Request for Partnership Proposals/Letters of Interest for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program FY 2025

NOTE:

This is a call-for preproposals for projects who would like to partner with the California State Coastal Conservancy to apply for US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant (NCWCG) Program funding. This is NOT the official NCWCG call for applications. Projects hoping to receive NCWCG funding are NOT required to apply through the Coastal Conservancy. As stated below, there are six other state agencies who are also designated to apply for these funds for the projects in California. However, should you wish to work with the Coastal Conservancy to manage and administer a potential future grant, please read the following announcement.

If you feel your project fits the NCWCG criteria, please submit a brief (~2-4 page) letter of interest via email to bryce.keyes@scc.ca.gov by 11:59 PM on Monday, April 15^th, 2024.

The California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) seeks partners for joint applications to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant (NCWCG) Program for coastal wetlands acquisition and/or restoration projects on the California coast or along the San Francisco Bay shoreline.

Grant Award Amount: The NCWCG program provides grants of up to $1,000,000 for the protection and/or restoration of coastal wetlands. Grants are for project implementation, although it is permissible to request up to 30% of the grant, combined, for biological surveys, monitoring, planning, and permitting if those activities are closely tied to implementation.

Eligible Project Activities:

1. Acquisition of a real property interest (e.g., conservation easement or fee title) in coastal lands or waters (coastal wetlands ecosystems) from willing sellers or partners for long-term conservation
2. Restoration, enhancement, or management of coastal wetlands ecosystems
3. A combination of acquisition, restoration, and management

Ineligible Project Activities:

1. Projects that primarily benefit navigation, irrigation, flood control, or mariculture
2. Acquisition, restoration, enhancement or management of lands required as the result of a regulatory or decision-making process to mitigate habitat losses
3. Creation of wetlands where wetlands did not previously exist
4. Enforcement of fish and wildlife laws and regulations, except when necessary for the accomplishment of approved project purposes
5. Research
6. Planning as a primary project focus
7. Operations and maintenance, including long-term invasive species management
8. Acquisition and/or restoration of upper portions of watersheds where benefits to the coastal wetlands ecosystem are not significant and direct
9. Projects providing less than 20 years of conservation benefits

Important Dates: Projects should be ready for implementation in Summer 2025 or 2026. Project timeline can span as much as 5 years. Grant funding for approved awards will generally be available by Spring 2025.

Match: The NCWCG program requires a non-federal match of at least 25% of the total project cost, consisting of either cash or in-kind contributions, and additional points are awarded for match of up to 33% of the total project cost. The Conservancy may be able to provide some or all of the required match, but project partners providing their own match will increase the Conservancy’s capacity to carry out additional projects. The NCWCG program also prioritizes projects that involve multiple partners providing a cash or in-kind contribution. Some pre-award costs may be considered as match.

Eligibility: Only seven designated state agencies, including the Conservancy, are eligible to apply for NCWCG in California. However, the Conservancy can work in partnership with state and local agencies, tribes, and certain non-profits to develop and submit NCWCG proposals. The Conservancy can pass through NCWCG funds to its partners, as subrecipients, to implement projects. Partners for NCWCG must be non-federal public agencies, tribes, and certain nonprofit organizations. To be eligible, a nonprofit organization must qualify under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. While federal agencies can’t receive NCWCG funds, NCWCG-funded projects can be implemented on federal lands by a subrecipient.

Project Selection Process: If your project is selected by the Conservancy during this initial proposal phase, the Conservancy will work with you to prepare a NCWCG proposal, which may or may not be awarded funding by the USFWS. The USFWS selects proposals for award through a merit-based, national competitive review and ranking process. The deadline for the Conservancy to submit NCWCG proposals to the USFWS for FY 2025 will be June 21, 2024. Selected projects are generally awarded 6-8 months after the application is submitted. If projects are awarded a NCWCG, funding should be available in late Spring of 2025. USFWS will need to review and meet all project-related environmental compliance requirements before making funding available.

Letter of Interest: To indicate your interest in partnering with the Conservancy on a NCWCG proposal, please submit a brief (~2-4 page) letter of interest via email to Mrs. Bryce Keyes at Bryce.Keyes@scc.ca.gov. Letters of Interest must be received by 11:59 PM on Monday, April 15^th, 2024.

A full description of the NCWCG program can be found on Grants.gov, linked here, or you can search the funding opportunity number on Grants.gov (F25AS00004). If you are interested in submitting a letter of interest to the Conservancy, it is recommended that you review the Criteria in NCWCG’s Full Announcement to ensure that your project is a good fit.

The letter should include the following information:

1. 1-2 sentence summary of proposed project
2. Location of the project and its relevance to NCWCG’s goal to restore, enhance, or manage coastal wetlands ecosystems
3. Description of the need for the project
4. Description of the proposed project activities and how it addresses the need
5. Estimated project cost and description of potential match
6. Approximate timeline for project implementation (include information of the status of project design and environmental review for restoration projects)
7. Indicate whether you have a willing seller for acquisition projects
8. List of potential project partners and their roles in the project
9. List the approximate acreage of the project area and the acreage of coastal wetlands within the project area
10. Attach a map showing the project area

Questions? Questions about potential projects and the application process may be directed to Bryce Keyes, External Grants Manager: bryce.keyes@scc.ca.gov.