The Biden-Harris administration announced the 2024 Request for Proposals for the America the Beautiful Challenge. This program, hosted by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, consolidates $119 million in funding from multiple federal agencies and the private sector to enable recipients to develop large-scale land and water projects. This funding is being directed toward the national goal of conserving or restoring at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

This program seeks to fund landscape architecture projects across the following themes:

• Rivers, coasts, wetlands, and watersheds
• Forests, grasslands, and important ecosystems that serve as carbon sinks
• Connecting and reconnecting wildlife corridors, large landscapes, watersheds, and seascapes
• Resilience to flooding, drought, and other climate-related threats
• Access to the outdoors, particularly in underserved communities

To enact these themes, grants are available in the following categories:

• Implementation Grants ($1 million to $5 million for each award)
• Planning Grants ($200,000 to $2 million for each award)
• Sentinel Landscape Grants for the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program ($250,000 to $1.5 million for each award)
• National Forest Grants ($250,000 to $1.5 million for each award)
• Private Forests, Rangeland and Farmland Grants ($200,000 to $500,000 for each award)

State government agencies, territories of the United States, and Indian Tribes are eligible to apply for all five grant categories. Non-profit 501(c) organizations, local governments, municipal governments, and educational institutions are eligible to apply for funding in Sentinel Landscape Grants, National Forest Grants, and Private Forests, Rangelands and Farmlands Grants. Landscape architects and firms are encouraged to partner with these entities to apply for grants.

Proposals for any category will be primarily evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Multifunctionality
• Feasibility
• Community & Indigenous Partnership
• Budget & Procurement

Initial proposals are due prior to Thursday, April 4, 2024 by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. If applicants advance, full proposals will be due prior to Tuesday, July 16, 2024, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

ASLA has been working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to highlight opportunities for landscape architects to take advantage of the incredible amount of federal funding available for conservation. ASLA maintains a member-only list of federal grant opportunities that are especially relevant to landscape architects.

Access the list.