Support for the Booth Society Friends Group for DC Booth HNFH | F18AS00053

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00053

The grant opportunity titled "Support for the Booth Society Friends Group for DC Booth HNFH" (Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00053) is a discretionary grant offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service under CFDA 15.608. It supports work carried out in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, with the overall aim of promoting, preserving, and enhancing the site as a public-facing educational, cultural, and recreational resource. The core purpose is to strengthen the visitor experience and protect the hatchery's broader conservation mission by investing in services and programming that help the public engage with the facility safely and meaningfully.

The funded activities are tightly tied to conservation and management goals that intersect with public use of the hatchery. The opportunity emphasizes visitor services, volunteer programming, public outreach, youth education, cultural resource protection and preservation, and aquatic invasive species (AIS) awareness. In practical terms, this means supporting on-the-ground efforts that keep the hatchery welcoming and functional for the public, while also delivering educational and interpretive programs that build understanding of fisheries, habitat stewardship, and responsible recreation. The inclusion of cultural resource protection highlights that the hatchery is not only an operational or educational site, but also a historic place where preservation and interpretation are part of the public value.

A major driver for the project is the scale of public and volunteer engagement at D.C. Booth. The hatchery reportedly hosts more than 160,000 visitors each year and benefits from roughly 14,000 volunteer hours annually. Those volunteer hours are described as nearly equivalent to about seven full-time employees, which underscores how central volunteer coordination is to day-to-day operations and public programming. The grant is positioned as instrumental to recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers, which directly affects the hatchery's capacity to deliver tours, events, educational activities, and other visitor-facing services. By strengthening the volunteer pipeline and support structure, the project helps maintain both service quality and safety for a large annual visitor population.

The opportunity is structured as a single-source award, with an expected one award and an award ceiling of $50,000. It was created on December 12, 2017, with an original closing date of December 19, 2017. The notice states the single-source approach is made in accordance with Department of the Interior policy (505 DM 2.14 B), citing continuation and unique qualifications as the rationale. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional eligibility details referenced in the full text field, suggesting the award is intended for a specific partner organization rather than open competition among a wide range of applicants.

Finally, the project is described as benefiting not just the hatchery but the surrounding community through partnerships with the City of Spearfish and the Booth Society. That local collaboration component signals that the grant is meant to reinforce regional public benefits: stronger community programming, improved educational access for youth and families, and sustained stewardship of a high-traffic historic and environmental site. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as targeted support for a friends-group style partner to expand the hatchery's public service capacity, protect important resources, and increase conservation awareness through outreach and education.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the information and statistics, natural resources, other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Support for the Booth Society Friends Group for DC Booth HNFH" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.608.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 12, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 19, 2017 This Single Source Award is being awarded in accordance with Department of the Interior Policy 505 DM 2.14 B (2) Continuation and (4) Unique Qualifications.. (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 $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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