Grant Opportunity:Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Cooperative Weed Management
Cooperative Weed Management Areas Request for Applications
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was launched in 2010 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world — the Great Lakes. As one of the initiative’s 16 regional working group members, the U.S. Forest Service uses GLRI resources to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and accelerate progress toward long-term restoration goals for this important ecosystem.
In 2019, the EPA released GLRI Action Plan III, which outlines priorities and goals for Federal agencies working together on Great Lakes restoration through 2024. Cooperative Weed Management Area projects contribute to goals for GLRI Focus Area 2: Preventing and controlling invasive species.
Fiscal Year 2023 GLRI Cooperative Weed Management Areas Grant Cycle
The U.S. Forest Service anticipates that $1.25M in new funds are expected to be available for the Fiscal Year 2023 GLRI Cooperative Weed Management Areas grant program. The goal of this program is to detect, prevent, eradicate, and/or control invasive plant species to promote resiliency, watershed stability, and biological diversity on Federal, State, or other public or private land.
For this work, the minimum Federal request is $25,000 and maximum Federal request is $100,000. This funding will be competitively awarded based on applications received through the deadline at Grants.gov.
Award of funds is contingent on allocation of EPA funding.
Who May Apply
GLRI funding is available to Cooperative Weed Management Areas (and similar organizations, e.g., Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas and Partnerships for Regional Invasive Species Management) that work within the Great Lakes Basin of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMAs) and similar groups are organized partnerships of Federal, State, and local government agencies, Tribes, individuals, and various interested groups that manage invasive plants within a defined area, generally a county or larger in size. Applications may include work on all land ownerships within the Great Lakes watershed of the United States. See the RFA Instructions document for more information on eligibility requirements.
Important Dates
- Webinar to discuss the Request for Applications, purpose of the grant Program Areas, eligibility, and how to apply:
- Tuesday, September 5, 2023: 11:00 a.m. Eastern/10:00 a.m. Central.
- Applications Due: Friday, October 27th, 2023-- Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by 6:00 p.m. Eastern/5:00 p.m. Central.
- Please note the October 27th deadline is an extension from the previous October 23rd deadline.
- To add your organization to the GLRI mailing list for updates, please send a request to SM.FS.glri@usda.gov.
Fiscal Year 2023 GLRI CWMA Application Materials
Submit all applications for this GLRI funding opportunity through Grants.gov. Search for Grant Opportunity USDA-FS-GLRI-CWMA23.
We encourage all prospective applicants to locate the opportunity on Grants.gov early in the process to review all application forms, subscribe to receive updates, and obtain required registrations.
Grants.gov has a full set of instructions on how organizations can apply for opportunities on its website. Note: all organizations must have a DUNS number and active SAM registration to apply for this opportunity. SAM registration can be obtained at no cost at sam.gov and may take several weeks.
Agency-specific instructions and forms (also available in the Related Documents tab on the Grants.gov opportunity page):
- Fiscal Year 2023 GLRI CWMA Request for Application Instructions
- Fiscal Year 2023 GLRI CWMA Project Narrative Form (required for all applications)
Resources for Applicants
- 2023 Eastern Region Forest Health Staff List
- List of FY22 Funded Projects (includes both Forest Restoration and CWMA grants)
- List of Winter 2020-2021 Funded Projects
- List of Spring 2020 Funded Projects