The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is offering financial assistance to wildlife and natural resource management agencies and departments of states, the District of Columbia, and federally-recognized Native American Tribes for efforts related to the management of WNS.
Donor Name: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/08/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The goal of this funding opportunity is to help State and Tribal partners fulfill information needs for conserving bats, implement management actions for WNS and susceptible bat species, and actively engage in the National Response to WNS.
2024 Priorities
- Conduct, participate in and provide support for WNS treatment and management research and implementation, including, but not limited to the following tools:
- WNS vaccine;
- roost disinfection procedures;
- management of hibernacula to improve microclimate conditions;
- field testing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or probiotics.
- Conduct bat population monitoring and disease surveillance to inform management, with a focus on the following objectives:
- developing and maintaining long-term data streams for monitoring bat populations, especially through use of winter and summer colony counts, mobile and stationary acoustics, and capture records in line with NABat protocols and data archiving standards;
- processing bat monitoring data and uploading them to the NABat database for use in population analyses;
- performing disease and/or pathogen surveillance in concert with National and State WNS plans or priorities.
- Implement conservation strategies for WNS-affected or WNS-vulnerable species with the goal of improving survivorship or resilience:
- Restoration, reinforcement, or improvement of important bat roosts or surrounding habitat.
- Management actions or conservation agreements to protect bats from disturbance, predation, disease, or other threats.
- Conservation and preservation of roosting locations for WNS-affected and WNS-vulnerable bat species, with a focus on long-term protection and resilience to climate change.
- Curtail the spread of Pd through implementing decontamination and containment strategies or managing risk at bat roosts.
- Build and maintain local expertise and partnerships for long-term capacity to advance management and monitoring of bats.
- Engage with working groups, committees, workshops, and meetings of the WNS National Response Team
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Funding: $1,500,000
- Maximum Award: $75,000
- Minimum Award: $10,000
Project Period
Proposed projects should aim to be completed within 1 year of the proposed start of the project.
Eligibility Criteria
- State governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).
For more information, visit Grants.gov.