F23AS00330 White-nose Syndrome Grants to States and Tribes - 2023 | F23AS00330

Opportunity Information: Apply for F23AS00330

F23AS00330, White-nose Syndrome Grants to States and Tribes - 2023, is a competitive discretionary grant program from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service focused on helping state and Tribal wildlife partners respond to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly fungal disease affecting bats. The program is designed to strengthen on-the-ground bat conservation and management by funding practical, location-specific work that supports the broader National Response to WNS. The Service notes that this funding has been available to states since 2008 and was expanded in 2019 to include federally recognized Tribes that are already engaged in bat conservation or are building capacity to do so.

The main purpose of the opportunity is to help applicants meet key information and management needs tied to WNS and vulnerable bat species. Funded projects can include monitoring bat populations and disease status, implementing conservation actions that reduce impacts on bats, supporting scientific data collection and other information-gathering efforts, managing WNS and the fungus that causes it, and maintaining or building professional expertise in bat conservation and management. A central expectation is that proposals function as clear plans of action that reflect the current WNS situation in the applicant's jurisdiction, whether the disease is already present and affecting bats or the causative fungus has not yet been detected. In other words, the program supports both active response in impacted areas and proactive preparedness and conservation in areas that may be at risk.

Eligibility is limited to state fish and wildlife agencies or state natural resource agencies in all states and the District of Columbia, plus federally recognized Native American Tribal governments. Beyond basic eligibility, applicants must also be in good standing on prior federal awards, meaning they have no outstanding reporting or other unresolved obligations and can show a record of successful use of previous WNS-related funding (if they have received it), with little to no history of returning funds due to avoidable delays. The notice also highlights an additional screening step for applicants that already have two or more active WNS projects: the Service will review why those awards remain open to confirm there are no correctable implementation problems before considering new funding. If an applicant has taken no significant action on any one of two or more existing awards, they will be considered ineligible for additional WNS program funding until that issue is resolved.

Administratively, the opportunity is offered by the Fish and Wildlife Service under CFDA number 15.684, using the grant instrument type. The funding opportunity number is F23AS00330, and the original application closing date listed is June 16, 2023. The award ceiling is $100,000 per award, and the opportunity was created on April 6, 2023.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the recovery act sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "F23AS00330 White-nose Syndrome Grants to States and Tribes - 2023" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.684.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-04-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-16. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for F23AS00330

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