F24AS00129 - Youth Engagement, Education, and Employment

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or Service) is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. We are the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is the conservation and management of these important natural resources for the American public. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's origins date back to 1871 when Congress established the U.S. Fish Commission to study the decrease in the nation's food fishes and recommend ways to reverse that decline. The FWS is committed to building and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the ethic, age, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, and language diversity of contemporary America. The FWS operates a variety of programs that promote wildlife conservation and public land management under the Public Lands Corps Act (PLC) through engagement, employment, and education of our nation's diverse youth and veterans. FWS programs operating under the Public Lands Corps Act have been designated as covered programs under Justice40 (Executive Order 14008). The FWS strives to meet the Federal Government's goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal Investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The categories of investment are: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, remediation of reduction of legacy pollution, and the development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure. The Public Lands Corps (PLC) Program is authorized by Congress under Title 16 USC Sec. 1721-1726; Public Law 109-154, Public Lands Corps Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005 (amends the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993), and all subsequent amendments. Guidance authorizes U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to (1) establish PLC Programs (2) certify participants who meet the PLC eligibility requirements for the PLC non-competitive hiring authority status, and (3) ensure consistent program standards throughout the FWS. The purpose of the FWS PLC Programs is to provide work and education opportunities for youth (defined as ages 16-30 inclusive, and up to age 35 for veterans) participants in the areas of natural and cultural resource conservation, development, and scientific research. Participants perform work on our nation's public lands by providing additional, unique capacity designed to boost the impact of the FWS for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the American people. The PLC FWS Youth Corps Program allows the FWS to establish partnerships with Partner organizations (Partners), generally defined as qualified youth or conservation corps, using financial assistance/cooperative agreements or MOUs, to employ the next generation of conservationists in paid PLC projects and internships. Partners must be designated as an official member of the FWS Youth Corps in order to certify Participants. FWS Youth Corps application information is available in the attachments to this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The purpose of this NOFO is not to establish new partnerships. See Full Announcement for additional information and application instructions. Unsolicited partnership applications or projects that are not collaboratively developed between an existing FWS Youth Corps member and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be returned as ineligible. ***Applicants seeking technical or financial assistance from a FWS PLC programs are requested to consult with a local FWS office BEFORE developing or submitting an application (see FWS Youth Program Contacts included in the Related Documents of this announcement or visit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (fws.gov) to locate a FWS office in your area. ***Unsolicited Partnership applications submitted through Grants.gov will be returned as ineligible. See Related Documents for application instructions for FWS Youth Corps.