Opportunity Information: Apply for FWS R6 GRIZZLYBEARRECOVERY
Apply for FWS R6 GRIZZLYBEARRECOVERY
- The Fish and Wildlife Service in the environment natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Grizzly Bear Recovery Implementation, Monitoring, Research, Education and Conservation" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.657 Endangered Species Conservation Recovery Implementation Funds.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 30, 2011 and posted on Mar 30, 2011.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 31, 2011. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $1,630,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $326,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- This is a notice of intent to award this agreement to the Univeristy of Montana under the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit.
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Opportunity Summary:
The Grizzly Bear Recovery Implementation, Monitoring, Research, Education and Conservation opportunity is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) discretionary cooperative agreement focused on supporting recovery work for the federally listed grizzly bear across key parts of the Northern Rockies, specifically Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington. The program is designed to keep grizzly recovery efforts efficient and cost-effective by funding coordinated, on-the-ground research, management, monitoring, surveys, outreach, and education carried out in partnership with state agencies, other federal agencies, Tribes, and private partners. In practical terms, the grant is meant to strengthen the science and field capacity needed to understand where grizzly bears are, how they move, what threats they face, and which management actions reduce conflict and support long-term population viability.
A central theme of the work is connectivity and landscape-level movement. The announcement calls for identifying fine-scale linkage zones in the Northern Rockies, meaning the specific corridors and habitat connections that allow bears to move between ecosystems and maintain genetic exchange. It also includes surveys for grizzly bears in peripheral areas of their range, which helps managers detect expansion, occupancy, or gaps at the edges of current distribution. Several tasks are explicitly tied to transportation and human infrastructure, including monitoring grizzly (and other wildlife) use of bridges along Interstate 90, and analyzing bear habitat use along transportation corridors in Grand Teton National Park. These components reflect a broader goal of reducing fragmentation and understanding how roads and related development influence bear behavior, movement, and mortality risk.
The opportunity also emphasizes intensive monitoring in priority ecosystems and conflict-reduction work in places where people and bears overlap. Specific examples listed include continued monitoring of grizzly bears in the Cabinet/Yaak ecosystem and evaluating the effectiveness of managing human-related attractants in the Swan Valley to minimize bear-human conflicts. That attractant work typically relates to actions like securing garbage, improving food storage, reducing access to livestock feed, and other measures that can prevent bears from becoming food-conditioned and reduce the likelihood of management removals. By tying monitoring to management effectiveness, the grant supports not just data collection but also practical evaluation of what is working on the ground.
Another major focus is climate and cumulative impacts on carnivores. The announcement includes studying climate change impacts on key carnivores in the Northern Rockies, as well as assessing the combined effects of climate change, habitat fragmentation, and human activities on grizzly and wolverine populations in the transboundary Flathead and Glacier Park ecosystem. This part of the scope recognizes that grizzly recovery does not occur in isolation: changing food resources, shifting habitat conditions, and increasing human pressures can interact in ways that alter survival, reproduction, and movement patterns, and the grant supports work that helps managers anticipate and respond to those changes.
From a methods standpoint, the opportunity also supports modern population monitoring tools. It specifically mentions evaluating the use of DNA collected from bear rub trees to estimate grizzly population trends. Bear rub sampling is a noninvasive genetic monitoring approach that can be used to identify individuals, estimate population size or trend, and track distribution without relying solely on physical captures. This complements the broader monitoring and survey tasks and helps provide defensible data for recovery planning and management decisions.
Because some of the work requires hands-on field methods, the announcement makes clear that bear capture, handling, and radio tracking may be necessary under the cooperative agreement. Any such activities must be conducted under Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols and in accordance with national standards for animal handling. In other words, the grant explicitly requires that capture and telemetry work follow formal animal welfare oversight and established professional procedures, and those protocols are treated as a required condition to implement the recovery actions that depend on direct handling of bears.
Administratively, the opportunity was issued by the FWS as a cooperative agreement under CFDA 15.657 (Endangered Species Conservation, Recovery Implementation Funds). The synopsis indicates an expected single award, with an estimated total funding amount of $1,630,000, an award ceiling of $326,000, and an award floor of $5,000, with no cost sharing or matching requirement. Eligibility is described in a way that signals this was effectively a targeted action: it is a notice of intent to award to the University of Montana through the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network. The posting date was March 30, 2011, with a closing date of March 31, 2011, and an archive date of April 30, 2011, which aligns with the notice-of-intent format rather than a broad, open competition. For access issues related to the full announcement, the listed grants management contact is Andrea Meyer (phone 303-236-5412).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the "Grizzly Bear Recovery Implementation, Monitoring, Research, Education and Conservation" opportunity?
This is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) discretionary cooperative agreement intended to support recovery work for the federally listed grizzly bear. It funds coordinated, on-the-ground efforts such as research, management, monitoring, surveys, outreach, and education to support recovery goals and long-term population viability.
Which agency is offering this grant?
The opportunity was issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
What type of funding instrument is this?
It is a cooperative agreement (discretionary), which typically involves substantial involvement by the funding agency in carrying out the work compared with a standard grant.
What is the CFDA program number for this opportunity?
The synopsis lists CFDA 15.657, titled "Endangered Species Conservation, Recovery Implementation Funds."
What is the main purpose of the funded work?
The core purpose is to keep grizzly bear recovery efforts efficient and cost-effective by strengthening coordinated field capacity and science. The funded work is meant to improve understanding of grizzly distribution and movement, identify threats, reduce bear-human conflict, and support management actions that improve long-term recovery outcomes.
What geographic area does the opportunity focus on?
The work focuses on key parts of the Northern Rockies, specifically Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington.
What kinds of activities can be supported under this cooperative agreement?
The opportunity describes support for coordinated research and implementation activities including management, monitoring, surveys, outreach, and education. Practical examples include linkage zone identification, peripheral range surveys, transportation-corridor wildlife monitoring and analysis, conflict-reduction effectiveness evaluations, climate and cumulative impact studies, and noninvasive genetic monitoring.
What does the opportunity mean by "connectivity" and "linkage zones"?
Connectivity refers to maintaining habitat connections that allow bears to move between ecosystems. The announcement calls for identifying fine-scale linkage zones in the Northern Rockies, meaning specific corridors and habitat connections that support landscape-level movement and genetic exchange.
Does the opportunity include work at the edges of the current grizzly bear range?
Yes. It includes surveys for grizzly bears in peripheral areas of their range to help detect expansion, occupancy, or gaps at the edges of current distribution.
How does transportation infrastructure factor into the scope?
Several tasks relate directly to roads and related infrastructure. Examples include monitoring grizzly (and other wildlife) use of bridges along Interstate 90 and analyzing bear habitat use along transportation corridors in Grand Teton National Park, reflecting goals of understanding and reducing fragmentation and related risks.
Which specific ecosystems or locations are highlighted for monitoring and management evaluation?
The announcement cites continued monitoring of grizzly bears in the Cabinet/Yaak ecosystem and evaluating the effectiveness of managing human-related attractants in the Swan Valley to minimize bear-human conflicts. It also references work in the transboundary Flathead and Glacier Park ecosystem for cumulative effects analyses.
What is meant by "managing human-related attractants" in conflict-reduction work?
The synopsis describes attractant management in practical terms as actions like securing garbage, improving food storage, reducing access to livestock feed, and similar measures that prevent bears from becoming food-conditioned and reduce the likelihood of bear-human conflict and management removals.
Is the opportunity focused only on data collection?
No. The scope explicitly ties monitoring to management effectiveness, supporting both data collection and evaluation of what is working on the ground (for example, assessing whether attractant management reduces conflict).
Does the opportunity address climate change impacts?
Yes. It includes studying climate change impacts on key carnivores in the Northern Rockies and assessing combined (cumulative) effects of climate change, habitat fragmentation, and human activities on grizzly and wolverine populations in the transboundary Flathead and Glacier Park ecosystem.
Are species other than grizzly bears included in the described work?
Yes. The announcement mentions wolverines in the cumulative effects work, and also references monitoring use of Interstate 90 bridges by grizzly bears and other wildlife.
What monitoring methods are specifically mentioned?
The opportunity specifically mentions evaluating DNA collected from bear rub trees as a tool to estimate grizzly population trends. This is described as a noninvasive genetic monitoring approach that can help identify individuals and estimate population size or trends.
Does the opportunity allow bear capture, handling, or radio tracking?
Yes. The announcement indicates that bear capture, handling, and radio tracking may be necessary under the cooperative agreement for some tasks.
What compliance requirements apply if bears are captured or handled?
Any capture, handling, or radio tracking activities must be conducted under Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols and in accordance with national standards for animal handling. The synopsis presents these protocols as a required condition for implementing recovery actions that depend on direct handling.
Who are the intended partners for this work?
The program description emphasizes partnership-based implementation, noting coordination with state agencies, other federal agencies, Tribes, and private partners.
How many awards were expected under this opportunity?
The synopsis indicates an expected single award.
What was the estimated total funding amount?
The estimated total funding amount listed is $1,630,000.
What is the award ceiling and award floor?
The award ceiling is $326,000 and the award floor is $5,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The synopsis states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.
Who was eligible to receive this award?
Eligibility is described as a targeted action: a notice of intent to award to the University of Montana through the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network, rather than a broadly open competition.
What does it mean that this was a "notice of intent to award"?
Based on the synopsis language, it signals the agency intended to make a targeted award (here, to the University of Montana through the Rocky Mountain CESU network) and that the posting aligns with a notice-of-intent format rather than an open competitive solicitation.
When was this opportunity posted and when did it close?
The posting date was March 30, 2011, and the closing date was March 31, 2011.
When was the opportunity archived?
The archive date listed is April 30, 2011.
Who is the grants management contact for access issues?
The listed grants management contact for access issues related to the full announcement is Andrea Meyer at 303-236-5412.
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