National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements | F19AS00169

Opportunity Information: Apply for F19AS00169

The National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00169) is a discretionary funding announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the federal agency expects to have substantial involvement in planning, oversight, or execution of the funded work rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back. The overall focus sits in the natural resources and disaster prevention and relief arena, reflecting the kind of on-the-ground improvements and resilience-oriented work often needed across refuge lands and associated public-use infrastructure.

This notice is explicitly presented as a Notice of Intent to Single Source to the Texas General Land Office, meaning it was not designed as an open, competitive opportunity for a broad pool of applicants. Instead, the agency signaled its intent to make one award to a specific eligible entity. The eligible applicant type listed is state governments, aligning with the identified intended recipient. The announcement anticipates a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with an award ceiling of up to $15,000,000, indicating a large, potentially multi-faceted project or suite of projects rather than a small, discrete activity.

The legal authorities cited span several cornerstone statutes that collectively support conservation, refuge management, recreation, youth engagement in conservation work, protection of cultural resources, and certain transportation-related activities. These include the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act and the Fish and Wildlife Act (broad authorities for fish and wildlife conservation programs), the Refuge Recreation Act and the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (authorities tied directly to managing the National Wildlife Refuge System and compatible public uses like recreation), the Public Lands Corps Act and Youth Conservation Corps provisions (authorizing the use of youth and conservation corps for public land projects), the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (protecting archaeological and cultural resources on federal and certain other lands), and Federal Aid for Highways provisions (which can be relevant where refuge access, roads, or related transportation infrastructure improvements intersect with eligible highway-related authorities). Taken together, these citations suggest the funded work could encompass habitat and refuge management improvements, visitor and recreation enhancements that remain compatible with refuge purposes, resilience or disaster-mitigation elements, workforce or corps-supported project delivery, and careful handling of any archaeological or cultural resources encountered during implementation.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on March 29, 2019, with an original closing date of April 4, 2019, a very short window that further reinforces the single-source nature of the action rather than a standard competitive cycle. The notice also emphasizes that applications must address all activities and stipulations in the Section I description and follow an application checklist referenced through the Notice of Funding Opportunity, indicating that even though it is single-source, the applicant was still expected to submit a complete package responsive to specific scope, compliance, and documentation requirements.

In practical terms, this opportunity represents a targeted, high-dollar cooperative agreement intended to support enhancements connected to the National Wildlife Refuge System, with Texas state government eligibility and a clear intent to fund the Texas General Land Office for a defined set of refuge-related improvements under multiple supporting federal authorities.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the disaster prevention and relief, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.654.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 29, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 04, 2019 This is a Notice of Intent to Single Source to the Texas General Land Office. Applications must address all activities amp stipulations in Section I, Description of Funding Opportunity amp the Application Checklist (via Notice of Funding Opportunity).. (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 $15,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for F19AS00169

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