Overview
A Focused Investment Partnership is an OWEB investment that:
- Addresses a board-identified Focused Investment Priority of significance to the state;
- Achieves clear and measurable
ecological outcomes;
- Uses integrated, results-oriented
approaches as identified through a
strategic action plan;
- Is implemented by a high-performing partnership.
Implementation funding supports partnerships with up to $12 million over 3 biennia (6 years). Initiatives must demonstrate clear and measurable restoration outputs and ecological outcomes that support limiting factors outlined in a federal recovery and/or state conservation plan(s).
2021-23 Solicitation
The OWEB board approved the 2021-23 biennium spending plan at the July 27-28, 2021 meeting. OWEB has $10 million available for the 2021-23 FIP solicitation and may award up to 3-5 new FIP initiatives to begin during this biennium. The FIP Solicitation timeline is as follows:
August 18, 2021 Optional informational webinar (Recorded webinar available:
Part 1 and
Part 2)
September-October 2021 Required pre-application consultations with OWEB staff
January 13, 2022
Applications due to OWEB, 5 pm
April-May 2022 Technical review meetings
June 2022 Applicants interviews with OWEB Board FIP committee
July 2022 OWEB Board award
Strategic Action Plan
Partnerships applying for FIP Implementation funding must have a strategic action plan (SAP) that addresses all components detailed in OWEB's
Strategic Action Plan Guidance. A SAP defines the geographic extent, timeframe, and range of strategies and actions that will lead to the long-term goals of a partnership. The scope of an Implementation conservation initiative is determined by the partnership and constitutes the portion of the SAP that the partnership believes it can accomplish in the proposed timeframe with the proposed funding.
Adaptive Management
Restoration practitioners operate with imperfect knowledge about the ecosystems they hope to improve and the effectiveness of strategies they design to reach desired ecological outcomes. The formal practice of adaptive management offers a way to address these uncertainties through an iterative process of learning, which cycles through the steps of planning, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment.
Adaptively Managing Restoration Initiatives, a guide prepared for OWEB, is intended to help restoration partnerships design, build, and maintain an adaptive management approach that overcomes common challenges and meets their specific needs, ambitions, and capacity.
Monitoring Restoration Initiatives
This
guide, developed within the context of OWEB’s FIP program, is intended to support the development and application of monitoring plans that fulfill the basic purposes of monitoring and offer ways to address common challenges. It describes critical considerations and steps to follow for developing a monitoring plan that will provide accurate and useful feedback in an efficient manner. Thoughtful selection of monitoring priorities, protocols, and data management practices will help ensure that monitoring is cost-effective, and results are useful.
Ecological Priorities & FIP Initiatives
The OWEB Board approves ecological priorities of significance to the State to be addressed by FIP Initiatives. Ecological priorities are determined with public input and scientific rigor. In 2019, FIP priorities were updated. The 7 board-adopted priorities are listed below. For more information, review the
2019 FIP Priority Setting staff report. Click on the Ecological Priorities listed below for information about the priorities and the FIP initiatives that OWEB has funded under each priority.
For further information, please contact a staff member.