BLM Wyoming, (CESU) Rawlins Field Office Response of Pronghorn Population Productivity in the Red Desert, Wyoming to Anthropogenic and Environmental Change | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is this BLM Wyoming grant opportunity about?

This funding opportunity supports continued, applied research on how pronghorn populations in the Red Desert of south-central Wyoming are being affected by the combined effects of human development (especially energy and resource extraction infrastructure) and shifting environmental conditions such as drought.

Which species is the focus of the project?

The project focuses on pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), a species found only in North America.

Why is Wyoming an important place to study pronghorn?

Roughly half of the world pronghorn population occurs in Wyoming. Because the state holds such a large share of the species, changes in pronghorn health, survival, and reproduction in Wyoming have outsized importance for understanding broader pronghorn population dynamics and informing long-term conservation and management.

What pressures or threats is the research designed to address?

The opportunity is rooted in two major pressures that have intensified in Wyoming over the last couple of decades: (1) severe drought and other environmental changes that can reduce forage availability and weaken body condition, and (2) substantial expansion in energy and resource extraction infrastructure that can alter wildlife movement patterns, habitat selection, behavior, and demographic rates.

What is the overall purpose of funding this work?

The grant is intended to produce actionable science that helps managers and partners understand pronghorn population productivity and movement responses in a heavily managed, multi-use landscape, especially where drought and development pressures intersect.

Is this a new study or a continuation of existing work?

It is designed as a continuation of ongoing collaborative research coordinated among the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), industry partners, and the BLM Rawlins Field Office (RFO).

Which pronghorn herd units are being targeted?

The project targets WGFD pronghorn herd units that are experiencing increasing pressure from drought conditions and expanding energy development: the Baggs, Bitter Creek, and eastern Red Desert Herd Units.

Is there a comparison or control area in the study design?

Yes. The study compares pronghorn in more heavily influenced areas to pronghorn in a northern Red Desert comparison (control) area where energy development is minimal.

Where does the research take place geographically?

The project occurs within multiple environmental impact statement (EIS) planning areas and a designated control area. The listed planning footprints include Continental Divide/Wamsutter II (CD/WII EIS), Atlantic Rim (AR EIS), and Desolation Flats (DF EIS), plus a control area west of Rawlins and around north/south of Wamsutter, Wyoming.

Why are the specific EIS planning areas important to this project?

Locating the work within these planning footprints is important because results can directly inform BLM land use planning, mitigation decisions, and adaptive management where development and wildlife conservation objectives must be balanced across public, private, and state lands.

How will pronghorn be monitored in this project?

The project relies on monitoring adult female pronghorn using a mix of VHF collars and store-on-board GPS collars. This approach supports fine-scale movement and habitat use analyses while also enabling estimates of survival and recruitment.

How many pronghorn are expected to be collared and tracked?

In the more impacted study areas, 133 adult females are tracked (10 with VHF collars and 123 with GPS collars). In the lower-development comparison area, 53 adult females are tracked (12 with VHF collars and 41 with GPS collars).

Why does the project focus on adult female pronghorn?

The monitoring described for this project is centered on adult females to support estimates of key demographic measures, including adult survival and recruitment of young (productivity), alongside movement and habitat-use analyses.

What are the main objectives of the project?

The stated objectives are threefold: (1) evaluate adult survival and recruitment of young in relation to anthropogenic disturbance and environmental change, (2) assess movement ecology metrics such as movement rate, movement distance, daily net displacement, and movement path tortuosity, and (3) generate a step selection function (SSF) to link animal movement steps to environmental and anthropogenic features.

What does “recruitment” mean in the context of this grant?

Recruitment is described as the addition of young to the population and is used as a key measure of productivity in the project’s demographic evaluations.

What movement metrics will be evaluated?

The project assesses multiple dimensions of movement ecology, including rate of movement, movement distance, daily net displacement, and movement path tortuosity (how straight versus complex an animal’s travel route is).

What is movement path tortuosity, as used in this project?

Movement path tortuosity refers to how straight versus how complex an animal’s travel route is, and it is one of the movement ecology measures used to detect behavioral and energetic responses to landscape conditions and disturbance.

What is a step selection function (SSF) and why is it included?

An SSF is a common wildlife modeling tool that links the “steps” animals take between locations to environmental and anthropogenic features. In this project, it is intended to interpret fine-scale behavioral responses reflected in movement patterns and help identify what landscape attributes pronghorn select or avoid at the scale of their actual movements.

How could the SSF results be used in management decisions?

As described, SSF outputs can be directly relevant to practical decisions like siting infrastructure, timing activities, and designing mitigation by clarifying which landscape attributes pronghorn select or avoid.

What kinds of development impacts are being considered?

The BLM notes that infrastructure associated with development can influence wildlife by altering movement patterns, habitat selection, behavior, and demographic rates, and the project is aimed at producing data-driven answers about these responses under overlapping stressors.

What environmental conditions are emphasized in the opportunity description?

Severe drought and other environmental changes are emphasized, with potential effects including reduced forage availability, weakened body condition, and lower productivity and survival.

Which agencies and partners are involved in the ongoing collaborative research?

The continuation research is coordinated among the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), industry partners, and the BLM Rawlins Field Office (RFO).

Who is offering the funding, and what type of award is it?

The funding opportunity is offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (DOI-BLM). It uses a cooperative agreement mechanism and is described as a discretionary funding opportunity.

What is the program or activity category and CFDA number?

It falls under a natural resources funding activity category and is listed with CFDA 15.231.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number?

The Funding Opportunity Number is L16AS00078.

Who is eligible to apply based on the description?

Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, consistent with the CESU framework.

How much funding is available under this opportunity?

The award ceiling is $325,000.

How many awards are expected?

One award is expected.

When was the opportunity posted and when did it close?

The opportunity was posted on April 1, 2016, with a closing date of May 31, 2016.

What management needs is this project trying to support?

The opportunity is framed around giving managers and partners clearer, data-driven answers about how pronghorn respond to overlapping stressors, particularly in areas where herds have struggled to rebound after declines over the past 20 years, and producing results that can inform land use planning, mitigation, and adaptive management.

Why does the opportunity emphasize “continued, applied research”?

The description indicates this is a continuation of an ongoing collaborative effort and is aimed at generating practical, management-relevant findings (for example, informing mitigation decisions and adaptive management) rather than purely theoretical outcomes.