Have you heard about the new 2022 America the Beautiful Challenge? America the Beautiful is a national call to action to conserve, connect, and restore at least 30% of our nation’s lands and waters by the year 2030. In a nutshell, this new challenge program “will invest in the restoration of watersheds, forests, and grasslands while also working toward other goals consistent with the America the Beautiful Initiative, including strengthened resilience, equitable access to the outdoors, workforce development, migration corridors, habitat connectivity and collaborative conservation.”

The Request for Proposals is now live! It’s being administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Federation with a vision to “streamline grant funding opportunities for new voluntary conservation and restoration projects around the United States.”

Would you like to submit a proposal? User support is here to help! The Southeast Conservation Blueprint aligns with many themes of the RFP and America the Beautiful, particularly:

• Conserving and restoring rivers, coasts, wetlands and watersheds
• Connecting and reconnecting wildlife corridors, large landscapes, watersheds and seascapes
• Expanding access to the outdoors, particularly in underserved communities
• Pursuing a collaborative and inclusive approach to conservation

If you’re interested in using the Blueprint to strengthen an application for this RFP, please reach out to a member of user support staff. As always, user support is a free service. We’d love to work with you to explore how the Blueprint can help demonstrate the value of your project.

State government agencies, territories of the United States, and Indian Tribes are eligible to apply for all grant categories within the program, while non-profit 501(c) organizations, local governments, municipal governments, and educational institutions are eligible to apply for two of the four. Applications are due July 21st.

Want more information?

• Here’s the White House press release about the Challenge: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2022/04/11/biden-harris-administration-launches-1-billion-america-the-beautiful-challenge-to-support-and-accelerate-locally-led-conservation-and-restoration-projects/
• Here’s the RFP webpage: https://www.nfwf.org/programs/america-beautiful-challenge/america-beautiful-challenge-2022-request-proposals
• And here’s the America the Beautiful Report: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/report-conserving-and-restoring-america-the-beautiful-2021.pdf