F24AS00225 - Aquatic Invasive Species Grants to Great Lakes States - Fiscal Year 2024 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

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Using appropriations to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) anticipates providing grants to support implementation of Great Lakes State Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plans (State AIS Plans). State AIS Plans have been transmitted by state governors and then approved by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. All state grants will be awarded based on a competitive process for which only Great Lakes states or their designee are eligible.Funding is provided to support implementation of State AIS Plans which helps states in preventing introduction and spread of AIS on state and surrounding lands. State environmental agencies develop the science-based plans and approaches to make sound decisions to prevent the introduction and spread of AIS and adapt to changes in state waters over time.Proposed work must either be within the Great Lakes Basin or near enough to the basin that it contributes substantially to the prevention and/or control of AIS in the Great Lakes Basin. Activities such as outreach, boat ramp inspections, and/or law enforcement are often done outside the basin but make substantial contributions when work is done in areas where people are likely to transit (and thereby potentially transfer AIS) into the Great Lakes Basin. Early detection, rapid response, and/or control efforts outside the basin must address:•      Species with a substantial potential for interbasin transfer (e.g., hydrilla in a waterbody near     the Great Lakes Basin that receives heavy boat use).•      Species of significant concern to the Great Lakes community within a Great Lakes state.•      Activities where the primary motivation is to prevent transfer of AIS into the Great Lakes Basin.In the end, we are pursuing and funding whatever actions have the greatest benefit to the Great Lakes Basin.INVASIVE CARP WORK IS ONLY ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION IF IT HAS BEEN INITIALLY SUBMITTED AND VETTED THROUGH THE ANNUAL DEVELOPMENT AND APPROVAL PROCESS FOR THE INVASIVE CARP REGIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE'S (ICRCC) INVASIVE CARP ACTION PLAN. Invasive carp work funded and implemented through the Action Plan is coordinated through the ICRCC.  The ICRCC develops an annual work plan that is largely supported through a separate source of GLRI funding and which undergoes a separate review process that includes Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review and approval.