In 2023, the Outreach & Partnership Engagement (OPE) branch (formally known as the Access Branch) developed a collaborative tool to support USDA Forest Service programs in publicizing large scale programmatic activities and projects. Outreach of Interest (OOI) aims to engage the public, by soliciting project ideas and gauging interest through a structured submission process using the Narrative Statement Form, SF424, and the “Attachments” Form. OOIs serve as a mechanism to cultivate relationships, expand potential partners, and identify mutual beneficial project opportunities. Submissions are used to identify new partnership opportunities, enhance relationships, facilitate discussions, and refine project ideas between potential partners and the Forest Service.
Key Features of the Outreach of Interest:
- A non-competitive, non-funded announcement designed to solicit public feedback and project ideas. OOIs are posted on grants.gov (posted under “other”) for maximum visibility.
- Creates a new partnership model using agreements to mirror the federal grant award process.
- Maximizes the flexibility of Forest Services non-competitive legislative authority, while increasing the pool of partners.
- Designed to support large-scale programmatic efforts through collaboration and feedback from the public to meet increased project scope and funding demands.
- Serves as a market research tool helping programs understand current market trends and the landscape of their program areas.
- Through pilot testing, the OOI model can be refined for broad implementation as a standardized outreach practice.
- Submissions will be compiled into a searchable database for FS employees to identify potential partners by region, forest, state, and program area. This database is currently being constructed and is expected to be completed in time for this first round of OOIs.
Last year, the OPE collaborated with program managers across several program areas to develop OOIs addressing common on the-ground needs. These initial OOIs are a foundation and OPE will continue collaborating with program managers to create new OOIs that align with Forest Service priorities.
We currently have 11 OOIs published and available for submission, closing on February 7th (please see enclosed for details). Two additional OOIs will be released soon:
- one focused on workforce development across all programs
- another for region 5 that addresses visitor center support and recreation stewardship coordination
An email announcement will be sent publicizing these OOIs.
The Outreach & Partnership Engagement branch will be addressing submission related questions grants and agreement inquiries, and other general OOI concerns. For program specific questions, OPE staff will consult with subject matter experts.
If you have any questions or are interested in collaborating on developing an Outreach of Interest, please let us know.
Please share this information as you see appropriate with your staff areas.
Enclosed is the external announcement that we will be sharing in an email with current and potential partners. Feel free to share this external correspondence through your engagements.
External Outreach of Interest Announcement Final (PDF)