State Action Plan RFP
Purpose – The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment), in partnership with the Southern Group of State Foresters, the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Southern Region of the USDA Forest Service, and the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, seeks proposals for projects that enhance collaboration between state forestry and wildlife agencies in updating and implementing State Forest Action Plans and State Wildlife Action Plans. Through this RFP we seek to fund projects that will enhance cooperation, coordination, and collaboration within and/or between states with regard to plan implementation and to improve and document effectiveness of on-the-ground conservation outcomes resulting from enhanced collaboration.
States eligible for this project include: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Approximately $132,000 in combined federal and private funding is available for one or two projects. Matching funds are encouraged but not required.
Background – The Endowment and its partners previously funded a pilot project with the Open Space Institute that identified opportunities for enhanced collaboration. The Open Space Institute developed four key findings:
I. Align action plans. SWAPs and FAPs can be the basis for developing shared goals, common metrics, and coordinated action, with an eventual goal of coordinating some plan sections. A basic first step is aligning plan update schedules and incorporating existing joint efforts into the plans.
II. Focus on priority issues for collaboration. Three challenges that are already state priorities require coordinated approaches and landscape-level action: fire management, invasive species management, and climate change adaptation.
III. Focus on priority places for collaboration. Wildlife and forestry agencies can achieve synergies by working in areas where their individual priorities overlap—even before they reconcile their goals, approaches, and metrics.
IV. Pursue efficiency and effectiveness. Because of funding and staffing constraints, the challenge is to deliver a better outcome with the same resources or reduce total resource needs, not tocollaborate for collaboration’s sake. Outcomes must be measureable and measured.
The purpose of this RFP is to fund one or two projects that build upon these findings. In addition to the priority issues listed in #2 above, other opportunities for collaboration might include:
- Addressing at-risk species strategies;
- Joint planning to secure Deepwater Horizon settlement funds;
- More effective outreach and engagement of private forest owners.
Proposals should specifically address how your project will:
- Build on one or more of the pilot project recommendations listed above;
- Increase collaboration between agencies, potentially resulting in more resources being available for priority activities;
- Enhance and document agency efficiencies on joint work planning, implementation, and staffing; and
- Communicate co-benefits of aligning plan priorities to key decision-makers.
Application Process: Only proposals submitted through the Endowment’s electronic process will beconsidered. An application can be found here.
- Submit completed applications to peter@usendowment.org
- Proposal Deadline: 8:00 p.m. Eastern, March 13, 2015
- Applicants notified: No later than March 27, 2015
- Finalize contract: No later than April 10,2015
The Endowment will be responsible for financial and administrative management of the project. For questions please contact Peter Stangel (peter@usendowment.org; 404-915-2763).
