[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 164 (Thursday, August 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42674-42676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18235]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-WSFR-2018-N088; 91400-5110-0000; 91400-9410-0000]


The Fiscal Year 2017 Multistate Conservation Grant Program Award 
List

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of priority list and publication of grant 
awards into the Federal Register.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2017 priority list of grant awards for the wildlife and sport 
fish conservation projects from the Association of Fish and Wildlife 
Agencies (Association). As required by the Wildlife and Sport Fish 
Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000, the Association submits a 
list of projects to us each year to consider for funding under the 
Multistate Conservation Grant Program. We have reviewed the list and 
recommended all for award to the Director. The Director approved the 
list of projects for award and we have awarded all projects from the 
list.

ADDRESSES: John C. Stremple, Multistate Conservation Grants Program 
Coordinator; Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program; U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike; MS: WSFR; Falls Church, VA 22041-
3808.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John C. Stremple, (703) 358-2156 
(phone) or [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fish and Wildlife Programs Improvement 
and National Wildlife Refuge System Centennial Act of 2000 (Improvement 
Act, Pub. L. 106-408) amended the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife 
Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.) and the Dingell-Johnson Sport 
Fish Restoration

[[Page 42675]]

Act (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.) and established the Multistate Conservation 
Grant Program. The Improvement Act authorizes us to award grants of up 
to $3 million annually from funds available under each of the 
restoration acts, for a total of up to $6 million annually. Projects 
can be funded from both funds, depending on the project activities. We 
may award grants to projects from a list of priority projects 
recommended to us by the Association. The Service Director, exercising 
the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, need not fund all 
projects on the list, but all projects funded must be on the list.
    The Improvement Act provides that funding for Multistate grants is 
available in the year it is appropriated and for the following year. 
Total funding available for new FY 2017 Multistate Conservation grants 
was $2,522,000. This total was made up of funding that was carried over 
from FY 2016, added to the funding that was previously sequestered, and 
subtracted committed funds ($3,261,027) for FY 2017. Those committed 
funds were directed into the three components of the 2016 National 
Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (parts A 
and B).
    Grantees under this program may use funds for sport fisheries and 
wildlife management and research projects, boating access development, 
hunter safety and education, aquatic education, fish and wildlife 
habitat improvements, and other purposes consistent with the enabling 
legislation.
    To be eligible for funding, a project must benefit fish and/or 
wildlife conservation for at least 26 States, a majority of the States 
in any one Service Region, or one of the regional associations of State 
fish and wildlife agencies. We may award grants to a State, a group of 
States, or one or more nongovernmental organizations. For the purpose 
of carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-
Associated Recreation, we may award grants to the Service, if requested 
by the Association, or to a State or a group of States. Also, the 
Association requires all project proposals to address its National 
Conservation Needs, which the Association announces annually at the 
same time it requests proposals. Further, applicants must provide 
certification that no activities conducted under a Multistate 
Conservation Grant will promote or encourage opposition to regulated 
hunting or trapping of wildlife, or to regulated angling or taking of 
fish.
    The Association committees and interested nongovernmental 
organizations that represent conservation organizations, sportsmen's 
and women's organizations, and industries that support or promote 
fishing, hunting, trapping, recreational shooting, bowhunting, or 
archery review and rank eligible project proposals. The Association's 
National Grants Committee recommends a final list of priority projects 
to the directors of the State fish and wildlife agencies for their 
approval by majority vote. By statute, the Association then transmits 
the final approved list to the Service for funding under the Multistate 
Conservation Grant program by October 1 of the fiscal year. For FY 
2017, the Association sent us a list of 17 new projects, plus the three 
previously approved components of the 2016 National Survey of Fishing, 
Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation that they recommended for 
funding. The Director approved all projects on this list and all have 
been awarded. The list follows:

                                      Multistate Conservation Grant Program
                                               [FY 2017 Projects]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         PR funding    DJ funding    Total 2017
         ID                     Title                  Submitter             \1\           \2\          grant
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1..................  State Fish & Wildlife       AFWA.................       $51,040       $51,040      $102,080
                      Agency Technical
                      Workgroup for the 2016
                      National Survey.
2..................  State Fish and Wildlife     AFWA.................        80,241        80,241       160,482
                      Agency Coordination and
                      Communication.
3..................  Coordination of Farm Bill   AFWA.................        76,510        76,510       153,020
                      Implementation.
4..................  Multistate Conservation     AFWA.................        42,000        42,000        84,000
                      Grant Program
                      Coordination.
5..................  Management Assistance Team  AFWA.................    270,376.63    270,376.63    540,753.26
                      and the National
                      Conservation Leadership
                      Institute.
6..................  State Fish & Wildlife       AFWA.................        50,000        50,000       100,000
                      Agency Director Travel-
                      Enabling Coordination and
                      Planning of National
                      Level Conservation
                      Initiatives.
7..................  Increasing Awareness and    AFWA.................        50,000        50,000       100,000
                      Knowledge of Fish and
                      Wildlife Management
                      Through Legal Education
                      that Instructs on the
                      North American Model of
                      Wildlife Conservation and
                      the Public Trust.
8..................  Preserve State Agencies'    AFWA.................        33,600        33,600        67,200
                      Authority to Manage
                      Wildlife Resources and
                      Promote Their Interest in
                      the Implementation of
                      International Treaties.
9..................  Implementation of the       CAHSS................       171,000             0       171,000
                      National Hunting &
                      Shooting Sports Action
                      Plan.
10.................  Telling the State Story to  AFWA.................        42,600        42,600        85,200
                      Ensure Fish and Wildlife
                      Agency Relevancy.
11.................  Coordination of the         AFWA.................        77,130        77,130       154,260
                      Industry, Federal, and
                      State Agency Coalition.
12.................  2017 National WSFR--        WMI..................        94,874        94,874       189,748
                      Federal Aid Coordinators
                      Meeting.
13.................  Applying Wildlife           WMI..................        49,680        49,680        99,360
                      Governance Principles to
                      Enhance Leadership and
                      Relevance of State
                      Wildlife Agencies.
14.................  2017--Raising Awareness of  WMI..................     86,864.50     86,864.50       173,729
                      the WSFR Program and
                      Improving Industry
                      Relations To Ensure the
                      Long-term Stability of
                      the Program.
15.................  Advancing the Objectives    AFWA/NFHB............             0    143,711.87    143,711.87
                      of the National Fish
                      Habitat Action Plan
                      through Regional and
                      Collaborative Science and
                      Priority Setting.
16.................  Quantifying and             NSSF.................        98,000             0        98,000
                      Communicating the
                      Economic Significance of
                      Hunting and Shooting
                      Sports.
17.................  Quantifying and             ASA..................             0        99,200        99,200
                      Communicating the
                      Economic Significance of
                      Sportfishing.
NS.................  Coordination of the 2016    FWS..................       131,560       131,560       263,120
                      National Survey Efforts
                      (part A).
NS.................  National Level Results for  FWS/U.S. Census             884,824       884,824     1,769,648
                      the 2016 Survey of          Bureau.
                      Fishing, Hunting, and
                      Wildlife-Associated
                      Recreation (Part A).
NS.................  2016 Fifty State Surveys    Rockville Intitute       614,129.50    614,129.50     1,228,259
                      Related to Fishing,         (Westat).
                      Hunting, and Wildlife-
                      Associated Recreation
                      (Part B).
                                                                       -----------------------------------------
                                                                        2,904,429.63  2,878,341.50  5,782,771.13
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ PR Funding: Pitman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration funds.
\2\ DJ Funding: Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration funds.
AFWA: Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

[[Page 42676]]

 
ATA: Archery Trade Association.
ASA: American Sportfishing Association.
CAHSS: Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports.
NFHB: National Fish Habitat Board.
NS: 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife- Associated Recreation.
NSSF: National Shooting Sports Foundation.
WMI: Wildlife Management Institute.


    Dated: June 22, 2018.
James W. Kurth,
Deputy Director for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Exercising the 
Authority of the Director for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-18235 Filed 8-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P