F24AS00189 - Endangered Species Conservation - Wolf Livestock Loss Compensation and Prevention Grants | F24AS00189

Opportunity Information: Apply for F24AS00189

F24AS00189, titled "Endangered Species Conservation - Wolf Livestock Loss Compensation and Prevention Grants," is a competitive U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) grant program that helps states and federally recognized tribes address livestock impacts from wolf predation. The program is authorized under Subtitle C of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11) as the Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Project. It has two equal, legally defined purposes: (1) funding proactive, nonlethal efforts that reduce the risk of wolf depredation on livestock (Prevention) and (2) reimbursing livestock producers for confirmed livestock losses caused by wolves (Compensation). The authorizing law also directs that federal funds be awarded through a competitive process and that funding be split evenly between these two purposes overall.

The Prevention side is meant to reduce conflicts before losses happen by supporting practical, nonlethal deterrence and husbandry tools. Eligible prevention activities include measures such as installing or upgrading fencing, using livestock guard dogs, and hiring range riders to patrol and monitor herds in areas where livestock are vulnerable to wolves. The opportunity makes clear these are examples rather than an exhaustive list, meaning states and tribes can propose a broader suite of nonlethal deterrents as long as they fit the program goal and can show they work.

The Compensation side is designed to make producers whole when wolf predation is confirmed, by reimbursing fair-market-value losses. Compensation funding can be used to pay for livestock losses due to confirmed wolf depredation. The program defines qualifying livestock broadly, including cattle, swine, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and even livestock guard animals. A key point is that compensation is tied to confirmation and documentation, not just suspected loss, which is why the program emphasizes investigations, evidence protection, and recordkeeping.

Only state governments and federally recognized tribal governments are eligible to apply directly to FWS under this opportunity (CFDA 15.666; activity area: natural resources). Grants are awarded to these applicants, not directly to individual ranchers or private organizations. However, the program is explicitly designed to flow benefits to producers: states and tribes must create and run their own procedures for taking applications from private entities such as individual ranchers, for-profit ranching operations, and nonprofit organizations. In practice, that means producers typically interact with their state wildlife agency, animal damage control program, or the comparable tribal office, following the rules and application steps that the state or tribe establishes under the grant.

Applicants may seek funding for Prevention, Compensation, or both. If a single application includes both components, each component is reviewed, ranked, and considered separately, reflecting the program structure and the statutory direction to treat the two purposes distinctly. Activities supported by these grants can occur on federal, state, or private lands, as well as on tribal lands (including land owned by, or held in trust for the benefit of, a tribe). This is important because wolf-livestock interactions often span multiple jurisdictions, and the program is structured to allow states and tribes to work where conflicts actually occur rather than being limited to one land ownership type.

Funding priorities are set by Public Law 111-11 and focus on need and risk. Reviewers consider the level of livestock predation in the state or on tribal trust/owned lands, whether the area is at high risk for predation, and other factors the Secretary of the Interior determines appropriate. Beyond that baseline, the notice highlights practical program-quality preferences. For Prevention, proposals are prioritized when they show strong livestock producer participation and encourage use of a variety of deterrents and techniques rather than relying on a single tool. For Compensation, priority goes to programs that are strong on investigation management, recordkeeping, reporting, and public transparency, since compensation decisions require clear, defensible documentation. Another explicit preference is that applicants who already have a Prevention program are prioritized for Compensation funding, reinforcing the idea that compensation works best alongside active conflict-reduction efforts.

To qualify for funding under the statute, a state or tribe must meet several administrative and accountability requirements. They must designate the appropriate state or tribal agency to run the program (Prevention, Compensation, or both), establish one or more accounts to receive and manage grant funds, and maintain files for all claims with supporting documentation. They also must submit annual reports to the appropriate FWS program coordinator that summarize claims and expenditures for the year and describe actions taken on claims, along with any additional reports needed to help the Department evaluate program effectiveness. In addition, applicants must promulgate rules for reimbursing livestock producers, meaning they need formal procedures or regulations that describe how payments are determined and issued. The opportunity also includes a readiness requirement intended to ensure immediate conservation benefit: applicants must have fully expended prior Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Project grant funds from FY 2020 and earlier years to be eligible for new funding.

There are additional eligibility and operational expectations that differ slightly depending on whether funds are for Compensation or Prevention. For Compensation, states and tribes must be able to ensure proper documentation, retain receipts, and track any required matching funds spent; protect depredation evidence; and coordinate investigations with local USDA APHIS-Wildlife Services field representatives (or another authorized official) who will coordinate an investigation. They must also document payments to ensure reimbursement is at fair-market value. For Prevention, applicants similarly must maintain solid documentation and matching-fund records, require a good-faith effort by participants to avoid conflicts, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the nonlethal measures being supported, which implies an expectation of monitoring, performance measures, or at least credible evidence that the chosen tools reduce risk.

From the source data provided, the opportunity is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service as a discretionary grant, with an original closing date of March 1, 2024. The listed award ceiling is $450,000. The notice indicates expected awards but does not provide a number in the excerpt, suggesting applicants should consult the full announcement for anticipated totals, match requirements (if any), period of performance, and the complete merit review criteria referenced as being in Section E of the full funding opportunity announcement.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "F24AS00189 - Endangered Species Conservation - Wolf Livestock Loss Compensation and Prevention Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.666.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-01. (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 $450,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for F24AS00189

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