FY2026 GLFWRA Regional Project Full Proposal Application Final.docx

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act Regional Project Full Proposal FY 2026 Regional Project Full Proposals must be submitted in GrantSolutions at https://home.grantsolutions.gov/home/ by

Monday, August 3, 2026, before 11:59 PM ET Instructions:

1. Proposals for Regional Projects must be submitted by a State Director and/or Tribal Chair (or a joint submission from the supervisors of the agency’s fish and wildlife programs on behalf of the State Director or Tribal Chair).

2. Regional Projects should impact multiple States and/or Tribes consequently the cover page of the proposal should include signatures or other attached written documentation of all State Directors and Tribal Chairs who support the proposal (or joint signatures or letter of support from the supervisors of the agency’s fish and wildlife programs on behalf of the State Director or Tribal Chair).

3. The proposal must clearly indicate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff person who will serve as the proposal manager.

4. Length of the body of the proposal (excluding cover page(s), budget sheets, and references) must not exceed 13 pages.

5. Non-federal match may be provided during the 2-year period preceding January 1 of the year in which the Service receives the Regional Project full proposal.

6. The appraised value of land or a conservation easement and costs associated with securing a conservation easement; and restoration or enhancement of the conservation easement are allowable sources of non-federal match. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for more details.

7. Regional Projects selected shall be exempt from cost sharing or partner match if the USFWS Region 3 Regional Director determines the authorization for the proposal does not require a non-Federal cost-share.

8. Use 11 point Times New Roman font for body text of the proposal. Do not change font styles or sizes of the headings and subheadings of the form. Allowable margins (inches) are: top = 0.5, bottom = 0.5, left side = 0.5, right side = 0.5.

9. Use the Excel budget sheets located as attachments in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Please submit budget sheets as separate documents in Excel format.

10. Submit one completed budget page for each individual year of the proposed proposal. Replicate the budget page as necessary to describe costs associated with each proposal year. IMPORTANT – If lines are added to or deleted from the budget spreadsheet, verify that the summation cells include all relevant category totals and total costs.

11. Proposal start date is contingent upon full completion of all necessary non-discrimination, environmental, and historic and cultural preservation compliance requirements.

12. Be sure to address the review criteria found in the NOFO attachments.

13. For a complete proposal submission, please see the NOFO. Support Letters are optional (Word or Adobe).

14. If you have any questions, please contact Justin Chiotti via email, or 248-891-0087.

15. Delete page one and instructions after each section heading below.

Cover Page Title:

Use a short, descriptive title that captures the proposal’s purpose or goal.

Proposal applicant(s):

Identify the State Director and/or Tribal Chair or a joint submission from the supervisors of the agency’s fish and wildlife programs on behalf of the Director or Tribal Chair. Include names, agency or organization, address, fax, e-mail and phone number for all applicants. Bold font the name of the Primary Proposal Applicant or contact person.

United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposal manager(s):

Include name, organization, address, fax, e-mail and phone number for each contact.

Total amount requested: $ Start date:

End date:

Signature of Tribal Chair or State Director:

Signature:

Date:

Signature of Tribal Chair or State Director:

Signature:

Date:

Signature of Tribal Chair or State Director:

Signature:

Date:

Title:

Use a short, descriptive title that captures the proposal’s purpose or goal.

Proposal applicant(s) and USFWS proposal manager(s):

Include the name (in bold), agency or organization, address, phone number, and e-mail of principal applicant and USFWS proposal manager. List the name, e-mail, and agency of other applicants.

GLFWRA funds requested:

Non-federal partner match:

Total proposal cost:

See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for more details on sources of allowable non-federal match and time period.

Proposal dates:

Provide start and completion dates. Start dates must be after January 1, 2027. Grant funds may be used for proposal activities that occur after January 1, 2027, however, costs will NOT be reimbursed if the proposal is not approved for funding. Activities before January 1, 2027, are ineligible as a grant activity and will not be reimbursed with grant funds.

Management implication or application:

In 400 words or less, describe the management implications/applications of the proposal. Describe what your proposal will accomplish including the issue or question that will be addressed by the restoration or research proposal.

GPS coordinates and watershed name:

Provide the latitude/longitude(s) in degree decimal format for your proposal. Provide the watershed name and the appropriate HUC (e.g. 8, 10, or 12).

Rationale and objectives:

· Explain the reason why this proposal should be conducted and why the proposed work is significant.

· Identify the primary target species to benefit from this proposal? Identify the secondary species, if there are any to benefit from the proposal.

· Describe the specific management objective or task identified in a State, Tribal, or Federal management plan or how your proposal addresses a critically important emerging need in the Great Lakes Basin.

· Habitat Restoration Proposals: CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE AMOUNT OF HABITAT TO BE CREATED OR RESTORED and what fish or wildlife species will benefit from the proposal (for example the number of in-stream miles restored, stream miles reconnected, wetland or upland acres restored, or barriers removed).

· Research Proposals: State the hypotheses or research questions to be explored. A good research question should be narrow enough to address specific issues but not so narrow that it can be addressed with a yes or no answer or the gathering of a few statistics. A well thought-out and focused research question leads directly into hypotheses. Hypotheses are more specific predictions about the nature and direction of the relationship between two or more variables. Predictions are what you expect to occur if the hypothesis is correct. Once research questions and hypotheses are formulated, research objectives can be developed.

· List objectives numerically in the sequence they will be completed. Objectives are statements that are related to scientific understanding based on interpretation of data analysis; objectives are not methodological steps (e.g., collect data, conduct experiments, analyze data, write report). Objectives identify a pattern, process, or relationship among variables to be described, and can be used to evaluate progress of a proposal. Objectives should be worded to reflect the research questions to be answered, the hypotheses to be tested, and the processes to be described. A set of objectives are ideally related to each other. When little information exists to formulate questions and hypotheses then research objectives focused on description are appropriate.

· Clearly explain how you plan to address any potential negative impacts related to the spread of invasive species, disease, contaminants and/or other potential adverse impacts that may result from completion of this proposal.

Methods:

· Provide a brief description of proposed methods as they relate to each objective.

· Habitat restoration proposals identify: the major steps involved; any required permits or compliance issues that need to be addressed; plans for pre-and post-proposal evaluation monitoring, reporting and time frames.

· Research proposals include study design, data collection procedures, analytical methods, reporting, and time frames.

Deliverables/Products:

· List deliverables, including annual progress reports, final reports, data sets, data base systems, workshop reports, networking meetings, and submission of journal papers.

· Deliverables must be defined for each year of multi‑year proposals.

Relevance:

Briefly describe how the proposal addresses Great Lakes fish and/or wildlife restoration needs and how the proposal is consistent with: the goals of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2022 and the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration’s “Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes”. If appropriate, also briefly describe how the proposal is consistent with the following plans: the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan IV; the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; the Non-indigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act as reauthorized by the National Invasive Species Act; the fish community objectives identified by lake committees and the Council of Lake Committees; the Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries; the Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries; and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan; and research and/or monitoring priorities of the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture 2007 Implementation Plan; Applicable State Wildlife Action Plans; and any other/additional step down plan(s) that further specify the implementation of the goals and objectives of the above plans at the state, tribal, watershed or local level.

Schedule for completion:

Provide a table describing time periods for important activities and tasks, and their completion dates. Make sure to include time periods for preparation of deliverables.

Budget justification:

Justify applicant salary recovery and large capital equipment purchases. Funding is not available for salaries of permanent staff. Faculty on 12-month appointments are not eligible for salary recovery. Travel funding to attend and present results at conferences is limited to $1,000 per person, up to a maximum of $2,000 per award. Any other unusual expenditures should also be justified. Publication charges should not be included in the budget.

Optional non-federal match:

For Regional Projects non-federal match is optional. However, if you do have non-federal match provide a detailed list of the sources and amounts (i.e., cash, salary/wages, equipment, facilities, etc.). The non-federal match may be provided during the 2-year period preceding January 1 of the year in which the Service receives the Regional Project proposal. The appraised value of land or a conservation easement and costs associated with securing a conservation easement; and restoration or enhancement of the conservation easement are allowable sources of non-federal match. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for more details.

Past GLFWRA funded proposals:

For all proposal applicants listed above, please list past proposals funded through the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, if any, and the publications/deliverables that have resulted.

Identify other funding sources:

Please identify other funding sources (Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, state, local, etc.) that you have submitted this proposal or related proposals to and whether you have received notification of funding from those sources.

References:

Provide complete citations in journal format of literature referenced in the proposal.

Excel budget sheets:

Please submit budget sheets as separate documents in Excel format (can be found as an attachment in NOFO).