Natural Resources and Endangered Species Research and Support at Fort Hood, Texas | W81EWF 21 SOI 0015

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 21 SOI 0015

The grant opportunity titled Natural Resources and Endangered Species Research and Support at Fort Hood, Texas is a Department of Defense (DoD) funding announcement seeking Statements of Interest (SOIs) as the first step in a competitive selection process. Applicants are not asked to submit full proposals initially; instead, SOIs will be reviewed and evaluated, and only selected parties will be invited to provide full proposals later. The funding mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which generally means the government expects substantial involvement during the project (for example, coordination on study design, access to sites, data management expectations, and alignment with installation priorities). The opportunity sits in the environmental activity category and is listed under CFDA 12.630. The announcement anticipates a single award with an award ceiling of $977,000. It was originally posted April 9, 2021, with an original closing date of May 9, 2021. Eligibility is broadly described as "Others," with further detail intended to be found in the announcement’s eligibility section and the related documents that specify SOI submission requirements.

At its core, the opportunity is framed around the Army’s dual responsibility to sustain training lands while fully complying with federal conservation laws. Army installations often contain high-value habitat that supports threatened and endangered species, and the Army emphasizes that effective natural resource management is not separate from readiness, but part of sustaining long-term mission capability. Fort Hood is highlighted as a particularly demanding setting for this work because it supports extremely heavy training activity, including facilities for the equivalent of two mechanized divisions plus supporting units. That operational intensity creates a real-world need for science-based planning and on-the-ground management that can keep training viable while meeting legal and stewardship obligations.

The biological focus is on species and ecological pressures that are especially relevant at Fort Hood. The installation supports large numbers of the federally endangered golden-cheeked warbler, and it also contains habitat for the black-capped vireo, a species described in the announcement as recently delisted. In addition, Fort Hood hosts numerous migratory bird species and "at-risk" pollinators associated with native plant communities. The project is explicitly tied to compliance and conservation requirements under key statutes: the Sikes Act (which governs natural resources management on military lands through integrated natural resources management plans), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The overall intent is to generate and apply defensible data that can guide management decisions, demonstrate compliance, and support the Army’s conservation leadership while operating in a high-tempo training environment.

The work described is a blend of research support, field monitoring, data analysis, and practical management assistance. First, the award is expected to help summarize and analyze previously collected datasets to better understand distribution, abundance, and population status of both endangered and migratory bird species. This suggests a strong emphasis on making existing information more usable for decision-making, potentially by cleaning, standardizing, synthesizing, and interpreting historical monitoring records and survey results. Second, the project includes monitoring demographic parameters for golden-cheeked warblers and black-capped vireos, which typically means collecting data that inform survival, reproduction, recruitment, territory occupancy, or related indicators that reveal whether populations are stable, increasing, or declining and what factors might be driving those trends. Third, the scope includes broader surveying and monitoring of migratory bird species beyond the flagship endangered species, reflecting MBTA-related responsibilities and a general conservation mandate for migratory birds on federal lands.

In addition to birds, the opportunity calls for surveying and monitoring at-risk pollinator species. That portion of the work likely involves documenting presence, distribution, seasonal activity, and habitat associations of pollinators that may be sensitive to habitat change, land use, or invasive species pressure. Pollinator work on military lands often ties back to broader ecosystem resilience because pollinators support native plant reproduction and overall habitat quality, which in turn influences wildlife communities and training land sustainability. The announcement also includes a management component focused on invasive feral hogs, a significant ecological stressor in Texas. Feral hogs can damage vegetation, disturb soils, degrade riparian zones, and impact ground-nesting birds and other wildlife; addressing them aligns with both habitat protection and practical land management needs. Finally, the project is expected to support natural resources outreach activities at Fort Hood, indicating that communication and engagement are part of the deliverables, whether aimed at installation personnel, partners, or the broader community, and intended to promote awareness and support for conservation measures that coexist with the training mission.

Taken together, the opportunity is designed to strengthen Fort Hood’s ability to balance intensive military training with legally required and mission-supporting conservation outcomes. It emphasizes using both existing data and new monitoring to evaluate species status, track trends over time, inform management actions (including invasive species control), and support outreach that helps integrate natural resources stewardship into day-to-day installation operations.

• The Department of Defense, CEERD-CERL in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Natural Resources and Endangered Species Research and Support at Fort Hood, Texas" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 09, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 09, 2021. (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 $977,000.00 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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