Wildlife Management | P18AS00077

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00077

The Wildlife Management grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P18AS00077) is a discretionary funding program offered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, focused on natural resources work in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM). The award is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the National Park Service expects to be actively involved with the recipient in carrying out the project rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back. The program was created on April 5, 2018, with an original application deadline of April 30, 2018, and it is associated with CFDA number 15.931.

The core purpose of the opportunity is to support a single intern position dedicated to hands-on wildlife management support in GRSM. The intern would work alongside park staff on a mix of field and operational tasks that directly contribute to managing and monitoring key wildlife species and related visitor-safety infrastructure in one of the most heavily visited national parks in the country. The emphasis is practical, on-the-ground experience and exposure to real management challenges, rather than purely academic research.

Work activities described in the announcement span several major program areas. For black bear management, the intern would likely assist with monitoring bear activity, responding to human-bear conflict situations, collecting field observations, and supporting management actions designed to keep bears wild and visitors safe. For wild hog control, the intern would help with efforts aimed at reducing the ecological damage caused by feral hogs, which can include supporting monitoring, assisting with control operations under staff direction, and documenting outcomes. Bat population monitoring suggests involvement in surveys or monitoring protocols that track bat presence and population trends, which is especially relevant given threats like white-nose syndrome and habitat pressures. Beaver management may involve assessing beaver activity and impacts on waterways and infrastructure, supporting coexistence strategies, and helping track population and site conditions. The mention of food storage cable repairs points to work maintaining bear-resistant food storage systems at backcountry sites, a practical but important task that reduces wildlife habituation and prevents problem encounters. Elk management and population monitoring would likely include assisting with surveys, observing herd behavior and distribution, and contributing to data collection that informs population management decisions.

Funding for the project has an award ceiling of $23,800. The listing shows expected awards as 0, which can appear in postings where the agency is not committing to a specific number of awards in advance, or where the figure was left as a placeholder in the published record. Regardless, the description clearly indicates the intent is to support one intern to carry out the described duties.

Eligibility is limited primarily to nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), along with other eligible applicants as clarified in the opportunitys additional eligibility information. In practical terms, this suggests the National Park Service is looking for a qualified nonprofit partner that can host, recruit, and administer the internship while coordinating closely with GRSM staff under the cooperative agreement framework.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted internship support grant aimed at strengthening day-to-day wildlife management capacity in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It combines species management, invasive species control, monitoring of sensitive wildlife populations, and maintenance work that directly reduces human-wildlife conflicts, giving the intern broad exposure to the realities of applied wildlife management in a high-visitation national park setting.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Wildlife Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.931.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 30, 2018. (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 $23,800.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for P18AS00077

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