Desert Tortoise Juvenile Survivorship at Mojave National Preserve | P17AS00025

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00025

The Desert Tortoise Juvenile Survivorship at Mojave National Preserve opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P17AS00025) is a National Park Service cooperative agreement intended to support applied research aimed at improving the survival rates of juvenile desert tortoises, a federally threatened species. The project focuses on Mojave National Preserve, but it is framed to generate findings that can be used more broadly across the desert tortoise range, supporting larger recovery goals tied to long-term population stability.

At its core, the effort is designed to develop, test, and evaluate two main categories of management interventions: predator exclusion and resource augmentation. Predator exclusion generally refers to techniques that reduce juvenile tortoise mortality by preventing or limiting access by predators that commonly impact young tortoises, while resource augmentation refers to actions that increase the availability of key resources needed for juvenile growth and survival, such as shelter or food and water-related habitat benefits. The grant emphasizes evaluation of effectiveness, meaning the expectation is not only to implement techniques but also to measure outcomes in a way that helps land managers determine what works, under what conditions, and to what degree survivorship can be improved.

This is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency in project coordination, technical input, or joint decision-making during the period of performance. The funding activity category is Education, Science and Technology, and other Research and Development, reflecting that the award supports scientific study with practical conservation applications rather than routine operations. The CFDA number associated with the program is 15.945, and the eligible applicants are limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, signaling that the work is expected to be conducted by a university or similar public academic entity with research capacity.

The total anticipated federal funding amount is capped at $220,498, with one expected award. Importantly, the notice is explicitly identified as a Notice of Intent to Award and not a request for applications. In practical terms, that means the National Park Service announced its intention to fund a specific project (and typically a specific recipient) without full and open competition, rather than running a competitive grant cycle. The opportunity was posted with a creation date of November 29, 2016, and the announcement functions primarily as a public transparency measure about the planned use of federal financial assistance.

Overall, the grant opportunity is best understood as targeted conservation research meant to produce management-ready results: evidence on whether predator-proofing strategies and habitat/resource enhancements can measurably increase juvenile desert tortoise survivorship, thereby contributing to recovery efforts at Mojave National Preserve and informing strategies that could be replicated or adapted across the species range.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the education, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Desert Tortoise Juvenile Survivorship at Mojave National Preserve" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 29, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by This Notice of Intent to Award is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Services intention to fund the following federal financial assistance project without full and open competition.. (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 $220,498.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P17AS00025

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