Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unti, Rocky Mountian CESU | G19AS00088

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What agency is offering this grant opportunity?

This opportunity is offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically the USGS Fort Collins Science Center.

2) What type of award is being offered?

The funding will be provided as a discretionary cooperative agreement.

3) How many awards does USGS expect to make?

USGS anticipated making one award.

4) What is the maximum (ceiling) amount of funding available?

The award ceiling is $206,350.

5) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is limited to partners in the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). The notice indicates that additional eligibility details are available in the full announcement.

6) What is the funding opportunity number?

The funding opportunity number is G19AS00088.

7) What is the CFDA number for this program?

The CFDA number listed is 15.808.

8) When was the opportunity posted, and what was the closing date?

The opportunity was posted on July 8, 2019, and the original closing date was July 22, 2019.

9) What is the overall purpose of the project being funded?

The purpose is to generate research and analysis that can be used directly in regional planning and day-to-day land management decisions on public lands, with a focus on how disturbances and land uses shape habitat conditions and wildlife populations across sagebrush ecosystems and related western landscapes.

10) What landscapes and habitat types are included in the project focus?

The focus includes the sagebrush ecosystem and related western landscapes, including shrublands, semi-arid rangelands, and woodlands.

11) What kinds of "drivers of change" should the work help managers understand?

The notice highlights a need to separate and explain the effects of multiple drivers, including wildfire, habitat and fuel treatments, restoration actions, energy development, grazing and other land uses, and natural environmental variation.

12) Why is separating the effects of different drivers important?

Public lands are managed for multiple uses that interact with natural processes like climate and fire. Because these factors overlap, habitat quality and wildlife distribution can shift over time in ways that are difficult to interpret without targeted science. The work is meant to help managers understand what is driving observed changes.

13) What management decisions is the research expected to support?

The opportunity emphasizes producing decision-relevant science to help inform where to treat fuels, where and how to restore habitat, and how to anticipate consequences of both planned management actions and unplanned disturbances.

14) What is the connection to sagebrush conservation planning and the Greater Sage-grouse?

The notice cites high demand for better information tied to sagebrush conservation, including the Greater Sage-grouse. It references the Fish and Wildlife Service decision regarding Greater Sage-grouse in 2016 and an expected re-evaluation in 2021 as drivers of widespread revisions to federal land-management plans and state wildlife management plans, which increases the need for timely, decision-relevant science.

15) What is meant by "habitat trends and dynamics" in this opportunity?

The opportunity describes habitat trends and dynamics as measurable changes over time due to management actions, fire, climate shifts, development pressures, and restoration efforts, and it seeks work that characterizes these changes.

16) What types of outcomes or impacts should the research address?

The notice calls for understanding how habitat trends influence ecosystem services, domestic grazing conditions, and wildlife population dynamics, across the broader landscape (not just isolated sites).

17) What natural and human factors should be included in analyses?

Analyses are expected to account for relationships between natural landscape controls (soils, geology, topography, climate, and fire regimes) and human-driven actions (fuel breaks, energy development footprints, restoration investments, conifer removal, and other habitat management).

18) Does the opportunity emphasize practical application or purely academic research?

It emphasizes practical application. The stated intent is to link scientific understanding to management applications and produce information usable in planning and day-to-day public land management decisions.

19) What is "adaptive management" in the context of this project?

The opportunity describes an intended outcome of creating a clearer basis for adaptive management, where agencies adjust actions based on monitoring and improved interpretation of what is driving observed changes.

20) Is the work limited to a single species (Greater Sage-grouse)?

No. While the Greater Sage-grouse is identified as a focal species in sagebrush conservation planning, the opportunity explicitly notes broader concerns about native wildlife and calls for multi-species relevance.

21) What other wildlife groups are mentioned as relevant?

The notice mentions grouse species more generally, songbirds, ungulates, and small mammals.

22) What kinds of interactions among disturbances and management actions are of interest?

The opportunity indicates a need for analyses of how development, restoration, treatments, and fires interact to affect habitat conditions and multiple wildlife species at once, reflecting real-world tradeoffs across wildlife groups and habitat types.

23) What category is this funding opportunity listed under?

It is categorized under science and technology and other research and development.

24) Is this opportunity intended for multiple cooperative agreements or a single cooperative agreement?

The notice states it supports a single cooperative agreement with a partner from the Rocky Mountain CESU.

25) What is the intended geographic context for the work?

The work is framed around the sagebrush ecosystem and related western landscapes on public lands, with an emphasis on regional planning and landscape-scale interpretation.