Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance Programs | F19AS00382

Opportunity Information: Apply for F19AS00382

The Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance Programs opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F19AS00382) is a discretionary grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, focused on natural resources research and applied conservation. This notice is explicitly a single-source intent to award, meaning it is not a broadly competitive solicitation. The Service states its intent to make a cooperative agreement award to BirdsCaribbean to improve the quality and reliability of information on the current level of migratory shorebird harvest along the coast of Guyana. The award ceiling listed for the effort is $32,604, and while the posting includes an original closing date of September 16, 2019, the structure of the announcement makes clear it is designed to support one identified recipient rather than invite multiple applications.

The core purpose of the project is to produce a more robust estimate of how many shorebirds are being harvested and how that harvest is being commercialized, particularly through sales in villages and markets along Guyana's coast. The background provided in the notice explains why updated data are needed: researchers in the early 2000s documented substantial harvesting of shorebirds and other waterbirds, including evidence that shorebirds were being sold commercially in several communities. Follow-up surveys in 2017 and 2018 revisited villages and found that harvest activity had decreased across many beaches, but that meaningful levels of harvest and sales still persisted, including sales to individuals and through market channels. This project is designed to concentrate effort where prior work indicates harvest and commerce are most likely to be occurring, specifically targeting previously identified sites and markets to refine estimates and better characterize ongoing patterns.

This grant is positioned as a contribution to broader regional conservation planning for the Caribbean and northern South America, and it is directly tied to the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative (AFSI). The work supports an AFSI business plan strategy aimed at reducing hunting pressure and aligns with a key action in the initiative's plan for harvest sustainability: assessing both biological and social dimensions of harvest. The focal species named in the notice reflect the initiative's priorities and include Semipalmated Sandpiper, Red Knot, Whimbrel, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, all migratory shorebirds that use the Western Atlantic Flyway and can be vulnerable to additive mortality from unsustainable harvest.

From a policy and program alignment standpoint, the Service frames the project as supporting Departmental funding priorities by advancing conservation stewardship through sustainable use and better science, with harvest data serving as a practical input to management and conservation decisions. It also emphasizes relationship-building with local and regional partners, noting that engaging network partners and local stakeholders is intended to strengthen communication and trust with communities and international collaborators, which is often essential when addressing hunting practices that may be culturally embedded or economically important.

The notice also lists the legal authorities supporting the funding, reflecting the project’s connection to wildlife conservation and migratory bird management. These include the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (as amended), the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2017. In practical terms, those authorities underscore that the work is part of a larger mandate to conserve fish and wildlife resources, coordinate conservation actions, and support migratory bird protection through science-based assessment and cooperative conservation efforts.

Administrative details included in the source data indicate the opportunity falls under CFDA 15.664 and identifies eligible applicants as 501(c)(3) nonprofits other than institutions of higher education. However, because the posting is a notice of intent to award to a single source, the eligibility language functions more as a classification of recipient type than an invitation for other organizations to apply.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance Programs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.664.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 11, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 16, 2019. (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 $32,604.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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