The White House Council on Environmental Quality today announced the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) release of a Request for Proposals for up to $85 million in grants this year in furtherance of the $1 billion “America the Beautiful Challenge” announced in April. The purpose of the Challenge is to support ecosystem restoration projects through a public-private grant program that is consistent with the administration’s initiative to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 (30×30).
A webinar on the Request for Proposals will take place on Thursday, May 19, with full proposals due by Thursday, July 21. Funding is expected to be awarded in November.
NFWF noted that projects will advance 30×30 principles and be funded across the following themes:
- Conserving and restoring rivers, coasts, wetlands and watersheds
- Conserving and restoring forests, grasslands and other important ecosystems that serve as carbon sinks
- Connecting and reconnecting wildlife corridors, large landscapes, watersheds and seascapes
- Improving ecosystem and community resilience to flooding, drought and other climate-related threats
- Expanding access to the outdoors, particularly in underserved communities
Priority will be given to proposals that implement voluntary large-scale, on-the-ground conservation activities or otherwise lead to on-the-ground implementation through capacity building, community engagement, planning, and project design.
CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory said in part that the Challenge “will help mobilize new investments in locally led, voluntary conservation and restoration projects across the country, while making it easier for communities to access these resources.”
Interior Sec. Deb Haaland added that the Challenge “offers an opportunity to support local efforts led by those who know, love, and have a stake in their surrounding landscapes,” adding that DOI “is proud to invest in a future where we can all work together to preserve our Earth for generations to come.”
Following the announcement, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Bruce Westerman sent a letter to CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory seeking information on, among other things, the parameters to be used to monitor implementation of the $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge.
Co-signed by 16 Republican Committee colleagues, the letter cites anti-energy policies and overregulation that it says “jeopardize[] funding for numerous conservation programs reliant on fossil fuel revenues,” adding that “instead of ensuring the longevity of these existing conservation programs, this administration is now creating new, vaguely defined spending programs.” It also notes that while CEQ has cited the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as justification for making grant funds available under the Challenge, “there is no mention of ‘conserving 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters’ or the [America the Beautiful] Initiative” in that law.
