Urban Waters Restoration Grant (National Fish & Wildlife Foundation)
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Urban Waters Restoration Grants.
OVERVIEW
The Five Star/Urban Waters Restoration Program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships for wetland, forest, riparian and coastal habitat restoration with a particular focus on urban waters and watersheds. The National Association of Counties, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USDA Forest Service (USFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Southern Company, FedEx and others, are pleased to solicit applications for the 2013 Five Star/Urban Waters Restoration Program.
The partners are pleased to announce an expanded partnership with USFS, EPA, and NOAA through the Federal Urban Waters Partnership that will provide additional resources for restoration work in urban areas. In 2013, NFWF anticipates that approximately $1,500,000 in combined total Five Star/Urban Waters funding will be available.
Please note: this program has one application through the NFWF Easygrants system for all program elements and all sources of funding. Applications can be accessed at www.nfwf.org/easygrants
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DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 7, 2013
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FIVE STAR PROJECT ELEMENTS
Approximately $160,000 is available from EPA, in addition to support from corporate partners listed below, to fund projects meeting the Five Star program elements. Projects competitive for this funding include:
- On-the-Ground Restoration: Projects must include on-the-ground wetland, riparian, in stream and/or coastal habitat restoration.
- Measurable Results: Projects must result in measurable ecological, educational and community benefits.
- Partnerships: Five Star projects should engage a diverse group of community partners to achieve ecological and educational outcomes.
- Environmental Education/Training: Projects should integrate meaningful education and training into the restoration project either through community outreach, participation and/or integration with K-12 environmental curriculum.
URBAN WATERS PROJECT ELEMENTS
Approximately $540,000 is available from USFS, EPA, and NOAA through the Federal Urban Waters Partnership, along with funding from partners listed below, to improve water quality, increase access, and restore riparian and forest habitat in urban watersheds throughout the United States. All projects submitted for consideration of Urban Waters funding must include a minimum 1:1 match of non-federal funds. More information on the Federal Urban Waters Partnership is available at www.urbanwaters.gov.
Competitive projects will include a focus on one of more of the following priorities:
- Urban Forest Restoration: Projects focused on improving water quality in urban rivers downstream from forested lands through invasive species removal, forested habitat restoration and forest connectivity around urban waterways.
- Education and Training: Develop educational programs to provide training to schools, businesses, community groups, and homeowners on how to implement tree plantings or other programs to reduce water pollution and stormwater flow or to promote low-impact design (LID) and/or green infrastructure practices.
- Stormwater management: Develop projects intended to control rain water through tree canopy interception and reduce stormwater flow, controlling flooding and slowing run-off into surface water.
- Monitoring: Establish or advance a monitoring program, especially to those bodies of water used for subsistence fishing, drinking water sources, or human contact to identify areas of concern and possible places where restoration efforts can be effectively targeted.
- Outdoor Recreation: Design community-based projects that promote access to urban waterways and enhance outdoor recreation opportunities.
In addition to the overall goal of partnerships, restoration and community outreach, urban projects should focus on the neighborhood benefits of watershed restoration to:
- Local economic development
- Public health
- Livability and as a neighborhood asset
- Underserved and economically distressed communities
The EPA Urban Waters funds can be used to fund projects intended to protect and restore urban waterways through activities such as public outreach, convening stakeholders, education, training, studies, surveys and designs, demonstration projects, monitoring, and development of urban water project implementation plans.
The USFS Urban Waters funds can be used to implement high impact projects to remove invasives/restore forest fragments in urban areas, as well as forestry projects to plant and maintain trees in neighborhoods, promote riparian buffers, create schoolyard habitat, and engage residents at significant sites used by the community such as schools, parks, and trailways.
Additional settlement funds for environmental violations and natural resource damages in urban waters under laws such as the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, or Superfund may be available through NOAA. These settlement funds are usually restricted to the urban water area of impact and will be awarded to competitive projects as geographically appropriate.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Charter_Programs_List&CONTENTID=26237&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
A webinar for potential applicants reviews the RFP and provides an overview of the program. The recorded webinar will be posted online at http://www.nfwf.org/fivestar.
