Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund: Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants

As many species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) spend at least part of their life cycle on non-Federal lands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recognizes success in conserving and recovering these species depends largely on working cooperatively with States and Territories (hereafter, “States”).

Section 6 of the ESA authorizes the Service to provide Federal financial assistance to eligible State agencies to support the development and implementation of conservation programs for the benefit of resident listed species. This financial assistance, provided in the form of competitive grants, is made available through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (CESCF) Grant Programs. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) applies specifically to CESCF Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Land Acquisition Grants.

This NOFO fully describes application eligibility, evaluation, and selection. It should be read in its entirety as much of the information has changed from previous years. Given the significant investment of time and money associated with projects funded through this program, we also recommend you coordinate with the appropriate Service contact (Section G) before starting work on a project or application.

Prior to 1982, non-Federal landowners undertaking otherwise lawful activities that were likely to take listed species risked violating section 9 of the ESA, which prohibits the "taking" of a listed species. In the 1982 amendments to the ESA, Congress established a voluntary mechanism under section 10(a)(1)(B) that authorizes the Service to issue to non-Federal entities a permit for the "incidental take" of endangered and threatened wildlife species. An HCP must accompany the application for an incidental take permit to demonstrate how the applicant intends to meet minimization and mitigation commitments to meet the permit issuance criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA. The commitments made by the applicant in the HCP become part of the permit.

In some States, HCPs have become a broad-based, landscape-level planning tool. In addition to conserving listed species, HCPs often include conservation measures for candidate and at-risk species, as well as other rare species in the plan area. By including these species in the HCP, developers and landowners can also help prevent their decline or need for future listing under the ESA. Should a non-listed species that is covered in the HCP become listed during the permit term, the HCP can provide a seamless process to authorize the take to the newly listed species and eliminate the need to amend the permit. Thus, landowners have an incentive to conserve listed species as well as candidate and at-risk species that are likely to be listed in the future.

Established by Congress in fiscal year (FY) 1997, the HCP Land Acquisition Grant program was designed to reduce conflicts between the conservation of listed species and competing land uses on specific parcels of land associated with approved and permitted HCPs. Under this program, the Service provides matching grants to States in support of land acquisition projects that will conserve species habitat in perpetuity through fee simple acquisition or the acquisition of permanent conservation easements. The Service considers the use of Federal acquisition dollars by States for habitat protection associated with HCPs to be an important and effective mechanism to promote species recovery, prevent extinction, and preclude the need to list species under the ESA in the future. All land acquired through these grants complements, but does not replace, the mitigation, minimization, and/or monitoring commitments of the HCP. Thus, this work is additive to the conservation commitments entered into when HCPs are permitted and serves as a meaningful way to leverage non-Federal investment in species recovery and connect conservation lands across the landscape.