Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit | F18AS00302

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00302

The Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00302) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notice of intent to make a single-source award, meaning it is not a competitive grant solicitation and there is no full announcement tied to it. In practice, this kind of notice is used to document the agency's plan to fund a specific recipient for a defined piece of work, rather than inviting proposals from multiple applicants. Although the eligibility field is listed as "unrestricted," the text makes clear the Service intends to issue one cooperative agreement to Mississippi State University.

The planned award is a cooperative agreement under the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity area (CFDA 15.678). The project focus is on Arkansas conservation planning, specifically to support and finalize the process used to delineate Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) across the state. The overall goal is to advance, refine, and bring to completion a method for defining these priority conservation areas, which are typically used to guide where conservation actions, investments, and partnerships will have the greatest benefit for species and habitats.

A central purpose of the work is to help the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission act more strategically in conserving species by improving how priority areas are identified and mapped. The notice also highlights a broader planning value: the project is expected to shed light on how combining species-based assessments with habitat-based assessments can improve the way priority geographies are selected and refined. That combined approach is positioned as potentially useful not only for Arkansas COAs, but also for informing updates to regional and state-level conservation frameworks such as the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy and Blueprint and possibly other State Wildlife Action Plans.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was created on August 14, 2018, with an original closing date of August 21, 2018, reflecting the short public posting window that often accompanies single-source intent notices. The expected number of awards is one, and the award ceiling is $110,000. In short, this is a targeted, single-recipient cooperative agreement intended to strengthen and finalize Arkansas's Conservation Opportunity Area delineation process and to demonstrate how integrated species and habitat analyses can improve priority-setting for wildlife conservation planning.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.678.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 14, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 21, 2018 THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD TO A SINGLE SOURCE ANNOUNCEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NOTICE.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $110,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for F18AS00302

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