F23AS00131 FY23 Endangered Species Conservation - Wolf Livestock Loss Compensation and Prevention Grants | F23AS00131

Opportunity Information: Apply for F23AS00131

F23AS00131, titled "FY23 Endangered Species Conservation - Wolf Livestock Loss Compensation and Prevention Grants," is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) discretionary grant opportunity under CFDA 15.666. It is built around the Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Project authorized by Subtitle C of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11). The basic goal is to help states and federally recognized tribes reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock producers by funding two related tracks: proactive, nonlethal prevention efforts and compensation for verified livestock losses caused by wolves. The law directs FWS to run this as a competitive grant program and to split funding evenly between prevention and compensation across the program as a whole.

The prevention side is meant to stop losses before they happen by supporting practical, nonlethal tools that reduce the risk of wolf depredation where livestock are present. Eligible prevention activities specifically include examples like fencing, livestock guard dogs, and range riders (people who patrol grazing areas and help deter predators and manage livestock), but the program is not limited to those tools. A key theme is encouraging applicants to use a mix of deterrents and techniques suited to local conditions, and to show that the approaches they fund are effective and responsibly implemented.

The compensation side is designed to reimburse producers for losses when wolf depredation is confirmed. The program allows compensation for a defined set of qualifying livestock: cattle, swine, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and livestock guard animals. Compensation funds can be used only for losses tied to confirmed wolf depredation, which implies that applicants need credible investigation and documentation procedures that can distinguish wolf-caused losses from other causes.

Only state governments and federally recognized tribal governments may apply directly to FWS for these grants. While the ultimate beneficiaries can include individual ranchers, for-profit businesses, and nonprofit organizations, those private entities do not apply to the federal government under this opportunity. Instead, the state or tribe that receives the grant must set up and run its own process for taking applications or claims from producers and other eligible local participants, typically through the state wildlife management agency, animal damage control program, or an equivalent tribal entity. Prevention and compensation activities can occur on federal, state, or private lands, as well as on lands owned by a tribe or held in trust for tribal benefit.

Applicants may compete for prevention funding, compensation funding, or both. If a single application includes both prevention and compensation components, each component is reviewed, ranked, and considered separately, which effectively means applicants need to make a strong, stand-alone case for each track. The program also signals a policy preference for integrated efforts: applicants that already have a depredation prevention program are prioritized when competing for depredation compensation funding, reflecting the idea that paying claims works best when paired with active measures to reduce future conflicts.

Funding priorities follow the statute (Section 6202(d) of P.L. 111-11). Review emphasis includes the level of livestock predation in the state or on tribal trust/tribal lands, whether the area is considered high-risk geographically for wolf depredation, and other factors the Secretary determines appropriate. For prevention proposals, programs are prioritized when they show strong livestock producer participation and when they support the use of multiple deterrents and techniques rather than relying on only one approach. For compensation proposals, priorities favor programs that are strong on investigation and management, recordkeeping, reporting, and public transparency, since compensation depends heavily on credible verification and consistent administration.

To receive an award under this authority, a state or tribe must meet several administrative and accountability requirements. These include designating an appropriate state or tribal agency to administer one or both components, establishing one or more accounts to receive grant funds, maintaining files for all claims with supporting documentation, and submitting annual reports to the appropriate FWS Program Coordinator. Those annual reports must summarize claims and expenditures for the year and describe actions taken on claims, and applicants must provide any additional reports needed for FWS to evaluate effectiveness. The state or tribe must also promulgate rules for reimbursing livestock producers, meaning they must have clear, formal procedures for how reimbursement decisions are made and paid.

There are additional eligibility and readiness conditions intended to ensure funds deliver near-term results. The notice states that applicants must have fully expended program grant funds from FY 2019 and earlier years, which is essentially a spending-performance gate meant to prevent new awards from stacking on top of large unspent balances. Beyond that, each track has specific capability requirements. For compensation, the state or tribe must be able to protect depredation evidence, coordinate investigations with USDA APHIS-Wildlife Services field representatives (or another authorized official who can coordinate an investigation), keep proper documentation and receipts including records of any required matching funds, and document payments in a way that supports fair-market value reimbursement. For prevention, the applicant similarly must maintain strong documentation and receipt retention (including matching funds records), require or ensure a good-faith effort by participants to avoid conflicts (in practice, this typically relates to responsible livestock husbandry and cooperation with prevention measures), and demonstrate that the nonlethal measures used are effective.

Key administrative details listed in the opportunity include an original closing date of April 14, 2023, and an award ceiling of $450,000. Overall, the grant is structured to push money toward places experiencing significant or high-risk wolf-livestock conflict, while also emphasizing credible verification for compensation, broad producer participation, practical nonlethal deterrence, and transparent, well-documented program administration by states and tribes.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "F23AS00131 FY23 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 2023-01-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-14. (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).

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