Protocol Development for Waterfowl, Waterbirds, Cranes Surveys on National Wildlife Refuges in US Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 2 | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

This grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F14AS00317) comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Southwest Region (Region 2), through its Inventory and Monitoring Program. The project is focused on creating refuge-specific monitoring protocols for wetland birds across nine National Wildlife Refuges in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma: Bitter Lake, Maxwell, Las Vegas, Muleshoe, Washita, Salt Plains, Tishomingo, Hagerman, and Sequoyah. The main goal is to standardize how bird and habitat-related information is collected over time so the refuges can track changes, compare results year to year, and use the data to evaluate and improve management decisions under frameworks like Adaptive Management and Strategic Habitat Conservation.

At the center of the work is writing nine separate, field-ready survey protocols that will guide weekly and biweekly surveys for waterfowl, waterbirds, sandhill cranes, and other wetland-associated birds on each refuge. These protocols are not meant to be general guidance; they must be tailored to the conditions and survey realities of each individual refuge while still aligning with the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) Survey Protocol Template. That means each protocol needs to include the required components typically expected in formal monitoring documents, such as background and rationale, clear monitoring objectives, sampling design, detailed field methods and standard operating procedures, data management procedures, and other template-driven elements that ensure consistency and repeatability.

The opportunity emphasizes that protocol development must be grounded in on-the-ground knowledge. The grantee is expected to conduct site visits to every refuge to collect and confirm geospatial information and to ensure the protocol reflects actual survey routes, observation points, wetland units, access constraints, and other location-specific factors that influence how surveys should be run. These visits must be coordinated with refuge staff and are intended to overlap with existing, regularly scheduled wetland bird surveys so the protocol writer can observe current practices and operational constraints directly. The site visits are required to occur within a defined window, between October 15, 2014 and January 31, 2015, and scheduling is to be arranged at each refuge’s convenience.

Close coordination with USFWS staff is a core expectation throughout the project, not an occasional check-in. As drafts are developed, each of the nine protocols will go through thorough review by refuge personnel (such as Refuge Managers and Wildlife Biologists) as well as formal peer review involving both Service and non-Service reviewers. The Zone Biologist associated with each refuge is responsible for organizing those peer reviews once drafts are near final. Reviewer feedback is not optional: edits and recommendations are expected to be incorporated, and if the grantee disagrees with suggested changes, they must engage in prompt discussion to resolve the disagreement to the satisfaction of all parties. This indicates the Service is aiming for protocols that are not only technically sound, but also operationally accepted and consistently implementable by staff over time.

From a technical standpoint, the grantee needs demonstrated capability in wildlife monitoring design and survey methodology, especially approaches used for counting and estimating large concentrations of wetland birds where detectability, flock size estimation, and repeatability can be major challenges. The applicant must also be comfortable translating survey methods into clear standard operating procedures that field staff can follow consistently. Strong geospatial skills are also required: the work calls for using handheld GPS units and professional geospatial software, and for integrating spatial information into the protocols. In practice, this likely means documenting survey routes, observation locations, sampling strata or wetland management units, and other mapped features that make survey implementation repeatable and defensible.

Logistically, the grant includes on-site housing provided by the Service for the duration of the grant, with lodging anticipated at either Buffalo Lake NWR in Umbarger, Texas, or Muleshoe NWR in Muleshoe, Texas, depending on availability. The grantee must be able to pass required background checks in order to use Service telecommunications and computer equipment, which suggests the work may require access to internal systems, shared drives, or communication tools used by the refuges and the regional program.

Deliverables and reporting are clearly defined. The Service expects informal monthly updates to stay aware of progress and issues as they arise. A formal progress report is required at the six-month point, and it must summarize the status of each refuge-specific protocol. By the end of the agreement period, all nine protocols must be completed in final form, and these final protocols will serve as the final reports for the grant.

On the funding and eligibility side, this is a discretionary grant with a single expected award. Total funding is set at $40,800, and both the award ceiling and floor are also $40,800, meaning the project is essentially funded at a fixed amount rather than a range. There is no cost-sharing or matching requirement. The eligible applicants are limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, indicating the Service intended this as a university-led project (often involving faculty, staff scientists, or trained graduate-level researchers). The opportunity was posted July 18, 2014, with a closing date of July 24, 2014, and it is associated with CFDA number 15.670 (Adaptive Science). For access issues or administrative questions, the listed contact is Michelle Willcox, Grants Specialist, at 505-248-7486 or michellewillcox@fws.gov.

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