Fishing is Fun Grant

Application Review and Approval

There are several steps in the application, review and approval process.

State Review

1. Applications will be evaluated and ranked by regional staff, including local District Wildlife Manager, Area Biologist, and Senior Regional Biologist. Project sponsors may be contacted during this time for more information, beyond that provided in the first stage. Please be patient but also be aware that lobbying CPW management, commissioners or review panel members during the selection process will disqualify the project from further consideration.
2. Following technical review by the FIF program coordinator, project funding applicants and local sponsors will present their project at the meeting of the FIF Review Panel in Denver in mid-March. CPW Regional Aquatic Biologists or the local District Wildlife Manager who helped with the project application may also be present to answer technical or biological questions from the panel.
3. After the presentations, the Review Panel develops a set of funding recommendations, which will be forwarded to the Director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 
   1. In the selection process, high- rated projects historically have been those that foster significant increases in angler use, open up new public access to fishing waters, and/or include a high percentage of matching funds. However, the review panel also recognizes that not every community or organization can provide matching funds beyond the 25% minimum, or that a project may not provide a large increase in angler numbers but may be very important to that community. The review panel takes such factors into account in assessing the merits of projects. Other review factors include confidence in an ability to complete the project, a diversity of local funding or support, the quality of the project description in the application and at the review panel presentation, and regional CPW assessment of the project. 

Around mid-April, applicants will be notified of final funding decisions.

Federal Review

If the project utilizes federal funding a number of federal requirements have to be addressed for all projects. These “compliance issues” are addressed as part of the federal aid application portion of the process, not during the initial application and panel review process. Depending on the nature of the projects, substantial delays – up to nine months or more – may occur as a result of these requirements, although lengthy delays are the exception. The following lists some compliance assurances that are typically required as part of the federal review process:

• Historical and Cultural Preservation
  • A written statement from the State Historical Preservation office clearing your project – CPW normally takes the lead on this.
• Prime and Unique Farmland
  • A written confirmation from the Natural Resources Conservation Service clearing your project site from the unique or prime farmland restrictions – CPW normally takes the lead on this.
• Army Corps of Engineers 404 Permit
  • A 404 Permit, nationwide permit or clearance from the Corps of Engineers may be needed for projects that could affect jurisdictional wetlands or will occur in streams, rivers, lakes and the like – the project sponsor normally takes the lead on this, if applicable, through contact with the local Army Corps of Engineers Office. CPW aquatic biologist can often provide guidance or assistance on this requirement.
• Endangered Species
  • Each project must assess whether there will be an impact on any federally-listed threatened or endangered species or how any impact will be mitigated – CPW personnel normally take the lead on assessing the presence of any listed species. Project sponsor may take the lead on determining course of action should endangered species issues arise.
• Environmental Assessments
  • Projects that involve water depletions, wetlands or other environmental impacts may require an acceptable Environmental Assessments – Project sponsor will develop any required environmental assessments.