OpportunityTitle: Avian Health and Disease Surveillance and Monitoring Support
Description: Avian Health and Disease Program Region 2 Request for Proposals FY 2012 Grants.gov Announcement I. Purpose This announcement solicits proposals for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service&#146;s (USFWS&#146;s) Southwest Avian Health and Disease Program. In 2012, this program will provide small grants for the conservation of birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Proposals should address the geographic area that includes Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. This region is an important wintering and stop-over area for migratory birds. Factors affecting habitat conditions, immune status, and disease prevalence are of great significance to the health of migratory bird populations utilizing this region. This grant program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance at: https://www.cfda.gov/index?s=program&amp;mode=form&amp;tab=step1&amp;id=0304cd16f0f0b2aef93ceaf90df29800 Avian Health and Disease: The Avian Health and Disease program (AHD) supports avian conservation, surveillance and monitoring goals of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by including health and disease assessments into activities related to the management of all migratory bird species. In 2012, we seek proposals to: a. Establish avian health baselines; b. Identify existing and emerging avian health and disease issues, especially viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases; c. Identify linkages among the epidemiological triad of susceptible host, capable agent, and suitable environment that enhance disease expression; d. Develop, guide, and implement appropriate and effective avian disease management actions. e. Ensure disease preparedness and prevention Before submitting proposals on any of the above topics, we strongly encourage you to contact Dan Collins, Migratory Game Bird Coordinator, USFWS Division of Migratory Birds (505-248-6881; dan_collins@fws.gov), to discuss potential projects. He will help you further develop your proposal ideas. To prepare a complete proposal, authors should have a copy of this Avian Health and Disease Program-Region 2 Request for Proposals (FY2012) and the FWS Avian Health and Disease Program National Strategic Plan. These can be obtained from Dan Collins. II. History This program was created in 2011 to address the needs of birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Increasing expansion of human populations has led to habitat fragmentation, changes in land-use patterns, and increased pressure on wild bird populations. Globalization of marketing and distribution has increased zoonotic and emerging disease risks. Many of these emerging diseases involve avian reservoirs or susceptible hosts. Increasing the complexity of this picture are changes in climate; avian populations may need to alter site fidelity in response to weather patterns, and this will introduce new opportunities for transmission of avian diseases and place pressure on populations already stressed by anthropogenic factors. To address these issues, the USFWS established the Avian Health and Disease Program (AHDP) to conduct work in avian health and disease surveillance, response, and management in wild bird populations. III. The Process Each proposal should include the following information and be submitted as outlined below: A. TITLE SECTION IV.A. Title of Project IV.B. Principal Investigator (include full contact information) IV.C. Co-Investigators B. INTRODUCTION V.A. Background and Justification Briefly describe the project, including species, location, avian health issue or concern. V.B. Objective(s) List all objectives of the proposed project V.C. Management Action(s) Identify any on-going management activities associated with the proposed project (e.g., annual banding drive, aerial surveys etc) and any management actions that may result as a consequence of this project. C. METHODS VI.A. Data Collection Methods should be described with enough detail to allow reviewers of the proposal to clearly see how the objectives of the proposal will be met. Key elements to be described in this section include (1) type, number, and location samples to be collected and analyzed, (2) type of health parameter, pathogen or non-infectious agent to be addressed (3) Other information that will be collected as part of this or ancillary projects VI.B. Analysis Identify laboratory or other analyses that will be conducted on the samples. Briefly describe methods used for data analyses. D. RELEVANCE TO NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN Below are specific topics identified within the National Strategic Plan that should be considered in proposals seeking funding from the R2-AHD program: HEALTH AND DISEASE IMPACT INVESTIGATIONS Integrate health surveillance into field activities &#149;Initiate or expand investigation of regionally specific avian health and disease problems &#149;Collect baseline data on avian species to assess health and disease concerns &#149;Evaluate critical avian populations: species of concern, threatened and endangered species (conduct field investigations in combination with the ongoing management activities) &#149;Investigate infectious diseases (viruses, bacteria, fungal infections) &#149;Investigate non-infectious diseases (parasites, biotoxins, contaminants) &#149;Conduct targeted pathogen surveillance &#149;Investigate indigenous and exotic disease problems Climate change &#149;Incorporate AHD activities into DOI climate change strategic plans, LCCs, CCPs and other planning documents. &#149;Integrate health surveillance with National Wildlife Refuges Inventories and Monitoring disease surveillance priorities &#149;Investigate the impact of climate change on the biology of wildlife disease reservoirs and vector species &#149;Investigate disease impacts on species adaptation strategies &#149;Identify ancillary stressors influencing avian susceptibility to disease (decoupling of biological processes) Human-induced effects on disease transmission &#149;Assess the increased disease risks associated with urban, suburban, and agricultural environments (water quality, habitat fragmentation, contaminants) &#149;Aid in the prevention and management of invasive species introduction &#149;Adjust FWS personnel behaviors during field activities to decrease the potential of disease transmission to humans, other wildlife, other geographic sites Describe how your project addresses any of the components listed in the section above. You may also discuss how your project relates to any other objectives or support areas identified in the National Strategic Plan. E. LITERATURE CITED F. PARTNERSHIPS Identify collaborators and describe their contribution to the project. Also, identify contract laboratories or agencies. G. BUDGET Include costs for FY2012.. Be as specific as possible; include line-item estimates for salary, travel, supplies, equipment, laboratory analysis, helicopter or airplane costs, fuel, food, contracts etc. IV. Funding Availability In FY 2012, it is estimated that approximately $200,000 will be available for this program. However, at the time of this announcement posting, the USFWS&#146;s 2012 budget was not finalized and it is possible that funding availability could be more or less than $200,000. The maximum that an individual proposal can receive is $50,000. Based on past experience, a typical grant ranges from $10,000 to $30,000. Note: if the USFWS&#146;s budget allocation from Congress is delayed, we cannot guarantee that funding will be available for the 2012 field season. V. Eligibility Information The following entities are eligible to apply for funds from this grant program: Federal, state, and local government agencies; Federally-recognized Native American tribal government agencies; Native American tribal organizations other than Federally-recognized tribal governments; public- and State-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations with 501C(3) IRS status, other than institutions of higher education; and nonprofit organizations without 501C(3) IRS status, other than institutions of higher education. VI. Reporting For all projects, an annual progress report is due by March 1, 2012. Report formats will be distributed by the Coordinator in Fall 2012 VII. Application and Submission Information Send proposals (content described above) as Microsoft Word files by email to: dan_collins@fws.gov, by March 15, 2012. If the proposal has materials that cannot easily be emailed, they may be sent by regular or express ground mail to: Dan Collins, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at the address below. All applicants except those with Federal agencies are also required to submit an SF-424 form, Application for Federal Assistance, along with their proposal. This form, with instructions, can be found at: http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424_2_1-V2.1.pdf. VIII. Agency Contact Daniel P. Collins Migratory Game Bird Coordinator USFWS-Region 2 P. O. Box 1306 Albuquerque, NM 87103 Office: (505) 248-6881 Cell: (505) 377-4517 Fax: (505) 248-6674 Email: Dan_Collins@fws.gov
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Dan Collins email
GrantorContactText: Daniel P. Collins &lt;br/&gt;Migratory Game Bird Coordinator &lt;br/&gt;USFWS-Region 2 &lt;br/&gt;P. O. Box 1306 &lt;br/&gt;Albuquerque, NM 87103 &lt;br/&gt;Office: (505) 248-6881 &lt;br/&gt;Fax: (505) 248-6674  &lt;br/&gt;