Forest Evaluation and Prescription for the Benefit of Migratory Birds | F18AS00153

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00153

The grant opportunity titled "Forest Evaluation and Prescription for the Benefit of Migratory Birds" (Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00153) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cooperative agreement focused on improving forest habitat conditions for wildlife, with an emphasis on migratory birds, within and near the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Refuge is a major, multi-state conservation unit stretching 261 miles along the Upper Mississippi River through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. It includes about 241,000 acres overall, with roughly 66,000 acres of forest. In addition to work on Refuge-managed lands, the project also ties into the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, which supports habitat work with private landowners in counties adjacent to the Refuge. In practical terms, the opportunity is designed to bring dedicated forestry capacity to a landscape where forest management decisions directly shape breeding, foraging, and stopover habitat used by migratory birds.

At the core of the project is the need for a person with forestry training to evaluate existing forest conditions, develop written forest prescriptions, and help implement on-the-ground forestry practices that improve habitat value for wildlife. "Forest prescriptions" in this context generally means formal, site-specific recommendations that translate a habitat goal into an actionable plan, often including what treatments to use (such as thinning, regeneration cuts, invasive species control, or structural enhancement), where to apply them, and how to time them to meet ecological objectives. By pairing evaluation with implementation, the agreement is not limited to planning; it is intended to produce tangible management outcomes across Refuge lands and cooperating private lands, aligning forestry actions with migratory bird conservation needs.

The funding is authorized under several major federal conservation laws that enable the Fish and Wildlife Service to provide financial and technical assistance to a wide range of partners for fish and wildlife conservation. These include the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 and 742 et seq.), the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 753), and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (including 16 U.S.C. 709a). Collectively, these authorities support cooperative conservation work that protects and improves habitat, helps manage species of concern, and strengthens partnerships among federal agencies, states, local governments, tribes, non-governmental organizations, citizen groups, and landowners.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity under CFDA 15.664 and uses a cooperative agreement instrument, meaning the agency expects to have substantial involvement in the project rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant. The notice specifies there is no competitive application process because it is a notice of intent to make a single-source award to the National Audubon Society, justified under departmental policy (505 DM 2.14B sections 1, 2, and 4). The opportunity was created on May 29, 2018, with an original closing date of June 5, 2018, but that date functions more as a public notice timeline than an application deadline since proposals are not being solicited. The expected award count is one, with an award ceiling of $42,018, indicating a modest, targeted investment meant to fund specialized forestry expertise and associated work products or field implementation rather than a large multi-year construction-style project.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted partnership action: the Fish and Wildlife Service intends to fund and collaborate with a conservation organization to place forestry capacity where it can directly influence habitat quality across a large river refuge system and neighboring private lands. The deliverable emphasis is on forest assessment, prescription-writing, and implementation of forestry methods that measurably benefit migratory birds and other wildlife dependent on healthy, structurally diverse forest habitats in the Upper Mississippi River corridor.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Forest Evaluation and Prescription for the Benefit of Migratory Birds" 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 May 29, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 05, 2018 There is not an application process for this funding opportunity. This is a notice of intent to award a single source cooperative agreement the The National Audubon Society under justification 505DM 2.14B 1, 2, and 4.. (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 $42,018.00 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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