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A priority for the Utah BLM is to improve the health and productivity of public lands through investing in our public lands to enhance wildlife habitat, restore watershed and riparian areas, and enhance partnerships to maximize resources that result in healthier landscapes. The objectives for this umbrella announcement will allow for the development of partnerships that provide for one or more of the following types of objectives: â¿¢ Provide technical support for aquatic and riparian resource assessments during land use planning, utilizing landscape or regional assessments such as the Rapid Ecoregional Assessments, Beaver Restoration Tool, Riparian Condition Assessment Tool, Aquatic Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring Data, High Resolution Riparian Land Cover Mapping, fish habitat data, geomorphic change detection data, Conservation Success Index and Native Salmonid Population Viability Analysis. â¿¢ Provide technical support for aquatic and riparian restoration planning, implementation and monitoring utilizing existing landscape or regional assessments such as the Rapid Ecoregional Assessments, Beaver Restoration Tool, Riparian Condition Assessment Tool, Aquatic Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring Data, High Resolution Riparian Land Cover Mapping, fish habitat data, geomorphic change detection data, Conservation Success Index and Native Salmonid Population Viability Analysis. â¿¢ Develop and assist with implementation of on-the-ground cold and warm water fisheries habitat restoration projects for native fish and other species â¿¢ Develop and assist with implementation of on-the-ground habitat restoration projects which will also support riparian restoration in Greater Sage-Grouse priority habitats â¿¢ Develop working lands/conservation ranching initiatives which support conservation of native fish and riparian resources using land management practices which support healthy, balanced ecosystems.

The objectives of this research are to develop a guide to: (1) quantify and evaluate the impact of land-use practices and policies to support efficient movement of all modes of freight; and (2) develop quantitative and qualitative land-use assessment tools (e.g., models, matrices, guides) to assist local, regional, and state land-use and transportation decision makers to support efficient movement of freight. The research should address a broad range of issues and needs associated with freight-efficient land use

The objectives of this research are to develop a guide to: (1) quantify and evaluate the impact of land-use practices and policies to support efficient movement of all modes of freight; and (2) develop quantitative and qualitative land-use assessment tools (e.g., models, matrices, guides) to assist local, regional, and state land-use and transportation decision makers to support efficient movement of freight. The research should address a broad range of issues and needs associated with freight-efficient land use

BLM has an opportunity to work with a partner organization to assist BLM with partnership with local schools and communities bordering public lands, the BLMâ¿¿s 93 Hands on the Land sites offer the premier formal education programs within the agency, allowing nearly 100,000 students to access and experience BLM public lands in Fiscal Year 2017 alone. The BLMâ¿¿s Washington Office, Division of Education, Interpretation, and Partnerships has funding to collaborate with a partner to provide leadership and support to the BLMâ¿¿s 93 Hands on the Land (HOL) sites and connect them with the existing interagency HOL National Network of outdoor classrooms. Integrating the BLMâ¿¿s HOL sites into the interagency HOL National Network will provide agency sites with the multi-level support they need to foster and expand relationships with local communities and schools, improve coordination with other Federal agencies, expand access to public lands for students and their families, and introduce students and teachers to the concepts of multiple-use management and balanced conservation stewardship of public lands.

The National Land Imaging (NLI) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Land Resources (LR) mission area is soliciting applications from qualified Educational Institutions, State and Local Governments, and Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) to develop a U.S. national consortium to expand the science of remote sensing through education, outreach and research / applications development for environmental monitoring to include the effects of land use and land cover change on water quality, quantity and utility; societal adaptation and phenology; public health-related issues to include identification of potential indicators relating to vector-borne diseases and harmful algal blooms; natural resource management, agricultural applications, disaster risk reduction, and other land surface and surface water monitoring applications.

The National Conservation Lands financially supports studies aimed at increasing our understanding of the resources present on BLM lands and the effectiveness of BLM¿s resource management decisions. The program seeks to develop and maintain strong partnerships with State, local, and private stakeholders in shared conservation stewardship by engaging partners in conducting management-focused research on the National Conservation Lands. Results from these studies on National Conservation Lands will inform management strategies utilized throughout BLM as well as other land management entities.

From rangeland management to protection of cultural resources; fire suppression to energy development; trails and travel management to National Conservation Lands, the BLM values public involvement and a collaborative environment. When we facilitate activities and uses of the public lands, they are designed, permitted, and monitored with the goal of retaining or returning the land to a healthy condition once the use or activity ends. Our objective is to provide opportunities for youth (ages 16-30 years of age) to engage in BLM cultural and natural resource conservation-related projects and to increase public awareness and appreciation of those resources and recreational resource values found on public lands. These projects will provide participants with a mix of work experience, education, training, community involvement and support services, as well as the opportunity to develop citizenship values and skills through service to their community and the United States. As the young men and women gain experience in natural and cultural resource management, they will also develop an appreciation for public lands and learn about conservation-related career fields

OVERVIEW INFORMATIONCatalog of Domestic Assistance Number is 10.674Program name is Wood Utilization AssistanceImportant Dates:October 27, 2014 Issuance of Request for ProposalsJanuary 23, 2015 Proposal submission deadlineSynopsis of Funding OpportunityThe U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) requests proposals to substantially expand and accelerate wood energy and wood products markets throughout the United States to support forest management needs on National Forest System and other forest lands. This Request for Proposals focuses on the following priorities:* Reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health on National Forest System and other forest lands. * Reduce costs of forest management on all land types.* Promote economic and environmental health of communities.Funding will be awarded in two separate grant categories: GRANT CATEGORY 1: EXPANSION OF WOOD ENERGY MARKETSThe intent of this category is to stimulate, expand, or support wood energy markets that depend on forest residues or forest byproducts generated from all land types. Preference will be given to projects that make use of low-value wood generated from National Forest System and other forest lands with high wildfire risk. Subcategories include:1. Statewide Wood Energy Teams 2. Wood Energy Projects3. Wood Energy MarketsGRANT CATEGORY 2: EXPANSION OF WOOD PRODUCTS MARKETSThe intent of this category is to promote markets that create or expand the demand for non-energy based wood products. Preference will be given to projects that support commercial building markets or other markets that use existing or innovative wood products. Wood energy projects will not be considered under this category because those projects can apply for funding under Grant Category 1. Completed electronic applications are due to the Regional Biomass Coordinator designated for your Forest Service region by 11:59 p.m. on January 23, 2015.Each submittal must consist of two separate PDF files, as follows: 1. Proposal narrati

One of the BLM's highest priorities is to promote ecosystem health and one of the greatest obstacles to achieving this goal is the rapid expansion of weeds across public lands. These invasive plants can dominate and often cause permanent damage to natural plant communities. If not eradicated or controlled, noxious weeds will continue to jeopardize the health of the public lands and to constrain the myriad activities that occur on public lands. BLM Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Programs work to prevent, detect, inventory, control and monitor weed populations on public lands. 1. Invasive species cost the public millions of dollars in control and management each year and many invasive plants and noxious weeds are highly competitive and have the ability to permanently degrade our public lands. 2. Noxious weeds and invasive species expansion are recognized as the single greatest threat to our native plant communities and the values they provide us. 3. These native plant communities are essential for supporting wildlife habitat, watershed function, recreation opportunities, rural economies and working landscapes. 4. Invasive plants and noxious weeds affect plant and animal communities on farms and ranches, and in parks, waters, forests, natural areas, and backyards in negative ways. 5. Human activity such as trade, travel, and tourism have all increased substantially, escalating the speed and volume of species movement to unprecedented levels.

Colorado's 8.3 million acres of public lands, along with 27 million acres of mineral estate, are concentrated primarily in the western portion of the State. The lands range from alpine tundra, colorful canyons, and mesas in the southwest, to rolling sage-covered hills in the northwest. These public lands play a vital role in providing open space and contribute to Colorado's quality of life. The public lands and resources administered by the BLM are among Colorado's greatest assets, benefitting local communities and our nation. Colorado's public lands support diverse lifestyles and livelihoods on healthy and working landscapes in Colorado's backyard.

National Public Lands Day. This agreement will allow NEEF to coordinate activities and efforts of NPS as part of National Public Lands Day. NPS will benefit from work that will be carried out by volunteers throughout America at the various national park sites that NPS nominates into the program. National Public Lands Day has been implemented over the years by NPS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and other federal agencies that are charged with protecting, restoring and/or managing America's natural resource base. Hands on the Land.

Background: Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri) is a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It shares many similarities with a common species, Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. fendleri) and with many intermediates. This has caused confusion for land managers. The BLM management of Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus impacts the multiple uses (i.e. public land users) across the landscape as it restricts land management decisions in order to conserve the imperiled species. Currently, there is no information on the genetic differences of the Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus, the Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus, and intermediaries. Without this information it is difficult to determine importance of populations in order to prioritize recovery actions to enable the species to be de-listed. The use of the most current genetic methods for defining species, plastome sequencing, microsatellite development and genotyping, and ddRAD sequencing is needed to accurately determine whether the two species and associated intermediates are in fact the same. If studies show there are two different varieties it will be important to understand how the different Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus populations are related to each other across the landscape. This information can help the BLM prioritize populations according to rarity of the element occurrences. The objective of this project is to determine the genetic differences and similarities between Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (all known element occurrences), Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus, and associated intermediates as well as the differences in population structure of the element occurrences of Kuenzler Hedgehog Cactus across the landscape in order to assist with land management decisions and potential de-listing of the species.

Through this Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI), USAID/Mexico seeks partners to research, develop, test and evaluate innovative approaches to increase access to finance and catalyze investments to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in Mexico by improving land management practices and reducing the drivers of land-use change. þffBlended finance is the strategic use of development funds, such as those from government aid and philanthropic sources, to mobilize private capital for social and environment results, such as improving infrastructure, education, agriculture, healthcare, and more. Blended finance strategies are designed to encourage members of the private sector, such as companies and investors, to invest in activities and projects that can achieve both financial returns and positive social and environmental outcomes. Through this Addendum to the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA-MEX-PCM-2020), USAID/Mexico seeks partners to research, develop, test and evaluate innovative approaches to increase access to finance and catalyze investments to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in Mexico by improving land management practices and reducing the drivers of land-use change, especially in the States of Campeche, Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Quintana Roo.

The program is also responsible for implementing the following Secretarial Orders and will support: 1). S.O. 3347: Conservation Stewardship and Outdoor Recreation 2). S.O. 3356, Hunting, Fishing, Recreational Shooting, and Wildlife Conservation Opportunities and Coordination with States, Tribes, and Territories 3). S.O. 3366, Increasing Recreational Opportunities on Lands and Waters Managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior BLM Montana/Dakotas has an opportunity to work with partner organizations to assist BLM with the following: 1. Increase and enhance access to public lands and waters. 2. Increase and enhance hunting, fishing and recreational opportunities. 3. Increase and enhance recreational shooting opportunities. 4. Improve inventory, assessment and planning on public lands and waters. 5. Improve management, administration, and monitoring of public lands and waters. 6. Provide enriched visitor services, information, interpretation and education. 7. Enhance community-supported partnerships in tourism and marketing. 8. Protect visitor health and safety. 9. Improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. 10. Improve motorized and non-motorized trails including trail construction and maintenance; comprehensive travel and transportation inventory and assessment, planning management and monitoring

This program will provide professional training, through the use of internships, mentoring, environmental education, and interpretive educational opportunities in order for young people to learn conservation and land management processes and policies as they relate to natural resources management of public lands. Furthermore, this program will achieve a variety resource management projects on public lands managed by the BLM¿s Eastern States Field Offices. Routine workload may include provision of outreach and interpretive services, visitor service patrol, facility maintenance, trail work, exotic species control or any other action supporting the implementation of BLMs approved plans.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 intends to award a single source financial assistance agreement as authorized by 505 DM 2.14 (B) to the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This notice is not a request for proposals and the Government does not intend to accept proposals. This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Network: (http://www.cesu.psu.edu/materials/partners.htm). The CESU network provides research, technical assistance, and education to federal land management, environmental, and research agencies and their partners. The partners serve the biological, physical, social, cultural, and engineering disciplines needed to address natural and cultural resource management issues at multiple scales and in an ecosystem context. The purpose of this agreement is to provide support and assistance to University of Alaska Fairbanks to conduct research on the history of land use and environmental conditions on Selawik Refuge in the early to mid 20th century. This will include information on traditional family settlements, historic resource distribution and abundance, muskrat hunting and trading, and other key subsistence activities. Both oral history interviews with northwest Alaska elders and archival materials research at University of Alaska Fairbanks and other repositories will be used in this project. Oral histories and archival materials can shed light on historic environmental conditions, critical habitat (locations of seasonal family settlements were in key resource areas), changes in land use and resource distribution, and important areas for cultural resources.

Section 812 of ANILCA directs the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, cooperating with other Federal agencies, the State of Alaska, and Alaska Native and rural organizations, to research and monitor fish and wildlife subsistence uses on Federal public lands and to seek data from, consult with, and make use of the knowledge of local residents engaged in subsistence. When the Federal government assumed responsibility for management of subsistence fisheries on Federal public lands in Alaska in 1999, the Secretary of the Interior made a commitment to increase the quantity and quality of information available to manage subsistence fisheries, to increase quality and quantity of meaningful involvement by Alaska Native and rural organizations, and to increase collaboration among Federal, State, Alaska Native, and rural organizations. The mission of the Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program (Monitoring Program) is to identify and provide information needed to sustain subsistence fisheries on Federal public lands for rural Alaskans through a multidisciplinary, collaborative program. The main focus of the Monitoring Program will continue to be projects whose purpose is the collection, dissemination, and application of information used in the management of Federal subsistence fisheries in Alaska.

This will require a coordinated effort, as Montanaâ¿¿s intermingled land ownership patterns make it impossible to fight this battle alone. For example, a single lake may have multiple entities managing the shoreline. If only one area were treated, the untreated areas would likely serve as a source area for re-invasion. The project will include detection, eradication, education (prevention), and monitoring. All four of these steps are key to the success of the project. Implement actions to prevent, control, and contain including education and awareness monitoring and reporting aquatic invasive species in cooperation between Bureau of Land Management Districts through implementation of cooperative agreements. Promote the Bureau of Land Management interests in an Integrated Weed management (IWM) system approach to undesirable plants and aquatic invasive species. Implement an IWM system using all available methods or a combination of methods including: (1) the most efficient and effective method of preventing, containing, or controlling undesirable plants species; (2) scientific evidence and current technology; (3) the physiology and habitat of a plant species; and (4) the economic, social, and ecological consequences of implementing the program

Acres for America is the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's (NFWF) premier land conservation program, and was established to provide urgently needed funding for projects that conserve important large-scale habitats for fish, wildlife, and plants through land acquisitions and perpetual conservation easements. In 2005, Acres for America was launched as a partnership between Walmart Stores (www.walmart.com) and NFWF. As a founding partner, Walmart's goal was to offset the footprint of its domestic facilities on at least an acre by acre basis - a number then estimated at 100,000 acres - through permanent conservation of important wildlife habitats. The program has now helped to permanently protect over 1.4 million acres valued at $700 million, and connect more than 10 million acres of public and private conservation lands across the country.

Launched in 2005 as a partnership between Walmart Stores and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Acres for America, NFWF's premier land conservation program, was established to provide urgently needed funding for projects that conserve important large-scale habitats for fish, wildlife, and plants through land acquisitions and perpetual conservation easements. The program gives preferential consideration to proposals that demonstrate potential to achieve more than one of the program's priorities, which include conserving critical habitats for birds, fish, plants, and wildlife; connecting existing protected lands to unify wild places and protect critical migration routes; providing access to the outdoors for people; and ensuring the future of local economies that depend on forestry, ranching, and wildlife.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is accepting pre-proposals for its Acres for America program. Acres for America is NFWF's premier land conservation program, and was established to provide urgently needed funding for projects that conserve important large-scale habitats for fish, wildlife, and plants through land acquisitions and perpetual conservation easements. It was founded in 2005 in partnership with Walmart Stores, which wished to offset the footprint of its domestic facilities on at least an acre by acre basis - a number then estimated at 100,000 acres - through permanent conservation of important wildlife habitats. The program has now helped to permanently protect over 1.3 million acres valued at $500 million, and connect more than 10 million acres of public and private conservation lands across the country. Approximately $3.1 million will be available to support projects in 2018. Based on prior year decisions, the foundation anticipates that between four and eight projects will be awarded funds. All grant awards require a minimum one-to-one match of cash or contributed goods and services. Due to the competitive nature of this program, successful Acres for America projects typically have matching funds at a five-to-one ratio or greater.