GLNF-CESU Conduct Deer Survey on NMI-SLBE | NPS NOIP19AC00183

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOIP19AC00183

The GLNF-CESU Conduct Deer Survey on NMI-SLBE grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number NPS NOIP19AC00183) is a National Park Service (Department of the Interior) cooperative agreement intended to support a field-based wildlife monitoring project on the Manitou Islands, which are part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The core purpose is to generate management-ready information about white-tailed deer, while also documenting other medium and large mammals that share the same habitat. By building on established methods already used on other Great Lakes islands, the work is designed to produce results that are comparable across island systems and useful for broader ecological understanding.

The project has two main goals. First, it aims to monitor and estimate the relative abundance of deer and other co-occurring mammals on the Manitou Islands, with the primary focus placed on white-tailed deer on North Manitou Island. Second, it seeks to measure vegetation understory characteristics and evaluate how those understory conditions relate to differences in deer relative abundance across the study area. In practical terms, the project is not only about counting deer presence; it is also about connecting deer activity patterns to the condition and structure of the forest understory, which can be strongly influenced by browsing pressure and can, in turn, influence deer habitat use.

The recipient is expected to conduct a structured field study using camera traps as the main monitoring tool. Camera traps are a standard, noninvasive way to detect wildlife, especially mammals that are difficult to survey consistently through direct observation. Although deer are the focal species, camera deployments can also capture information on a range of other species that may be present on both islands, expanding the value of the dataset beyond a single-species study. The vegetation component complements the camera work by documenting understory features that may explain variation in deer detections from site to site, supporting more ecologically grounded interpretation rather than treating deer activity as an isolated metric.

A key element of the opportunity is that the study design is expected to follow established protocols previously applied in the Great Lakes region, specifically those used across the 18 islands of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (referenced as Allen et al. 2018). Using the same standardized approach is important because it allows the National Park Service and the research community to compare results between the Manitou Islands and other island systems. Standardization also tends to improve efficiency and data quality by relying on methods that have already been tested for detecting medium and large mammals native to the region.

The anticipated benefits extend beyond the immediate monitoring results. The opportunity explicitly emphasizes value to the broader scientific community, including researchers outside the NPS, by producing new knowledge and disseminating natural resource information derived from the study. It also highlights educational and workforce development outcomes: students involved in the work would gain hands-on experience conducting real-world natural resource projects, including field sampling, data collection, and applied analysis, in a setting that directly supports public land management.

From a management perspective, the findings are intended to inform National Park Service decision-making related to deer and potentially other mammals. The description specifically notes that results may support deer management decisions, including but not limited to considerations around public hunting, indicating that the work is expected to produce actionable insights relevant to population management and ecosystem impacts. By linking mammal relative abundance with understory characteristics, the project can help managers evaluate how deer presence corresponds with vegetation conditions, which is often central to understanding broader ecological effects and planning interventions.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement, with an expected single award. The award ceiling is listed at $90,000. The eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, reflecting the intent to carry out the work through an academic partner that can also support student involvement and research dissemination. The opportunity is associated with CFDA number 15.945 and was originally created on April 10, 2019, with an original closing date of April 20, 2019.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the education, employment, labor and training, environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "GLNF-CESU Conduct Deer Survey on NMI-SLBE" 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 Apr 10, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 20, 2019. (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 $90,000.00 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 NPS NOIP19AC00183

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