Wildlife Response Program at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California | N62473 19 2 0005

Opportunity Information: Apply for N62473 19 2 0005

The Wildlife Response Program at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) in Twentynine Palms, California is a Department of Defense funding opportunity issued by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) to support day-to-day, on-the-ground wildlife protection and compliance work on an active military installation. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means the recipient is expected to work in close coordination with the government rather than operating entirely independently. The program sits within MCAGCC Environmental Affairs and focuses on rapid response, monitoring, data management, and outreach related to protected and sensitive wildlife species that may be affected by training, construction, and other base operations.

At the core of the work is a Wildlife Call Program designed to ensure timely response when base personnel report wildlife issues. This includes situations where animals are injured, trapped, or creating a safety hazard, and the expectation is that responders can safely handle, transport, and move wildlife out of harm's way while following applicable handling protocols and wildlife protection requirements. In a setting like Twentynine Palms, where training areas overlap habitat for protected desert species, rapid response is not just a welfare issue for the animals; it is also a readiness and safety issue for the installation because it helps prevent delays, incidents, and compliance problems.

A major emphasis is the desert tortoise rapid-response clearance program. Desert tortoises are a highly protected species in the Mojave Desert region, and military training or emergency facilities operations can create sudden, time-sensitive ground-disturbing footprints. The clearance program is meant to provide quick, qualified support to survey, clear, and protect tortoises in and around emergent operational areas so that activities can proceed while minimizing harm and meeting environmental obligations. This kind of rapid-response clearance typically requires trained biologists/technicians, established procedures for avoidance and relocation when authorized, and tight coordination with base operational schedules.

The opportunity also calls for biomonitoring support for base activities, including support related to a Land Acquisition project. Biomonitoring in this context means collecting field observations and data on species such as desert tortoise, migratory birds, and other protected wildlife to understand presence, movement, nesting or breeding activity, and potential impacts from ongoing or planned activities. The monitoring work helps the installation document conditions, track changes over time, and make defensible decisions about mitigation, timing restrictions, and operational best practices. Because migratory birds are specifically mentioned, the work likely includes attention to nesting seasons and avoidance measures tied to federal protections.

Another required component is education and interpretation. The recipient is expected to produce and distribute educational and interpretive materials for both public visitors and on-base personnel. The intent is to reduce wildlife conflicts and improve compliance by making sure people on the installation understand what the Wildlife Rapid Response Program is, how to report wildlife issues, what to do (and not do) when encountering wildlife, and why certain species and habitats require special protection. Effective outreach can reduce preventable incidents, improve reporting speed, and reinforce safe and lawful behavior across a large and diverse base population.

On the technical management side, the program includes maintaining associated GIS layers, managing a geodatabase, and analyzing wildlife data trends. This means the recipient is not only collecting data, but also organizing it in a way that supports decision-making and long-term program continuity, such as mapping sensitive habitat areas, tracking incident locations, logging call responses, and integrating monitoring results into spatial datasets. The solicitation also expects analysis of data trends and publication of results in an annual report, which suggests the program is intended to produce a recurring, formal summary of response activities, monitoring outcomes, spatial patterns, and any notable changes or emerging issues relevant to MCAGCC operations.

Administratively, this was posted as a discretionary funding opportunity under CFDA 12.300 (Department of Defense), with an unrestricted eligibility statement (open to any entity type, subject to any additional eligibility language in the full solicitation package). The funding opportunity number is N62473-19-2-0005. The posting date was April 4, 2019, with an original closing date of May 6, 2019. NAVFAC anticipated a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with an award ceiling of $213,850. Overall, the grant is aimed at pairing operationally responsive wildlife handling and clearance capabilities with structured monitoring, GIS-based data stewardship, and practical education, all tailored to the needs of a high-tempo desert training installation.

• The Department of Defense, NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Wildlife Response Program at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California" 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 Apr 04, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 06, 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 $213,850.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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