Conservation Actions for Desert Tortoise in the Shield Ranch Grazing Allotment | N624731920026

Opportunity Information: Apply for N624731920026

The grant opportunity titled Conservation Actions for Desert Tortoise in the Shield Ranch Grazing Allotment (Funding Opportunity Number N624731920026) is a Department of Defense cooperative agreement administered through Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest (NAVFAC SW) on behalf of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC). It is built around a specific mitigation need tied to MCAGCC expanding its training footprint into newly acquired western and southern areas, a change analyzed in a 2017 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. As part of the required environmental compliance for that expansion, the Marine Corps must carry out conservation measures at off-installation recipient sites under a formal Biological Opinion (8-8-11-F-65RF). This funding is meant to support those required actions, focusing on one key off-base area: the Shield Ranch grazing allotment.

The background for the project is MCAGCCs large desert tortoise translocation effort conducted from 2017 to 2019. Ahead of the new training regime, MCAGCC moved an estimated 1,300 adult desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from within the installation training footprint to designated recipient locations both on and off the base. Many off-base recipient areas are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and some of those lands are leased for private uses. The Shield Ranch allotment is one of those leased parcels. It is a very large grazing allotment of roughly 150,000 acres within the Ord-Rodman Desert Wildlife Management Area, located adjacent to the Lucerne-Ord tortoise translocation site. Because this allotment is connected to the broader translocation landscape, it is a logical and high-priority place to implement long-term habitat protection and monitoring measures that help stabilize the translocated and resident tortoise populations.

A central partner in this effort is Preservation Ranch, LLC, an entity created specifically to implement desert tortoise recovery actions in the West Mojave Desert by building partnerships that work across public and private lands while still respecting multiple-use management. Preservation Ranch has partnered with Shield Ranch to carry out conservation work on the allotment and has been granted authority to enter into agreements with the Department of Defense on the ranchs behalf. The opportunity also builds on an earlier relationship: on April 4, 2017, Preservation Ranch and the U.S. Navy entered into a cooperative agreement intended to create a framework for landscape-scale conservation collaboration, benefit listed and sensitive species, and improve coordination among stakeholders across the region. The 2019 opportunity is described as a new action that had not been previously awarded, meaning it is intended to fund a new set of on-the-ground mitigation tasks rather than simply extend prior work.

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to design and implement a practical package of conservation actions on the Shield Ranch grazing allotment that directly addresses the requirements in the Biological Opinion. The agreement is structured as a cooperative program, meaning the government is not just writing a check; NAVFAC SW and MCAGCC are expected to work collaboratively with Preservation Ranch on selecting, refining, and carrying out the actions. Preservation Ranch proposes specific actions, and the government reviews them and jointly decides on the final set of measures that best satisfies the Biological Opinion obligations while fitting the conditions on the allotment.

The types of activities envisioned are targeted, field-based desert tortoise conservation measures. The notice lists a menu of potential actions that can be combined as needed, including desert tortoise protective fencing, off-highway vehicle exclusion fencing, rehabilitation of habitat along closed OHV routes, invasive species control, predator control, conservation monitoring, and maintenance of conservation infrastructure. Maintenance explicitly includes recurring tasks like inspecting permanent desert tortoise exclusion fencing to ensure it remains functional. In practice, the project is meant to reduce human and vehicle impacts, improve habitat quality, limit threats that increase mortality or disrupt behavior, and generate monitoring information that can demonstrate whether mitigation is working at this off-base recipient site.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized under Natural Resources and uses a cooperative agreement instrument. The CFDA number is 12.300. The listed award ceiling is $1,264,887, with one expected award. The opportunity was created on August 19, 2019, with an original closing date of September 4, 2019. Eligibility is broadly labeled as "Others" with additional eligibility details referenced in the full announcement, but the narrative makes clear the intended implementing partner is Preservation Ranch acting with authority tied to the Shield Ranch allotment. Overall, the grant is best understood as a compliance-driven, mission-linked conservation project: it channels DoD funding into specific, measurable off-base actions that mitigate impacts from expanded military training while supporting recovery of a federally protected desert species in the West Mojave landscape.

• The Department of Defense, NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Conservation Actions for Desert Tortoise in the Shield Ranch Grazing Allotment" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.300.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 19, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 04, 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 $1,264,887.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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