Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests | G19AS00110

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is this funding opportunity?

This is the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), Great Lakes Northern Forests funding opportunity titled "Transitioning to a Long-Term Ecosystem Monitoring Program in the St. Clair-Detroit River System." It was issued by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) within the Department of the Interior as a discretionary research solicitation.

What is the opportunity number?

The opportunity number is G19AS00110.

Which federal agency is offering this opportunity?

The opportunity was offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which is part of the Department of the Interior.

What type of award is being offered (grant vs. cooperative agreement)?

The solicitation was structured as a cooperative agreement. That means the project was expected to involve substantial involvement from USGS staff, rather than being a hands-off grant where the recipient operates independently.

What does "substantial involvement" mean in this context?

Based on how cooperative agreements are described in the opportunity summary, USGS staff were expected to be actively involved in the work. In practice, this typically means coordination, collaboration, and shared participation in project activities rather than USGS only providing funds and receiving reports.

What is the main purpose of the project?

The main purpose was to help transition ecosystem monitoring in the St. Clair-Detroit River System from shorter-term or project-by-project studies into a durable, long-term ecosystem monitoring program.

Is the goal simply to collect more monitoring data?

No. The emphasis was on program analysis and building a workable framework for long-term monitoring. The opportunity description highlights design and planning elements rather than just expanding data collection.

What kinds of questions or decisions would the long-term monitoring framework address?

The opportunity indicates the framework would typically address issues such as:

• Which indicators should be monitored over the long term
• How sampling should be standardized across agencies and years
• How data should be managed and shared
• How monitoring results should be used to support management decisions

What geographic area does this project focus on?

The project focus area was the St. Clair-Detroit River System, described as a high-value Great Lakes connecting channel and corridor.

What management need is driving this project?

The management need was to protect and validate the benefits of habitat restoration investments in the St. Clair and Detroit River corridor and to improve the ability to track fish population trends over time.

Why is long-term monitoring important for habitat restoration?

The opportunity description notes that habitat restoration is expensive and can take years to show measurable ecological responses. Long-term monitoring helps demonstrate outcomes, detect ecological changes, and adjust strategies when results do not meet expectations.

How does a long-term monitoring program help across funding cycles and staff turnover?

A well-structured long-term monitoring program supports continuity across funding cycles and personnel changes. This can help agencies avoid gaps in monitoring and prevent shifting methods that make results difficult to compare over time.

What topic category was this opportunity listed under?

The opportunity was categorized under "Science and Technology and other Research and Development."

What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity was tied to CFDA 15.808, which historically covered USGS research and related assistance activities.

What was the maximum funding amount (award ceiling)?

The listed award ceiling was $300,000.

How many awards were expected to be made?

The opportunity anticipated making a single award.

When was the opportunity posted and when did it close?

The posting was created on July 10, 2019, and the original closing date was July 26, 2019. This indicates a relatively short application window.

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was described as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)." The summary also notes that this is typical for CESU opportunities where eligibility may be limited to CESU network partners or otherwise defined in the full announcement.

Does this opportunity appear to be limited to CESU partners?

The summary suggests that CESU opportunities often have eligibility defined by CESU network participation or similar criteria, but the specific eligibility determination was indicated to be in the full announcement's additional eligibility information.

What kind of end result was USGS seeking from this solicitation?

The solicitation was aimed at producing an actionable plan and analytical foundation for long-term ecosystem monitoring in the St. Clair-Detroit River System, with a clear line of sight to evaluating restoration success and strengthening long-run fish population monitoring.

How does this work connect to fish population monitoring?

The opportunity explicitly links the monitoring program transition to improving the ability to track fish population trends, suggesting fish populations were a key concern within the broader ecosystem monitoring goals.