Cooperative Agreement with Affiliated Partner of the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G22AS00114

Opportunity Information: Apply for G22AS00114

This grant opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) cooperative agreement aimed at supporting a collaborative monitoring effort focused on a specific sensitive plant: threecorner milkvetch (Astragalus geyeri var. triquetrus). The core purpose is to design and carry out field monitoring of the species populations and their habitat conditions inside the footprint of the Gemini Solar Project. The monitoring is intended to document and quantify how solar development-related factors, including the presence of solar panels, vegetation management or treatment activities, and other disturbances tied to project construction and operations, may affect the plant and the habitat it depends on.

The award is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, specifically through the Colorado Plateau CESU network. In practical terms, that means the work is structured as a partnership-oriented project where the recipient is expected to coordinate closely with USGS and potentially other stakeholders, rather than operating as a stand-alone grantee with minimal federal involvement. CESUs are designed to combine research, technical assistance, and education capabilities across partner institutions, so the funded work typically emphasizes applied science that can directly inform land and resource management decisions.

Only organizations that are already recognized partners within the Colorado Plateau CESU are eligible to apply. The listing identifies the eligible applicant category as "Others," but it narrows eligibility by stating that applicants must be participating CESU partners, which commonly include universities, tribes, non-profits, and other approved entities within that CESU consortium. Because it is a cooperative agreement (rather than a standard grant), applicants should expect substantial involvement from USGS in areas such as study design, methods coordination, data standards, and interpretation of results.

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and falls under the "Science and Technology and other Research and Development" activity area, with CFDA number 15.808. The funding opportunity number is G22AS00114. The maximum federal funding amount (award ceiling) is listed as $35,402, and the posting indicates an anticipated single award ("ExpectedAwards" is shown without a number but implies a limited selection, typically one). The opportunity was created on December 6, 2021, and the original closing date for applications was January 6, 2022.

In terms of what the project would likely include, the funded partner would be expected to develop a monitoring framework suitable for detecting changes in milkvetch abundance, distribution, demographic performance (such as survival, recruitment, or reproduction), and habitat quality over time. The work would also need to connect observed patterns to specific on-site drivers associated with the solar facility, such as shading and microclimate changes from panel arrays, soil disturbance and compaction, altered hydrology and runoff patterns, weed invasion risk, and the direct and indirect effects of vegetation treatments used for site management. The emphasis on documenting effects suggests the project should generate defensible baseline and follow-up data that can be used to evaluate impacts and potentially inform mitigation or adaptive management decisions at the site.

Overall, the opportunity is a small, targeted research-and-monitoring cooperative agreement for a CESU partner to help USGS and associated managers understand how utility-scale solar development activities within the Gemini Solar Project area may influence a rare or sensitive plant species and its habitat, using a structured monitoring approach that can support science-based management.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement with Affiliated Partner of the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-12-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-01-06. (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 $35,402.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G22AS00114

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