OpportunityTitle: F23AS00257_FY 2023_Tribal Wildlife Grants (TWG) Program_Funding Opportunity Announcement
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Participation is limited to federally recognized Tribal governments listed in the current Federal Register&#160;Notice of&#160;Indian&#160;Entities Recognized&#160;and&#160;Eligible to&#160;Receive&#160;Services from&#160;the&#160;United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is the official listing of all federally recognized Tribes in the United States pursuant to Section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-454; 108 Stat. 4791-4792). The most recent Notice was published in the Federal Register, 88 FR 2112 (January 12, 2023). Tribal organizations and other entities may participate as subrecipients or contractors to federally recognized Tribal governments. Tribal contact information is available here&#160;in the BIA Tribal Leaders Directory.Applicant Tribes must bring all administrative and fiscal reporting for any open TWG Program grants&#160;up&#160;to&#160;date&#160;in&#160;order&#160;to&#160;be&#160;eligible&#160;to&#160;apply&#160;for&#160;new&#160;funds.&#160;Applicants&#160;will&#160;be&#160;notified within five business days upon receiving proposals noting any outstanding reporting issues that need to be addressed. Tribes will then have thirty days to bring these grants into compliance. Proposals from Tribes that have not brought past due reports (e.g., interim or final performance reports, or interim or final financial status reports) up to date in this 30-day period will be found ineligible and excluded from further consideration in the FY 2023 TWG Program cycle.When an applicant is carrying two or more active TWG projects while applying for another, the Service has an administrative obligation to verify that there are no correctable problems in implementing the existing awards. We will review the reasons why those grants are still open before proceeding with further consideration. Tribes that demonstrate their effective use of TWG Program funds will not be affected. Tribes that have taken no significant action on any one of their two or more preexisting awards will not be considered eligible to apply for new TWG Program funds until the problem is resolved. Possible resolutions might be for the Tribe to demonstrate progress in the agreed-upon activities of an inactive grant, demonstrate that the assertion of &#8220;no action&#8221; is incorrect, or the Tribe may cancel the grant so that the obligated funds may be recovered and made available to other Tribes in the next grant cycle.
Description: The Tribal Wildlife Grants (TWG) Program was created to support the development and implementation of programs for the benefit of wildlife and their habitats and species of Tribal cultural or traditional importance, including species that are not hunted or fished. The TWG Program is part of the Congressionally authorized State and Tribal Wildlife Grant (STWG) Program which provides wildlife conservation grants to States, Commonwealths, and to the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and Tribes under provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act. TWG Program funding originates from the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Pub. L. 107-63), when Congress first specified that the Service use a portion of the funds appropriated under the STWG Program to establish a competitive grant program available to federally recognized Tribes. This language allows the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), to establish a separate competitive Tribal grant program which is not subject to the provisions or other requirements of the STWG Program. The TWG Program provides opportunities for federally recognized Tribes to engage in fish and wildlife conservation efforts on their lands, many of which are located adjacent to DOI-managed lands. Many of the TWG Program-funded project activities increase fish and wildlife populations, allowing for hunting and fishing opportunities on and off Tribal lands. Additionally, the TWG Program funds project activities that align and assist the Service with Endangered Species Act (ESA) activities supporting downlisting, delisting, and preventing new species listings under the ESA. Eligible projects include those that initiate, develop, or implement activities or programs that benefit wildlife and their habitat, including species of Native American cultural or traditional importance and species that are not hunted or fished. Activities may include, but are not limited to:Planning for conservation of fish and wildlife, and their habitatsConservation management actions for fish and wildlife, and their habitatsField and laboratory research related to fish and wildlife resourcesNatural history studiesFish passagesHabitat mapping or evaluationField surveys and population monitoringRestoration of habitatManagement of invasive speciesPublic educationrelevant to the proposed projectWildlife TRACS (Tracking and Reporting Actions for the Conservation of Species) is the tracking and reporting system used by WSFR to capture conservation and related actions funded by its grant programs. TRACS serves as the electronic repository system for all performance and accomplishment reporting related to those Federal awards. TRACS highlights program accountability by documenting program accomplishments and results. As outlined in this announcement, grant and project statement information and performance reporting data may be entered into TRACS but use of this system is optional for Tribes.Since its inception in 2003, the competitive TWG Program has awarded more than $111.6 million to Native American Tribes, providing support for more than 626 conservation projects. In FY 2022, 54 proposals were received, and 37 awards were issued; in FY 2022, 51 proposals were received, and 33 awards issued; and, in FY 2023, an estimated 50-100 proposals are expected to be received and about 20-40 awards are expected to be issued.You are encouraged to work with Service staff in developing proposal applications and addressing all scoring criteria provided in this announcement. Additional information about the TWG Program is on the web at: http://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/grants.html. If you do not have access to the Internet and would like to receive information by mail, contact the Service point of contact identified in this announcement.In an effort to fulfill Executive Order 14008 and meet Department of the Interior and Service priorities (https://www.doi.gov/ourpriorities), and commensurate with available appropriations, the Service will implement a second-tier funding process using a portion of available funds.Second-tier grants will target Tribes that have not received TWG Program funds in the past. The purpose is to increase Tribal fish and wildlife management capacity to address threats to tribally identified species, including threats associated with climate change. This second-tier funding process will not modify current project selection procedures or the criteria provided in Section E. of this announcement. Regardless of whether a Tribe has received a previous TWG Program award, we will review all applications using the same procedures and criteria. As funding levels allow, a portion of the highest-ranking applications from Tribes that have not previously received TWG Program funding will be recommended for approval. The Service Director makes the final project selections.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: National Native American Programs
GrantorContactText: DJ Monette&lt;br/&gt;dj_monette@fws.gov
CloseDateExplanation: Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59PM, ET, on the listed application due date in GrantSolutions or Grants.gov or applications emailed to your WSFR Regional Office. Mailed applications must be postmarked no later than the application due date.