OpportunityTitle: F23AS00330 White-nose Syndrome Grants to States and Tribes - 2023
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Eligible applicants for this competitive grant program include state fish and wildlife or natural resources agencies in all States and the District of Columbia, and federally recognized Tribes.&#160;Additional Information on Eligibility&#160;Applicants must be in good standing on previously awarded Federal grant agreements, with no outstanding reports or obligations. Applicants in good standing have records of successful use of funds from previous awards from the Service&#8217;s WNS funding opportunities (if applicable), with no or minimal record of surrendered funds as a result of avoidable project or administrative delays. When an applicant is carrying two or more active WNS projects while applying for another, the Service has an administrative obligation to verify that there are no correctable problems in implementing the existing awards. The Service will review the reasons why those grants are still open before proceeding with further consideration. Applicants 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 funds from the WNS program until the problem is resolved.&#160;
Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is pleased to announce the availability of financial assistance to wildlife and natural resource management agencies of states, the District of Columbia, and federally-recognized Native American Tribes for efforts related to the management of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease of bats. Since 2008, funding through the WNS Grants to States has led to critical information and resources for maximizing the benefits of bat conservation efforts by States. In 2019, this funding opportunity was extended to Tribes engaged in, or seeking to engage in, bat management and conservation efforts. The goal of this funding opportunity is to help our State and Tribal partners fulfill information needs, implement management actions for WNS and susceptible bat species, and actively engage in the National Response to WNS. Supported activities will include monitoring bat populations, implementing conservation actions for bats, supporting scientific information gathering, managing WNS and the causative fungus, and maintaining expertise in bat conservation and management. Proposals for this program will be plans of action responsive to the current status of WNS in the applicant&#8217;s location, and will address context-specific conservation needs of bats and the ecosystem as a whole. These priorities are intended to address relevant projects in State or Tribal jurisdictions whether WNS is already affecting resident bats or the fungus has not yet arrived.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Kyle_Welsh@fws.gov
GrantorContactText: Kyle Welsh&lt;br/&gt;Kyle_Welsh@fws.gov
CloseDateExplanation: Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM., ET, on the listed application due date.Applications received by 5/5/2023 may be reviewed prior to the final application due date. &#160;If so, highly competitive and time sensitive projects may also receive award notification prior to the final application due date.