Coeur dâ¿¿Alene Basin Agriculture to Wetland Conversion Easements | F19AS00066

Opportunity Information: Apply for F19AS00066

The Coeur d'Alene Basin Agriculture to Wetland Conversion Easements opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00066) is a Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discretionary funding program focused on long-term habitat conservation in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin in Idaho. The core idea is to protect select agricultural properties by placing perpetual conservation easements on them, ensuring the land is permanently set aside for conservation purposes rather than future development or continued intensive agricultural use. With those easements in place, the properties can be converted or restored into naturally functioning wetlands, which helps rebuild ecological processes that wetlands provide, such as seasonal flooding dynamics, water storage, and native vegetation communities.

The conservation outcomes emphasized by the opportunity are strongly wildlife-oriented. By converting former agricultural lands to wetland habitats, the project is intended to create and improve habitat for migratory waterfowl and other species that depend on wetlands for breeding, feeding, and shelter. In practical terms, this kind of restoration often supports a broader food web, benefiting amphibians, fish, invertebrates, shorebirds, raptors, and mammals that rely on wetland and riparian environments. Wetlands can also deliver additional public benefits such as improved water quality through filtration of sediments and nutrients, groundwater recharge, and increased resilience to floods and droughts, even when those benefits are not the headline objective.

The award mechanism for this opportunity is a cooperative agreement, which typically means the federal agency expects to have substantial involvement during the project period compared with a standard grant. The program sits within CFDA 15.658, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assistance listing commonly associated with land and habitat conservation work. The activity areas linked to the opportunity include environment, natural resources, and science and technology or other research and development categories, reflecting both the on-the-ground conservation actions and the planning, monitoring, and technical work that usually accompanies easement-based restoration projects.

From a funding standpoint, the opportunity listed an award ceiling of $1,244,000 with one expected award. Eligibility was described as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of applicant types could be considered (for example, governmental entities, tribes, nonprofits, or other organizations), subject to any additional eligibility details that might have been included in the full announcement text. The opportunity was created on December 11, 2018, with an original closing date of December 18, 2018, and the notice indicates the recipient had already been selected, meaning it was no longer open for competition at the time reflected in the posting.

In short, this is a targeted, single-award conservation initiative designed to permanently protect specific agricultural lands in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin and transition them into functioning wetlands through perpetual easements, with the primary purpose of strengthening habitat for migratory waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the environment, information and statistics, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Coeur dâ¿¿Alene Basin Agriculture to Wetland Conversion Easements" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.658.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 11, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 18, 2018 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 $1,244,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for F19AS00066

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