BLM WY Plant and Pollinator Species and Habitat Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring CESU | Apply Online

FAQs: BLM WY Plant and Pollinator Species and Habitat Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (CESU) - FON L16AS00260

What is the name of this grant opportunity?

The opportunity is titled the "BLM WY Plant and Pollinator Species and Habitat Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring CESU" grant opportunity.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FON)?

The Funding Opportunity Number is L16AS00260.

Which agency offered this funding opportunity?

This was a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

What geographic area did the project focus on?

The work was focused on Wyoming, with the intent to produce management-relevant information for BLM-managed lands in Wyoming.

What was the overall purpose of the opportunity?

The core purpose was to support conservation of native plant communities and pollinator species by improving what is known about their status, distribution, and habitat conditions through assessment, inventory, and monitoring.

What kinds of activities were expected under "assessment, inventory, and monitoring"?

Activities implied by the opportunity include surveying plant populations and plant communities, documenting pollinator presence and diversity, identifying important or sensitive habitats, and establishing baseline conditions that can be revisited in future years using repeatable methods.

Why does the opportunity emphasize monitoring and repeatable sampling?

Monitoring with repeatable sampling methods helps measure trends over time, which is especially important for pollinators and flowering plant resources that can change with climate, disturbance, invasive species pressure, grazing, fire regimes, and land use.

What funding instrument was used for this opportunity?

The opportunity used a Cooperative Agreement as the funding instrument.

What does it mean that the funding instrument is a Cooperative Agreement?

A Cooperative Agreement typically indicates BLM expected substantial involvement beyond issuing funds. This can include close coordination on study design, selection of monitoring locations, field protocols, data standards, reporting, and ensuring results are directly usable for agency decision-making.

What does "CESU" mean in this context?

CESU refers to the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units network, a framework used by the federal government to partner with universities and other research institutions to conduct applied research, technical assistance, and education supporting public land stewardship.

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, meaning universities were positioned as the primary applicants.

How many awards were expected to be made?

The opportunity indicated an expectation of one award, suggesting a single, relatively comprehensive project rather than multiple smaller grants.

What was the maximum award amount?

The award ceiling listed for the opportunity was $500,000.

When was the opportunity posted?

The opportunity was posted on July 22, 2016.

What was the application deadline?

The original application closing date was September 2, 2016.

How long was the application window based on the dates provided?

Based on the posting date (July 22, 2016) and the closing date (September 2, 2016), the application window was relatively short.

What types of outputs or results were expected from the project?

Expected outcomes included improved datasets and management-relevant information that help land managers understand where key plant and pollinator resources occur, how they are changing over time, and what management actions may be needed to maintain or improve habitat.

How might BLM use the information produced by the project?

The information was intended to guide conservation actions on BLM-managed lands in Wyoming, such as prioritizing habitats for protection or restoration, targeting invasive species control, planning vegetation treatments with pollinator needs in mind, and evaluating whether management actions are benefiting plant and pollinator communities.

What conservation issues or drivers of change are relevant to the monitoring work described?

The opportunity highlighted that plant and pollinator resources can vary with climate, disturbance, invasive species pressure, grazing, fire regimes, and land use, all of which make consistent inventory and monitoring valuable for understanding change over time.

Is this opportunity more oriented toward research or on-the-ground management needs?

Based on the description, the opportunity was oriented toward applied, field-based information gathering that directly supports agency decision-making and on-the-ground conservation and management priorities.

Does the description indicate whether the project would involve coordination with BLM staff?

Yes. Because it was a Cooperative Agreement and described as involving substantial BLM involvement, the project would generally be expected to include close coordination with BLM on items like study design, monitoring locations, protocols, data standards, and reporting.

What does the "one award" approach imply about the project scope?

With up to $500,000 available and an expectation of one award, the structure implies a single project designed to be comprehensive enough to cover multiple assessment, inventory, and monitoring needs rather than distributing funds across many separate projects.