Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00369

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00369

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity, issued as a cooperative agreement, for a partner organization affiliated with the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). The project is focused on science and technology research and development and falls under CFDA 15.808. Only organizations that are formal participating partners in the Pacific Northwest CESU are eligible to apply, reflecting the CESU model of collaborative research, technical assistance, and education carried out through a structured network of federal agencies and non-federal partners.

The funded work centers on the Salmon River Basin (SRB) in Idaho, a largely federally owned landscape managed primarily by the U.S. Forest Service. The basin is well known for recreation tied to its federally designated wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers. It also holds deep cultural importance for subsistence hunting and fishing, particularly for the Nez Perce and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. At the same time, the SRB contains mineral resources that are increasingly sought after in the context of the energy transition. As demand rises, the basin is experiencing growing development pressure, including the reactivation of legacy mining, the opening of new mines, and additional projects moving through exploration and permitting.

The main purpose of the research is to assess and better represent "cultural ecosystem services" in decision-making. Cultural ecosystem services are the non-material benefits people derive from ecosystems, such as recreation, sense of place, spiritual or cultural connections, heritage values, and other social meanings attached to landscapes and waters. These values can be central to community well-being and cultural continuity, yet they are difficult to monetize and are therefore often underrepresented or handled qualitatively in environmental reviews. This grant opportunity is aimed at addressing that gap by improving how these values are documented and communicated in ways that can be used alongside more conventional biophysical and economic analyses.

The overarching project goal is to develop spatially explicit information that captures the intensity and distribution of social values associated with cultural ecosystem services across the Salmon River Basin. In practice, this implies producing mapped or geospatial products that show where particular cultural and recreational values are especially high, and potentially how different values overlap with areas subject to mineral interest or development proposals. The intent is to make these cultural ecosystem service values more visible and usable in real-world contexts such as mineral development planning, environmental impact assessments, and broader resource management decisions, where tradeoffs among competing land uses are evaluated.

Administratively, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number G23AS00369, created on 2023-05-11, with an original closing date of 2023-06-12. The listed award ceiling is $102,000, and the mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project (for example, coordination on methods, iterative review of deliverables, or close collaboration on data and analysis) rather than a more hands-off grant structure.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest 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 2023-05-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-12. (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 $102,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00369

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