Coastal Program | F17AS00086

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00086

The Coastal Program grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F17AS00086) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Department of the Interior discretionary cooperative agreement intended to build on work previously completed with the Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) to strengthen coastal wetland protection, restoration, and long-term management. It follows a 2016 partnership under Cooperative Agreement Award F16AC00081, where the funding supported a focused set of capacity-building and information-sharing activities: a symposium on silviculture practices and impact analysis, documentation of symposium findings in a final white paper to guide future work, three webinars addressing threats to coastal wetlands, and three additional webinars examining the challenges and benefits tied to meeting demand for specific coastal wetland ecosystem services. In practical terms, the 2016 effort functioned as a convening and knowledge-transfer project designed to get agencies, practitioners, and stakeholders aligned around emerging issues affecting coastal wetland health.

For 2017, the opportunity centers on two priority issue areas that drew strong interest during the earlier work and closely match FWS Coastal Program priorities. The first priority is identifying the underlying causes of coastal wetland loss on silviculture lands, with a longer-term objective of improving forestry best management practices in ways that reduce wetland losses while supporting sustainable forest operations. The second priority is preventing and/or managing the spread of invasive species into coastal wetlands, recognizing that invasives can rapidly alter wetland structure, hydrology, native biodiversity, and the ecosystem services wetlands provide. The cooperative agreement structure is important here: this is not simply a pass-through grant, but a collaborative arrangement where ASWM and FWS each have defined roles and responsibilities, and where joint problem-solving, coordination, and shared deliverables are central to the project design.

The overall purpose is to translate convening power and technical exchange into concrete, actionable outcomes for wetland conservation. ASWM is positioned as the key partner because of its established track record in building partnerships, facilitating collaboration across sectors, and producing practical learning products such as meetings, webinars, trainings, and written reports. The expected results are not limited to outreach materials; the grant emphasizes that the process of bringing diverse interests together to develop these products is itself a mechanism for change, helping practitioners and decision-makers identify specific actions to reduce coastal wetland losses, improve wetland condition, and ultimately increase coastal wetland acreage. Those improvements are framed as benefiting both wildlife habitat and the human communities that depend on coastal wetlands for services such as storm buffering, water quality protection, fisheries support, and carbon storage.

Administratively, the opportunity was listed under CFDA 15.630, with an award ceiling of $50,000 and an expectation of a single award. Eligible applicants are broad and include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories as stated); and individuals. The posting indicates the original closing date is no longer applicable because the recipient has already been selected, meaning it is best read as a record of a specific cooperative agreement competition rather than an open, currently available solicitation. The program is authorized under the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a-c, 747e-742j) and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958 (16 U.S.C. 661-667(e)), which provide the legal basis for FWS to support conservation actions and coordination that protect fish, wildlife, and associated habitats, including coastal wetlands.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the education, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Coastal Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 22, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by The recipient has been selected.. (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 $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Individuals.

Apply for F17AS00086

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