FLORIDA GRASSHOPPER SPARROW RECOVERY | F18AS00356

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00356

The funding opportunity titled FLORIDA GRASSHOPPER SPARROW RECOVERY (Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00356) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notice of intent to make a single-source award, meaning it is not a competitive grant solicitation and there is no full public announcement package associated with it. It is being issued by the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and was created on September 16, 2018. The instrument type is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency in carrying out the project compared to a standard grant.

The central goal of the proposed cooperative agreement is to support urgent, on-the-ground research and conservation management actions for the Florida grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus), a federally listed and highly imperiled subspecies. Rather than funding one fixed, pre-defined set of tasks, the award is designed to provide flexible funding that can be rapidly directed to priority projects as new needs arise and as projects are identified and developed. In practice, this means the recipient would use the funds to initiate and manage time-sensitive work through subcontracts, allowing partners to respond quickly to emerging threats, new scientific findings, or immediate management opportunities that could affect the species survival.

The overarching purpose described in the notice is to maximize the chance of preventing the extinction of the Florida grasshopper sparrow by implementing multiple recovery actions at the same time, with an emphasis on stabilizing and ultimately increasing the wild population. The notice highlights that this flexibility is considered crucial because extinction risk is immediate and recovery requires coordinated action on several fronts, which can include research to fill knowledge gaps, targeted conservation interventions, and habitat-related management efforts that support breeding and survival.

Although the notice states that eligibility is "unrestricted" in a general sense, it also clearly indicates the intent to award to a single source, effectively limiting this action to a specific recipient rather than opening a competition. The rationale provided is that the intended recipient, referenced as WFF in the text, is uniquely qualified to administer the project because they manage funds specifically intended for endangered species research, conservation, recovery, and habitat restoration. The recipient also has a recent track record of working cooperatively with state and federal partners on Florida grasshopper sparrow initiatives and on projects involving other federally listed species, which is presented as a justification for why a single-source approach is appropriate.

From a program classification standpoint, the opportunity falls under a discretionary funding category and aligns with activity areas spanning education, environment, science and technology, and other research and development, with CFDA (now often referred to through Assistance Listing) number 15.657. The posting indicates an expected single award (Expected Awards: 1). The listing also shows an award ceiling value of 1 as entered in the source data, which appears to be an administrative placeholder rather than a meaningful dollar cap, since no explicit funding amount is clearly stated in the provided text. The closing date field reinforces that this is not an open application opportunity, repeating that it is a notice of intent to award to a single source rather than a standard competitive announcement.

Overall, the notice communicates a targeted federal effort to rapidly support and coordinate high-priority recovery work for one of Florida most endangered grassland birds, using a cooperative agreement structure to enable close coordination and adaptable funding that can be directed to urgent subcontracted projects as conditions and recovery needs evolve.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the education, environment, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FLORIDA GRASSHOPPER SPARROW RECOVERY" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.657.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 16, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD TO A SINGLE SOURCE ANNOUNCEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NOTICE.. (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 $1.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for F18AS00356

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