Frequently Asked Questions

Congress created the federal State Wildlife Grants program in 2001. In order for states to receive this funding Congress required each write individualized State Wildlife Action Plans.

Every U.S. state and territory produced an Action Plan by October 2005. For the first time in history, there is a nationwide approach to wildlife conservation.

The Action Plan:

• Provides a blueprint for coordinating management, restoration, research, incentives and education for all of Florida's native wildlife and the benefit of people.
• Defines a common vision for protecting wildlife.
• Designs a non-regulatory plan that promotes. partnerships for local actions such as land and water protection and management.
• Targets monies and human resources to prevent native wildlife from declining.
• Makes Florida eligible for millions of dollars of federal funding.
• Creates a plan to effectively use Federal, State, and matching funds.

The requirement was that the Action Plan be comprehensive and consider a wide range of views and perspectives on conservation. A document titled "Eight Requirement Elements" provided by the USFWS defined the requirements.

Congress required the Action Plan include "Species of Greatest Conservation Need." In Florida, this means native animals whose populations are of concern and are at risk or declining. It includes federal-listed, state-listed, and game species as well as many others.

In the Action Plan, Florida considers wildlife in the broadest sense, including fish and invertebrates, and focuses on 974 native animals and 45 habitats where they live.

State agencies, local government entities, educational facilities, organizations and individuals can apply. Applications may be submitted from other states and countries as long as the proposed projects involve or are relevant to wildlife populations that inhabit Florida.

Each Grant Announcement will include criteria for a minimum and/or a maximum amount of money that can be requested to meet each project’s needs. Applicants can request less money, but they must still achieve all project objectives.

Projects must meet the criteria specified in the Grant Announcement for each cycle.

No, unless the law enforcement or education component is a minor or incidental activity – less than ten percent of total project costs – that is considered critical to the success of a project, directly contributes to the conservation of wildlife species and their habitats with the greatest conservation need, and is consistent with the development or implementation of Florida’s Wildlife Action Plan. For example, a proposal may recommend that wildlife education or wildlife law enforcement effort is needed to protect critical wildlife habitat where unauthorized all-terrain vehicle use is endangering a natural community. Some law enforcement attention or educational initiative such as development of brochures and signage may be necessary to discourage all-terrain vehicles in the area, and thus achieve wildlife habitat protection. The State Wildlife Grants Coordinator must approve funding for these types of activities.

No.

Yes. A non-federal match requirement assures local ownership and leverages funds to support added conservation. For recent grant cycles, applicants had to provide a non-federal match of at least thirty-five percent of the total project costs. To calculate the total project cost, divide the federal request by 0.65. For example, an application requesting $100,000 in federal funds must provide $53,846 of secure match for a total project cost equaling $153,846 ($153,846 = $100,000 / 0.65).

No. You will be reimbursed on an invoice schedule for the money spent on achieving the project objectives. For more information, see the Program Guidelines.

Typically, no more than three progress reports and one annual report will be required during the fiscal year.  Grantees will be provided a copy of the Report Guidelines as guidance for the preparation of progress, annual and final reports.

Submitted applications are evaluated on a variety of criteria, including relevance to Florida’s State Wildlife Action Plan, partner involvement, and sound methods and approaches. To see example evaluation forms, visit the Florida’s State Wildlife Grants Application Information Page.