Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District | W81EWF 20 SOI 0016

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 20 SOI 0016

This grant opportunity, titled "Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District," supports field research and monitoring focused on the Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), a fish-eating bird that nests on open, sparsely vegetated habitats such as sandbars along large river systems. The "interior" population is defined as least terns nesting more than 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, primarily on major rivers across the Great Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley, including the Mississippi, Red, Arkansas, Canadian, Missouri, and Platte Rivers. Because these birds rely heavily on bare or lightly vegetated sandbar habitat, they are especially sensitive to changes in river flow, sediment movement, and channel structure.

The opportunity is grounded in the species conservation history under the Endangered Species Act. The Interior Least Tern was listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1985 due to widespread loss and degradation of nesting habitat linked to large-scale water resource development. Over time, the construction and operation of multipurpose dams, engineered navigation channels, bank stabilization, and water withdrawals for irrigation have reshaped many river systems in ways that reduce the formation and persistence of suitable sandbars. In addition to long-term habitat decline caused by channelization and dam-driven channel adjustments, ongoing dam operations can directly reduce reproductive success through nest and chick losses during high-water events and sudden flooding, with effects often most pronounced downstream of major dams. The notice also connects this work to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operational footprint, noting that many structures affecting least tern habitat are operated by USACE and addressed through ESA-related consultations and incidental take considerations (including reference to a 2016 programmatic biological opinion).

Geographically, the project is targeted specifically to the Arkansas River within Arkansas, concentrating on the reach between Fort Smith and the Mississippi River along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS). Monitoring is expected to occur from downstream of Wilbur D. Mills Dam at about river mile 10 up to roughly river mile 285. The work area reflects where navigation and hydroelectric operations have been identified as contributing to negative impacts on least tern breeding habitat and productivity, and where updated, consistent on-the-ground data are needed to understand current conditions and inform practical conservation responses.

The core of the funded work is breeding-season field monitoring and habitat assessment. The recipient would be expected to conduct nest monitoring and colony inventories, tracking where birds are nesting, how many nests are initiated, and how those nests fare through the season. Alongside nest work, the project includes habitat assessments to document the condition of nesting sites, such as the availability and quality of sandbar habitat and other features that influence whether colonies establish and successfully fledge chicks. The anticipated monitoring scope includes at least 12 river colony locations plus an additional 3 to 5 rooftop colonies within the Arkansas River Valley. Rooftop nesting is included because least terns have also been documented using flat rooftops covered partly or fully with pea gravel or small rock, which can mimic the open, stony texture of natural sandbar nesting sites. Rooftop sites would be monitored only with appropriate permissions, but they are treated as an important part of understanding how the population is using both natural and human-made habitats in the region.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the Department of Defense through the Engineer Research and Development Center, with funding provided via a cooperative agreement under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category (CFDA 12.630). The funding opportunity number is W81EWF 20 SOI 0016. The posting indicates one expected award, with an award ceiling of $58,000. The original posting date was April 23, 2020, and the original closing date was June 12, 2020. Eligible applicants are listed broadly as "Others," with additional eligibility details referenced in the full announcement.

Overall, the purpose of the grant is to generate defensible, field-based information on least tern breeding distribution, nesting effort, reproductive outcomes, and habitat conditions along a heavily managed navigation river system. That information is intended to help quantify how operations and altered river conditions relate to tern productivity, and to support evaluation of conservation measures that could stabilize or improve outcomes for the remaining Interior Least Tern colonies in this Arkansas River reach.

• The Department of Defense, Engineer Research and Development Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District" 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 23, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 12, 2020. (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 $58,000.00 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).

Apply for W81EWF 20 SOI 0016

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