Bioacoustics Monitoring for Wildlife Management | USDA FS R13 2024 24 22 WLF 03

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FS R13 2024 24 22 WLF 03

The USDA Forest Service outreach of interest (OOI) titled Bioacoustics Monitoring for Wildlife Management is not a traditional grant solicitation with a defined pot of money and a guaranteed award. Instead, it is a relationship-building and partner-scouting announcement meant to identify organizations and communities that have ideas, capacity, or interest in collaborating with the Forest Service on future wildlife monitoring projects through partnership agreements authorized under existing legislative authorities. Submitting a response is essentially a way to raise your hand and start a conversation with the agency about potential project concepts that could later be shaped into formal partnership work.

The core purpose is to expand the Forest Service's ability to monitor wildlife populations and evaluate how species respond to land management actions, especially as the pace and scale of forest work increases nationwide. The agency emphasizes that it needs strong, ongoing information on species presence and absence, abundance, occupancy, habitat conditions, and population trends. Beyond routine surveys, the OOI highlights a growing demand for effectiveness monitoring, meaning post-treatment assessments after activities like fuels reduction, restoration work, or other uses that can affect habitat (including recreation). The Forest Service frames this monitoring as a cornerstone of adaptive management: collecting data, learning from outcomes, and then course-correcting future actions based on what the monitoring shows. The work is also positioned as supportive of broader agency priorities such as the Climate Adaptation Strategy and requirements tied to the 2012 planning rule.

A major focus of the opportunity is bioacoustics, particularly the expanded use of automated recording units (ARUs). The Forest Service points to rapid advances in acoustic monitoring technology that allow continuous or scheduled recording of wildlife sounds at large spatial and temporal scales. ARUs are presented as a way to increase survey coverage and staff capacity while also standardizing monitoring methods over broad landscapes. The agency specifically notes that ARUs can help detect and identify a wide range of taxa including birds, bats, frogs, and increasingly insects. Another key benefit is operational and safety related: ARUs can reduce the need for staff to be physically present in difficult terrain or during risky times such as winter conditions or night surveys, because devices can be deployed in daytime and programmed to record at night.

The agency is looking for project ideas that help it meet stewardship responsibilities for conserving both common species and species of conservation concern. It also makes clear that it wants partnerships that are grounded in local communities and that build long-term shared investment in outcomes, described as co-stewardship and shared ownership. A stated priority is increasing representation in these partnerships, including participation from diverse and underserved backgrounds. The Forest Service also emphasizes workforce and community benefits: projects may create opportunities for job training, hands-on experience with emerging monitoring technology, personal development, conservation service, and broader appreciation of natural resources, all with the goal of cultivating the next generation of natural resource stewards.

Eligibility is broad and inclusive. The OOI invites responses from for-profit entities, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and government entities at the federal, state, local, and Native American tribal levels. It also includes special purpose districts such as public utility districts, fire districts, conservation districts, school districts, and ports. The notice directs interested parties to follow the instructions in the attached Outreach of Interest Template Instructions document, indicating that submissions should be formatted according to a provided template rather than a standard grant application package.

Key administrative details show this is an "Other" category opportunity with funding instrument type listed as "Other," under CFDA 10.699, and an original closing date of 2025-02-07. The award ceiling is listed as 0 and expected awards are not specified, which aligns with the OOI being primarily a mechanism to collect partner interest and project concepts rather than to immediately obligate funds through a competitive grant award. The practical takeaway is that this announcement is an entry point into future Forest Service partnership work focused on bioacoustic wildlife monitoring, effectiveness monitoring tied to expanding forest management activities, and community-centered collaboration that improves monitoring capacity and representation.

• The Forest Service in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bioacoustics Monitoring for Wildlife Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.699.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA FS R13 2024 24 22 WLF 03

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