Alternatives to F26AS00023 FY2026 Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program

First awarded in fiscal year (FY) 2001, Recovery Land Acquisition grants promote State and Federal cooperation in listed species conservation by leveraging funds to acquire specific parcels of land, through fee simple or conservation easement, in support of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)-approved recovery plans and outlines. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) conveys the importance of recovery plans as a central organizing tool for guiding the recovery process by requiring their development for every listed species.

Established by Congress in fiscal year (FY) 1997, the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Land Acquisition Grant program was designed to reduce conflicts between the conservation of listed species and competing land uses on specific parcels of land associated with approved and permitted HCPs. Under this program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides matching grants to State agencies in support of land acquisition projects that will conserve species habitat in perpetuity through fee simple acquisition or the acquisition of permanent conservation easements. FWS considers the use of Federal acquisition dollars by States for habitat protection associated with HCPs to be an important and effective mechanism to promote species recovery, prevent extinction, and preclude the need to list species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the future. All land acquired through these grants complements, but does not replace, the mitigation, minimization, and/or monitoring commitments of the HCP. Thus, this work is additive to the conservation commitments entered into when HCPs are permitted and serves as a meaningful way to leverage non-Federal investment in species recovery and connect conservation lands across the landscape.

The Highlands Conservation Act Program (HCA) is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to assist Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in the protection of land and natural resources in the Highlands Region. HCA grants support land conservation projects in which a State, County, or Municipal entity acquires land or an interest in land from a willing seller to conserve resources of high conservation value.Governors of the four Highlands States may submit proposals for up to 50% of the total cost of land conservation projects in the Highlands Region.Funding appropriated under the HCA is typically divided into two separate categories – Base and Competitive. Eligible applicants may submit requests for the Competitive Funding Round in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity. A separate Notice of Funding Opportunity will be posted for Base Funds. A project may not be proposed for funding in both funding opportunities.More information on the HCA program is available at www.fws.gov/program/highlands-conservation-act-grant

The Highlands Conservation Act Program (HCA) is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to assist Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in the protection of land and natural resources in the Highlands Region. HCA grants support land conservation projects in which a State, County, or Municipal entity acquires land or an interest in land from a willing seller to conserve resources of high conservation value.Governors of the four Highlands States may submit proposals for up to 50% of the total cost of land conservation projects in the Highlands Region.Funding appropriated under the HCA is typically divided into two separate categories – Base and Competitive. Eligible applicants may submit requests for the Base Funding Round in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity. A separate Notice of Funding Opportunity will be posted for Competitive Funds. A project may not be proposed for funding in both funding opportunities.More information on the HCA program is available at www.fws.gov/program/highlands-conservation-act-grant

Using appropriations to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) anticipates providing grants to support implementation of interjurisdictional projects that cut across state and tribal Great Lakes Interstate Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plans (AIS Plans). Grants will be awarded based on a competitive process for which only Great Lakes states and tribes (or their designee) are eligible. Funding will be prioritized towards target action-oriented projects that support Great Lakes Panel regional priorities and focus on pathway intervention, detection activities, and active prevention. Two categories of projects will be considered for funding: Sustaining Projects and New Projects. Sustaining Projects are projects that continue previously funded interjurisdictional work and are deemed a priority for continued regional AIS management and prevention support. New Projects are previously unfunded work with the potential to improve regional AIS management and prevention.

NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) is authorized under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to facilitate collecting and disseminating reference data on stranded marine mammals (cetaceans and pinnipeds, excluding walrus) and the health trends of marine mammal populations in the wild. The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program is administered by NMFS to provide federal assistance to eligible members of the U.S. National Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the U.S. National Entanglement Response Network, and their collaborators to provide for: (A) the recovery, care, or treatment of sick, injured, or entangled marine mammals; (B) responses to marine mammal stranding events that require emergency assistance; (C) the collection of data and samples from living or dead stranded marine mammals for scientific research or assessments regarding marine mammal health; (D) facility operating costs that are directly related to activities described in (A), (B), or (C); and (E) development of stranding network capacity, including training for emergency response, where facilities do not exist or are sparse. This document describes how to submit proposals for funding under this competition and how NMFS will review and determine which proposals are selected for funding. 

Using appropriations to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) anticipates providing grants to support implementation of Great Lakes State Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plans (State AIS Plans). State AIS Plans have been transmitted by state governors and then approved by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. All state grants will be awarded based on a competitive process for which only Great Lakes states or their designee are eligible.

Quagga and Zebra Mussels are aquatic invasive species that are rapidly expanding their range in the Western United States. Popular recreational reservoirs on or connected to the lower Colorado River are one major source of invasive mussels, which are easily transported via trailered watercraft to areas that have not yet been invaded. This funding opportunity will fund projects in the listed principal areas towards the fulfillment of the top priorities in the Quagga/Zebra Mussel Action Plan for Western U.S. Waters (QZAP 2.0) and will be limited to states within the boundaries of the Western Regional Panel within the United States.

The objective of the program is to provide a basis for advancing science-based fisheries management for Atlantic bluefin tuna. Such advancement will depend upon improvements in understanding of the fisheries, total abundance, and biology of bluefin tuna, especially regarding the effects of mixing and movement between the eastern and western Atlantic populations. Contracting Parties to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), of which the US is one, and other partners have embarked upon a multi-year research program on bluefin tuna as a step toward improving ICCAT's science-based management of Bluefin fisheries. Research sponsored under this funding opportunity represents a contribution to this partnership. Proposals that demonstrate collaborations with the ICCAT Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Research Program and other ICCAT partners are strongly encouraged.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity requests pre-proposals, and then later full applications, for the implementation of State and Interstate Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plans (SIANSMP) that have been approved by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force (ANSTF) as per Section 4724 (b)(3)(a) of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 as amended (16 U.S.C. 4701-4741). These plans identify activities needed to prevent introductions and spread, and eliminate or reduce the risks associated with, aquatic nuisance species, as part of the broader objective of moving towards a nationally coordinated aquatic invasive species program.The grant process includes a pre-proposal review that occurs outside GrantSolutions. After receiving approval of pre-proposals, eligible applicants can complete the full application process within GrantSolutions. The grant program includes a 25% cost-share (of total project costs) and a 5% limit on administrative costs.

This grant program provides competitive grants to non-Federal researchers working to benefit U.S. fishermen and fisheries, including aquaculture, through the development of improved fishing practices and innovative gear technologies. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1865, requires that NOAA’s conservation and management measures minimize bycatch to the extent practicable and established the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) to support the development of technological devices and other conservation engineering changes to minimize bycatch and reduce post-release mortality of non-target species in our nation’s fisheries. Bycatch reduction is a priority for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), as outlined in the NMFS National Bycatch Reduction Strategy (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/bycatch/national-bycatchreduction-strategy). Fisheries bycatch can contribute to overfishing, population declines for threatened and endangered species, and can result in commercial fishery closures. This Program seeks to support the development and testing of fishing gears and approaches that can be applied in commercial and recreational fisheries to reduce bycatch and post-release mortality and address the MSA requirements to minimize bycatch and habitat impacts.  

Using appropriations to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) anticipates providing grants to support development and/or implementation of Great Lakes Tribal Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plans (Tribal AIS Plans). Therefore, a Tribal AIS Plan must be in place that supports the proposed work, or development of such a plan must be a part of the proposed work. All tribal grants will be awarded based on a competitive process for which only Great Lakes tribes or their designee are eligible.