Chapter 380 Economic Development Agreements

BLM Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Programs work to prevent, detect, inventory, control, and monitor weed populations on public lands.Invasive species cost the public millions of dollars in control and management each year and many invasive plants and noxious weeds are highly competitive and have the ability to permanently degrade our public lands.Noxious weeds and invasive species expansion are recognized as the single greatest threat to our native plant communities and the values they provide us.These native plant communities are essential for supporting wildlife habitat, watershed function, recreation opportunities, rural economies and working landscapes.Invasive plants and noxious weeds affect plant and animal communities on farms and ranches, and in parks, waters, forests, natural areas, and backyards in negative ways.Human activity such as trade, travel, and tourism have all increased substantially, escalating the speed and volume of species movement to unprecedented levels.Increased site vulnerability from wildfires that are more frequent and other disturbances is an ongoing challenge to maintaining the integrity of our native plant communities.Noxious weeds are particularly aggressive plants legally designated by states as being injurious to public health, the environment or the economy.Invasive species and noxious weeds adversely affect overall recreational opportunities on public land i.e., hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, watershed health and ecosystem function, which result in economic losses in rural and urban communities.Invasive species and noxious weeds affect adjacent private lands, both rural and urban, causing widespread economic losses to the agricultural industry as well as to other resources.Advance early detection rapid response.Enhance emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation. Advance education, awareness, and citizen science relative to invasive species. Conduct invasive species treatments to protect resource values on public lands.Support classical biological control agent development. Funding Opportunity Number: L26AS00057. Assistance Listing: 15.230. Funding Instrument: CA. Category: NR. Award Amount: $20K – $400K per award.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a prominent role in the improvement of undergraduate STEM education at the Nation’s colleges and universities. Through the IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) program, the agency seeks to extend this effort by making an intentional investment in the country’s two-year institutions of higher education, or two-year colleges. The twin goals of the ITYC program are to (1) center students in the effort to advance innovation and promote success in STEM education at two-year colleges, and (2) enhance the capacity of two-year colleges to harness the talent and potential of their student and faculty populations through innovative disciplinary, multi-department, and college-wide efforts. These goals will be achieved by investing in projects at two-year colleges that contribute to student success in STEM-based foundational courses and academic pathways for both majors and non-majors. Project activities may be in any discipline that is currently supported by NSF funding, which includes the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Collectively, projects in the ITYC program will make progress towards ensuring that two-year college students and faculty have the resources to participate in and contribute to the broader STEM enterprise. Aligned with the goals above, the ITYC program features two tracks: (1) A Focus on the Academic Experiences of Two-Year College Students and (2) Leveraging Two-Year College Strengths and Innovation. Each Track can support projects requesting up to $500,000 for a duration of up to three years. For institutions that have not received NSF funding in the past five years, an additional $100,000 may be added to the budget which may be used by the institution to support and carry out grant-funded activities over four years. This would result in a total maximum budget of $600,000 for a project over four years. Institutions that have been funded as part of a collaborative award with their own NSF Award Number are not eligible for this incentive, however, institutions that have had a subaward from another institution are eligible. This program is open to two-year colleges, which includes the following institutions, as described by Carnegie Classifications: Associate’s Colleges: Institutions at which the highest-level degree awarded is an associate degree. This may include transfer as well a career and technical oriented colleges. Baccalaureate / Associate’s Colleges: Institutions that award at least one baccalaureate degree but confer at least 50% of their degrees at the associate level. The ITYC program is aligned with NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) framework, which is a comprehensive effort to accelerate improvements in the quality and effectiveness of undergraduate education in STEM fields. Funding Opportunity Number: 23-584. Assistance Listing: 47.076. Funding Instrument: G. Category: ST. Award Amount: $10M total program funding.