities throughout the VALL.