(Note from KVT: Lest we forget Duke's intended Ecoregions ... or have forgotten to share these maps with everyone we know ... scroll down to the 9 links to the maps.)

(Note: Please, look at the Size and Scope of this monster! Look at the amount of money being poured in to 'conserving' 'biological diversity.' Remember, each of these eight 'ecoregions' has been 'preselected.' One must wonder if any of the private landowners and homeowners in these vast areas have been notified of this intent to control. Three guesses as to the answer, and the first two don't count.)

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation will award up to $4 million over three years to conserve biological diversity in a single 2 - 3 million acre forested landscape in the United States. Following an open letter of intent stage, the following four lead applicants have been asked to submit full proposals:

Ecotrust, Portland, OR (Central Pacific Coastal Forests)

Sustainable Northwest, Portland, OR (Klamath Siskiyou Forests)

The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii (Hawaii Moist and Dry Forests)

The Nature Conservancy of South Carolina (Mid Atlantic Coastal Forests)

For more information about the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, visit our website at www.ddcf.org

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/

Request for Letters of Intent

LOI Deadline: September 6, 2002

Must be submitted online at

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/index.asp

no later than 5 p.m. EDT

Staff Contact:

Eric Holst, Program Officer for the Environment

environment@ddcf.org

Program Overview

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation will award up to $4 million over three years to conserve biological diversity in a single 2 - 3 million acre forested landscape in the United States.

Landscapes must be located within one of 9 eligible ecoregions (see below) that have been preselected by DDCF.

Background

The Foundation's Forest Conservation Initiative was launched in 2000 with the selection of the Northern Forest of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York as the first focus site.

In 2001, the Foundation selected the Southern Appalachians as the second focus site.

The present competition will result in the selection of a third focus site.

In addition to funding place-based conservation activities in these sites, the Foundation also supports efforts to improve forest management in the United States through forest certification and applied science.

More detail is available at www.ddcf.org.

Program Goals

In selecting focus sites, our goals are to measurably contribute to conservation of biodiversity in those places and to develop and disseminate best conservation practices.

In the past, we have restricted our funding to land acquisition and sustainable forestry activities. In selecting a third site we will not restrict funding to pre-defined strategies but rather, through a competitive process, select the overall strategy that will most effectively meet the program goals.

Eligibility

Landscapes. Only forested landscapes within the following ecoregions (boundaries defined by the World Wildlife Fund in their report Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: A Conservation Assessment) and within the United States will be considered.

Detailed maps and GIS boundary files available at

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/index.asp

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/maps.asp

Middle Atlantic Coastal Forests (#50)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/macf.pdf

North Central Rockies Forests (#30)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/ncrf.pdf

Eastern Cascades Forests (#37)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/ecf.pdf

Central and Southern Cascades Forests (#36)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/cscf.pdf

Klamath Siskiyou Forests (#39)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/ksf.pdf

Northern California Coastal Forests (#40)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/nccf.pdf

Central Pacific Coastal Forests (#33)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/cpcf.pdf

Hawaiian Moist Forests (#1)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/hif.pdf

Hawaiian Dry Forests (#4)

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/resources/hif.pdf  (website URL given is the same as for the 'Hawaiian Moist Forests')

Applicants. Nonprofit organizations (501(c)3 public charities) with a track record of conservation success are invited to submit letters of intent (LOIs). Applications from single organizations or partnerships of multiple organizations are acceptable. In the case of a partnership, a single nonprofit organization must act as the lead partner or applicant. The applicant, whether acting alone or representing a partnership, must have the financial capacity to manage a large grant (up to $4 million paid out in three installments over three years). DDCF will NOT award a grant that would "tip" a 501(c)3 public charity into private foundation status. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that a grant of this size will not have this effect.

Activities. DDCF will provide funds for a wide variety of conservation activities but will NOT fund lobbying or litigation. Applicants may include these activities but they must be funded by other sources. Projects should seek to conserve a full representation of native biodiversity occurring in the target landscape. Single species conservation strategies will not be considered.

Grant Selection Criteria

LOIs will be evaluated against the following criteria:

Importance and urgency of conserving the target landscape compared with other landscapes in the eligible ecoregions.

Manageability of threats impacting biodiversity.

Logic and feasibility of the conservation plan.

Capacity of organization or partnership to carry out the plan.

Adequate funding or strong prospects for raising funds needed to carry out strategy.

Application Process

Organizations or partnerships are invited to submit LOIs on or before September 6, 2002. An expert advisory panel will review and judge LOIs and recommend up to five finalists. On October 27, the finalists will be invited to submit full proposals which will be due on January 24, 2003. Finalists will be awarded planning grants of $20,000. The advisory panel will review final proposals and recommend a single proposal for full funding.

Application Timeline

Request for Letters of Intent Issued: July 8, 2002

Letters of Intent Due: September 6, 2002

Invitations to Submit Full Proposal: October 27, 2002

Invited Proposals Due: January 24, 2003

Application Guidelines

Provide a maximum five page, single spaced letter (minimum 12 pt font) that covers the following items:

The Landscape.

(Note: DDCF uses definitions for biological distinctiveness and conservation status provided by Olson and Dinerstein (1998) and Ricketts, et. al. (1999))

a) Biological distinctiveness. Describe the biological distinctiveness of the target landscape. What makes this landscape worthy of high conservation attention? Provide reference to any established assessment of the distinctiveness or importance of this landscape.

b) Conservation Status. Conservation status, as defined by Olson and Dinerstein, is "an estimate of the ability of the current and future ability of a landscape to maintain viable species populations, to sustain ecological processes, and to be responsive to short and long-term environmental changes." Describe the conservation status of the target landscape. What is the relative condition of the forest with respect to intactness, fragmentation, and parcelization? What is the relative condition of ecological processes and systems?

c) Threats. Describe the threats, both direct and indirect, that affect biodiversity in the target landscape. Rank threats in terms of their importance in impacting target (i.e., which threats are most heavily affecting biodiversity in the landscape?). Are the threats manageable or are they overwhelming? If relevant, provide a model of the situation in your landscape showing your assumptions of how the threats affect the biodiversity of the region. This model can be a text description or box and arrow diagram. You may attach a diagram describing your model as an appendix (the diagram will NOT count against your five page limit).

d) Map. Please include a map of the landscape as an appendix. It will NOT be counted against your five page limit. If possible, the map should include major protected areas, cities and highways for reference. The map should be printable on a single 8.5" x 11" page and attached to your application (the map will not count against your five page limit).

Conservation Plan.

a) Describe your goals and objectives.

b) Threats. Describe those threats that will be addressed in your plan. Describe those threats that will not be addressed in your plan. Justify those choices.

c) Actions. Describe the actions that you will take to address the targeted threats.

d) Monitoring plans. Describe how you will track the progress of your project and how you will use that information to improve prospects for success in meeting goals and objectives.

Organization/Partnership. Which organization or group of organizations will carry out the proposed strategy? If a single organization, demonstrate that the organization has all the necessary human capacity to address each of proposed actions. If a partnership, describe the functions of each organization and their qualifications to undertake this work.

Political/Community support. Describe the level of political and community support for your conservation plan. If support is weak, how will you overcome it?

Timeframe. Provide a rough description of how the project will proceed over a three year period, starting in March of 2003.

Budget. Provide a rough budget showing the major costs associated with your project. Divide into personnel, other-than personnel, and indirect costs (maximum 12%). Provide as much detail as you feel is necessary to explain major costs. How will you leverage DDCF dollars to cover all the financial needs associated with your plan? What other major sources of funding are available for your plan? The budget should be attached as an appendix to the narrative (it will not count against your five page limit).

Guidelines for Submission

Letters of Intent must be submitted online at http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/index.asp  before 5:00 PM EDT on September 6, 2002. Late applications will not be accepted

To complete your LOI, you'll need to provide the following information:

Name and complete contact information for project leader.

A completed LOI letter, single spaced, maximum five pages of narrative, maximum three appendices (landscape model, map, and budget), in Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Word document (.doc) format.

Questions

In order to ensure fairness and transparency, all questions related to the substance of the competition must be submitted in writing to environment@ddcf.org.  Responses will be posted to this website weekly.

References

Olson, David and Eric Dinerstein. 1998. The Global 200: A Representation Approach to Conserving the Earth’s Distinctive Ecoregions.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/global200/spaces.cfm?sectionid=117&newspaperid=20

Ricketts, Taylor H, Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, and Colby J. Loucks et al. 1999. Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: A Conservation Assessment.

http://ddcf.aibs.org/forestry/loi2002/rloi.asp

Pulled off the Chronicle of Philanthropy site:

http://www.philanthropy.com/

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: 'The Newspaper of the Nonprofit World'

Environment (al?) Defense Center created: The advocacy group Environmental Defense and the Doris Duke Foundation have announced the creation of the Environmental Defense Center for Conservation Incentives, reports an Environmental Defense press release.

The center will aim to expand and improve the development of incentives to conserve habitats on private lands throughout the United States.

The center was made possible by a $5-million grant from the Duke foundation and a $5-million donation from Robert W. Wilson, an Environmental Defense trustee.