Data Collection and analysis to support management of priority species and their habitats in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region | F19AS00195

Opportunity Information: Apply for F19AS00195

The grant opportunity titled "Data Collection and analysis to support management of priority species and their habitats in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region" (Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00195) is a U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) discretionary cooperative agreement focused on improving how the Service estimates and manages populations of two priority native fishes: the Rio Grande Sucker and Rio Grande Chub. The work centers on data from Baca National Wildlife Refuge and is designed to turn existing, sometimes messy field records into defensible population and demographic estimates that can support annual decision-making. The notice indicates this is intended as a single-source award based on unique qualifications, specifically naming Colorado State University (CSU) as uniquely suited due to technical expertise and experience working on federal lands. The award ceiling is listed as $500,000, with one expected award. The opportunity was created April 26, 2019, with an original closing date of May 3, 2019, and is associated with CFDA 15.678 under the activity categories of Information and Statistics and Natural Resources.

The project is organized into four connected activities that move from basic data preparation to advanced analysis and, finally, to transferring those methods to USFWS staff so the work can be repeated in future years. In Activity 1, the emphasis is on data synthesis and cleanup. USFWS will gather and provide CSU with all relevant data sets for Rio Grande Sucker and Chub along with the associated metadata, and CSU will work jointly with USFWS to organize, standardize, and clean the data. This step is important because population estimation methods depend on consistent identifiers, sampling histories, and clear documentation of when, where, and how fish were captured or detected. The end goal of Activity 1 is a reliable, analysis-ready database that reflects the complete set of available information from the refuge.

Activity 2 is the analytical core of the project, where CSU uses the cleaned data to estimate population size and key demographic parameters such as survival and movement rates. The grant specifically calls for mark-recapture modeling, a common approach in fisheries and wildlife biology for estimating abundance and survival from capture histories, and it also notes that both "in hand" (physical capture/handling records) and passive data sources will be incorporated as appropriate. This suggests the analyses may combine traditional sampling (for example, nets or electrofishing with tagging) with passive detections (such as PIT tag antenna arrays or similar technologies) to improve precision and better capture movement and detection probability. A notable requirement is that the analysis must explicitly quantify uncertainty, meaning CSU will not only provide point estimates but also confidence intervals or comparable measures that allow managers to see how reliable the estimates are and how much they might vary due to sampling error or detection limitations.

Activity 3 translates the analysis into a formal deliverable that managers can use. CSU will produce a final report that includes an Introduction, a detailed Methods section, Results, and Discussion. While CSU leads the report development, USFWS will review the draft and will help write the Introduction and Discussion sections, which is a practical way to ensure the final product aligns with refuge context, management needs, and how the findings will be applied on the ground. A major component of the report is an appendix containing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These SOPs are meant to spell out, step by step, how USFWS staff can carry out annual population and demographic estimation going forward, not just interpret the current year’s results. In other words, the deliverable is designed to build institutional capacity, reduce reliance on ad hoc methods, and create a repeatable pipeline from field data to management-ready estimates.

Activity 4 focuses on staff training to make the methods sustainable after the project ends. CSU will plan and lead a three-day training for selected USFWS staff on the analysis methods used in Activity 2, and the training will mirror the SOP appendix developed in Activity 3. USFWS will support the planning, which likely includes selecting attendees, ensuring needed software and data access, and tailoring the agenda to staff roles. The training component signals that the project is not only about producing a one-time report, but also about ensuring the Service can run similar analyses in subsequent years, update estimates as new data are collected, and apply a consistent analytical framework across time.

Taken together, the grant is essentially a full workflow improvement effort: consolidate and clean legacy and ongoing monitoring data, apply rigorous mark-recapture and related modeling to estimate abundance, survival, and movement with quantified uncertainty, document the process in a manager-friendly report plus detailed SOPs, and train USFWS staff so the approach becomes part of routine refuge and regional fisheries management. This aligns with the broader Mountain-Prairie Region goal of strengthening data-driven management for priority species and habitats, particularly where consistent monitoring and defensible demographic estimates are necessary to guide conservation actions and evaluate outcomes over time.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the information and statistics, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Data Collection and analysis to support management of priority species and their habitats in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region" 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 Apr 26, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 03, 2019 Single source award (from 505 DM 2) (4) Unique qualifications - CSU is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based on a variety of demonstrable factors technical expertise, extensive knowledge and experience in working on federal lands.. (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 $500,000.00 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).

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