Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00072

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00072

This grant opportunity, offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) through its Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK), funds a cooperative research effort focused on chronic wasting disease (CWD) in mule deer in and around the Wind River Reservation in western Wyoming. The core purpose is twofold: improve how CWD can be detected in live animals (ante-mortem diagnostics), and map or identify where transmission risk is highest so wildlife managers can better understand why infection is so intense in this specific landscape and what actions might reduce spread.

The background driving the work is the rapid expansion and uneven distribution of CWD across Wyoming. While CWD has been established for a long time in southeastern Wyoming, it has now been detected across most mule deer hunt units statewide. Importantly, surveillance has shown that some areas with relatively recent detections are already showing unusually high prevalence. The Wind River region stands out: statewide surveillance found about 60 percent prevalence in adult mule deer there in 2019, and that high level was confirmed again in 2020 and 2021. Because this region is managed jointly under the Wind River Reservation (Wind River Intertribal Council) and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), the situation has created an urgent need for better epidemiological understanding that accounts for deer ecology and behavior, not just disease test results.

The funded work is organized around three main deliverables. First, the project supports development of ante-mortem CWD testing methods using a banked set of samples with known CWD-positive and CWD-negative status. In practice, this means refining and evaluating live-animal diagnostic approaches against reliable reference samples, with the goal of improving detection before death and making surveillance more timely and actionable. Second, the effort will generate spatial movement information for deer on and near the Wind River Reservation. This movement component is intended to clarify how deer use habitat, where they concentrate or aggregate, how they move across management boundaries, and which locations or behaviors might be linked to higher exposure or transmission. Third, the project will strengthen CWD sampling through hunting by pairing harvest-based sampling with GPS-monitored deer whose CWD status is known, creating a tighter link between individual infection status, movement patterns, and the places where animals spend time.

The expected outcome is a set of diagnostics, sampling enhancements, and analyses that help managers pinpoint factors that may be increasing deer aggregation and, in turn, facilitating CWD transmission. The practical management value is explicit: by identifying transmission hotspots and the ecological or behavioral drivers behind them, the work should help the Wind River Reservation partners and WGFD evaluate targeted actions (for example, strategies to reduce high-risk congregation areas, refine surveillance design, or adjust management in priority zones).

Administratively, this is a discretionary financial assistance award issued as a Cooperative Agreement under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) framework, specifically the Rocky Mountain CESU. Eligibility is limited to organizations that are official participating partners in the Rocky Mountain CESU network, reflecting the CESU program model of linking agencies with partner institutions to deliver research, technical assistance, and education. The opportunity is listed under CFDA 15.808, with USGS as the issuing agency. Key details provided include Funding Opportunity Number G23AS00072, an award ceiling of $181,522, a closing date of 2022-12-09, and a creation date of 2022-11-09.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-11-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-12-09. (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 $181,522.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00072

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: