Protect Florida Springs Tag Grants

The non-profit Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, Inc. is dedicated to the conservation, management, and sustainable enjoyment of Florida’s outstanding lands, waters, and wildlife.  Since 1994, the Foundation has raised and given away more than $60 million for conservation and outdoor recreation and education programs for adults, children, and families.

The Foundation is seeking freshwater springs-focused projects in two areas; several needs within each area are noted.

1. Research projects that lead to a better understanding of Florida’s springs and how to restore and maintain their long-term ecological health, including the development of effective strategies for addressing one or more principal threats facing Florida’s springs. Preference is given to research and adaptive management projects with the potential to benefit multiple springs. (Examples: projects that identify the sources of stress for a particular spring; an innovative method of reducing nutrient pollution or controlling invasive species in one or more springs; research to ensure the continued survival of imperiled or declining spring species.)

Current priorities:

• Development of local and regional watershed maps for springs to foster better land-use planning and guide springs and aquifer-related environmental policy.
• Development and testing of strategies to improve the water quality of springs, with an emphasis on reducing nutrient loads in springs.
• Funding for communities and organizations working to preserve or restore springs.
• Restoration projects that benefit key species (e.g., eelgrass restoration to improve habitat for manatees and other springs species) and/or contribute to our understanding of springs ecosystems and their conservation.

2. Community education and other outreach activities that foster adoption of best practices in the restoration, management, and conservation of freshwater springs or alter public attitudes and practices detrimental to spring conservation. Examples: community education projects that encourage landowners to reduce non-point nutrient flow into springs via vegetative buffers, improved septic systems or sewage treatment, fostering and organizing community or interest-group (e.g., divers) springs clean ups, bank stabilization, exotic species removal, and similar on-the-ground stewardship work.

Current priorities:

• Quantification of the long-term economic benefits of springs preservation and restoration; e. g., nature tourism, ecosystem services (health of aquifer/clean drinking water, water for wildlife, and agriculture, etc.).
• Proposals that address the disconnect between an individual’s actions and the large-scale impacts on springs and the aquifer (for example, that dumping chemicals on the ground can show up in surrounding waters within weeks with little filtration and consequent impacts on human and wildlife health).
• Creation of a best-practices manual of restoration and conservation strategies that have worked well at one or more springs.
• Effective strategies based on current understanding of social behavior to change behaviors by Florida residents and tourists that degrade Florida’s springs.

The potential conservation impact of each proposal and its possible applicability to multiple springs will have strong bearing on the possibility of being funded. Questions to be answered in the springs grant application include:

• Does the project have broad applicability? Could agencies and other communities take the results and apply them elsewhere?
• Does the project have the potential to change minds and behaviors?
• Are the anticipated results measurable or quantifiable? What is the grantee’s plan for publicizing the findings and having them influence work elsewhere?
• Does the project or its anticipated results have the potential to attract new funding, partners, or on-the-ground conservation agreements?

Eligible applicants include federal, state, or local government agencies; public and private colleges and universities; and 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, including all-volunteer organizations (e.g., “Friends of…” groups). The Foundation may also, at its sole discretion, consider proposals that benefit the public from private, for-profit organizations.

The Florida Legislature established the Protect Florida Springs specialty license plate in 2007 to fund competitive grants for community-based springs research and conservation not currently available for state funding, as well as funding of community outreach programs aimed at implementing such research findings. The competitive grants are administered and approved by the board of directors of the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, with input from a Springs Advisory Committee made up of springs experts and community members.  A list of past grants can be found below for guidance.

Grant requests up to $75,000 will be considered. The applicant’s ability to procure matching funds from other sources may have bearing on the possibility of being funded but is not a prerequisite. Multi-year projects will be considered, but funding is generally awarded for 12-month intervals. The project period will be from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 (12 months).

• March 24 – April 23, 2023: Proposals Accepted
• May – June 2023: Review Period
• July 1 – 10, 2023: Applicants Notified
• October 1, 2023: Project Begin Date
• April 30, 2024: Progress Report Due
• September 30, 2024: Project End Date
• December 31, 2024: Final Report Due (remaining funds reverted)

Contact Ms. Anita Forester.

Grant applicants can log in here to access application status and assigned follow-up forms.