Five Star-Urban Waters Migratory Bird Program
Fish and Wildlife Service · Opportunity F16AS00260
The recipient has been selected.
≈ 1 awards expected
Who can apply
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3), other than higher education
About this opportunity
The purpose of this new award is to provide $215,000 in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) funds to continue support of the Five Star-Urban Waters grant program managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This funding will be used by NFWF to support an Urban Refuge focal area in the competitive Five Star-Urban Waters grant program. Funding from FWS will be leveraged by funds already committed by U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and numerous non-federal corporate partners. Through this program, NFWF will solicit projects from state and local governments, non-profit organizations, Tribes, and academic institutions to support the proposed standards of excellence for Urban Wildlife Refuges with an emphasis on urban bird conservation. The grant program, a unique public-private partnership, will invest in urban community-based conservation efforts that result in measurable conservation outcomes, engage the public and provide a better understanding of how fish and wildlife conservation contributes to community well-being. Through the administration of the grant program, NFWF, FWS, FS, EPA, and corporate entities will leverage public and private funding to target resources for priority urban watersheds. All projects selected for FWS Urban Refuge funding will be in proximity of FWS lands or offices or in locations where there are existing FWS urban partnerships. The objectives of the program include: â¿¢ Partnerships: Projects proposals should include partner organizations (public and private) with the demonstrated ability or articulated strategy to work with specifically identified urban cultures and communities. Proposals will describe how the partnership with Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) staff can help achieve common goals of connecting people with nature. â¿¢ Measurable Benefits: Projects should result in measurable outcomes that document greater participation in fish and wildlife related activities among diverse urban audiences and a better understanding of how fish and wildlife conservation contributes to community well-being. â¿¢ Sustainability: Projects should reflect a commitment to neighborhood and community strength, and long term capacity to remain engaged as a Service partner beyond the life of the grant. â¿¢ Community Assets: Projects will articulate tangible ways the Service can become an asset to the urban community. Examples of asset building would include, providing technical assistance in fish and wildlife issues, providing pathways for youth employment, supporting urban bird conservation, or community education and recreational enjoyment. FWS and NFWF both have a desire to work with urban audiences to promote community-based engagement in conservation activities. As populations continue to grow in urban areas, and as communities become less connected to their natural surroundings, increased efforts need to be taken to reengage these communities in local conservation efforts. The Five Star-Urban Waters program provides an opportunity for FWS to take advantage of the NFWF grant program infrastructure already developed, the additional federal and non-federal partners committed to the program, and the broad selection of national, regional, and local organizations who regularly submit community-based projects through this program. Listed below is the planned annual schedule for administering the program over the life of the cooperative agreement. This timeline includes outreach activities, Five Star partner and review meetings. â¿¢ October â¿¿ Begin conducting outreach to potential applicants. â¿¢ November â¿¿ RFP and Application published on program websites and Wildlife Habitat Council Symposium â¿¢ November â¿¿ Webinar for applicants â¿¢ February â¿¿ Proposals Due â¿¢ Mid-Feb to Late-March â¿¿ Proposal Review â¿¢ April â¿¿ Initial Review Committee Meeting (NFWF, FWS and other partners); final Review Committee Meeting/Funding Decisions â¿¢ May-June â¿¿ Final slate approval by all funders; Congressional notification â¿¢ Early/Mid-July â¿¿ Press releases developed; award letters sent to grantees â¿¢ Mid-July to August â¿¿ Negotiation grant agreements with grantees â¿¢ August on â¿¿ Monitor progress, track results of funded projects In 2007, NFWF, in consultation with the Five Star Partners, commissioned Oregon State University to complete an evaluation of the program, which concluded in February 2008. The evaluation analyzed applications, interim and final reports from 123 projects funded between 1999 and 2005. The partners used this evaluation to refine overall programmatic evaluative metrics and then incorporated them into the NFWFâ¿¿s electronic grants management system. The outcomes evaluated by OSU for Five Star subgrant projects completed between 1999 and 2005, as well as new priorities provided by the Urban Bird and Urban Water partners, serve as the basis for the program. NFWF Five Star-Urban Waters Program staff will continue to work with NFWFâ¿¿s Science and Evaluation staff and agency leads to identify performance measures for the Five Star-Urban Waters Program. These measures effectively gauge progress toward achieving the Programâ¿¿s goals and objectives. On the project level, these evaluation criteria have been incorporated into the RFP, application and the proposal review process. Program partners adapted application materials from NFWFâ¿¿s existing templates to meet specific program needs and streamline evaluation. NFWF requires applicants to identify activities, project outputs and project outco