T&E Species Monitoring for Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida | W9126G 17 2 SOI 0015

Opportunity Information: Apply for W9126G 17 2 SOI 0015

The grant opportunity titled "T&E Species Monitoring for Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida" (Funding Opportunity Number W9126G-17-2-SOI-0015) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District request for Statements of Interest (SOIs) to identify qualified investigators for a cooperative agreement supporting endangered species work at the Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR) in central Florida. The project was planned to begin in 2017, with SOIs due through Grants.gov by 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on August 4, 2017. The funding expected for the initial effort is approximately $474,450, with the possibility of additional follow-on funding in later fiscal years for the selected recipient.

The core purpose of the project is to provide professional and technical services for APAFR's Endangered Species Management Program so the installation can implement its Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP), meet Endangered Species Act requirements (including Section 7 compliance), and still maintain uninterrupted military training operations. APAFR manages more than 106,000 acres and must balance realistic training needs with long-term conservation of biodiversity. The installation has documented 12 federally listed threatened or endangered species, along with numerous state-listed species, and the grant focuses on collecting and applying the kind of population and habitat information needed to manage these sensitive species effectively over time.

The work concentrates on three focal bird species: the Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW), the Florida Scrub-Jay (FSJ), and the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (FGS). For RCWs, APAFR has a relatively stable population with room to grow, but long-term data suggest growth may be constrained by female recruitment. The range has expanded to 31 active RCW groups since 2005 due to intensive management actions such as cavity augmentation and maintenance, creation of recruitment clusters, and translocations. Continued monitoring is emphasized to understand how habitat conditions, prescribed fire and land management, and military activities influence demographic patterns. A key challenge noted is that the pine flatwoods contain many undersized trees and relatively few mature pines, meaning sustained habitat and cavity management will be needed for years until conditions support a more stable and larger population.

For Florida Scrub-Jays, the population has been holding at about 50 breeding groups after a major decline in the mid-1990s. Improvements such as reducing overstory canopy cover and reintroducing fire have helped scrub-jays rebound in some areas, and the range still contains suitable but unoccupied habitat that could support recovery to previous numbers. The opportunity highlights that proposed mission-related developments, including a high-explosive target area within core scrub-jay habitat, make range-wide habitat quality improvements and careful monitoring especially important to detect how management actions and shifts in military activity affect the population.

For the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, the situation is presented as urgent. The APAFR population declined from an estimated 298 birds in 1997 to only 6 birds in 2011, placing this subspecies at the edge of local extirpation. Prior habitat improvement efforts have included removing pine plantations, reducing tree and shrub encroachment in dry prairie, adjusting fire return intervals, and evaluating interactions with cattle grazing. The grant stresses that ongoing monitoring is needed not just to track numbers and habitat conditions, but also to support coordinated research with neighboring sparrow populations at Kissimmee Prairie and Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area to better understand regional dynamics and help reverse the decline.

The anticipated scope of work is organized into five main service areas. First is population monitoring, including tracking population size, trends, reproduction, recruitment, and distribution for all three species, mapping expansions or contractions, locating nests for RCW and FSJ, defining territory boundaries for RCW and FSJ groups, and identifying mortality levels and likely causes of declines or increases. Second is threatened and endangered species habitat management support, with a strong emphasis on maintaining and expanding RCW and FSJ populations consistent with INRMP goals. This includes maintaining existing RCW artificial cavities and installing new ones, and applying expertise to encourage populations to occupy currently vacant suitable habitat. For FGS, the expectation is technical support aimed at recovery into available prairie habitat. Third is GIS and database management, maintaining and updating the spatial and integrated databases that underpin the endangered species management program. Fourth is habitat monitoring services focused on measuring how species respond both to protective/enhancement activities and to potentially adverse actions, with explicit attention to actions intended to halt or reverse the grasshopper sparrow decline before extirpation occurs. Fifth is documentation, primarily the preparation of annual reports describing the status and distribution of the three target species and their habitats across APAFR.

The planned period of performance is a one-year base period from award, with four additional one-year option periods anticipated if funding remains available. The application process at this stage is not a full proposal submission but an SOI/qualifications screening. Applicants were instructed to submit a short package (maximum two pages, single-spaced, 12-point font) providing organizational and contact information and a concise set of qualifications: a biographical sketch, examples of relevant past work and clients, available staff/faculty/students and their expertise, and a short description of capabilities such as equipment and field or lab facilities. Submissions were to be evaluated by a review board based on how well the investigator's experience and capabilities match the technical requirements, and only the most suitable respondents would be invited to submit full proposals. The listed point of contact for questions and responses was the USACE Contract Specialist, Mrs. Ali Marshall (alisa.p.marshall@usace.army.mil, 817-886-1068).

• The Fort Worth District in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "T&E Species Monitoring for Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.113.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-07-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-08-04. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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