Cottonwood Forest Establishment along the Green and Yampa River | P18AS00518

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00518

The Cottonwood Forest Establishment along the Green and Yampa River opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P18AS00518) is a National Park Service grant that supports research focused on how river processes shape riparian cottonwood forests in two major park units in the Colorado River basin: Canyonlands National Park (along the Green River) and Dinosaur National Monument (along the Green and Yampa rivers). The central purpose is to improve the National Park Service's understanding of how changes in river flow patterns (the flow regime) and changes in sediment supply, movement, and storage have influenced where cottonwood forests establish, how they expand or decline, and what physical floodplain conditions make successful cottonwood recruitment more likely. In practical terms, the project is meant to connect hydrology and geomorphology (how water moves and how rivers build and reshape floodplains) to the long-term dynamics of cottonwood stands, which are key components of riparian habitat in the region.

A major emphasis of the project is learning from the past to guide future management. By reconstructing or otherwise characterizing historical conditions of flow and floodplain formation that produced extensive cottonwood forests, the parks aim to identify the combinations of floods, sediment availability, and floodplain-building processes that created suitable seedbeds and establishment surfaces for cottonwoods. That understanding is intended to help park managers more clearly define and communicate land and water management actions that could promote future cottonwood recruitment and maintain the broader ecological benefits tied to healthy riparian corridors. Those benefits typically include habitat structure for birds and other wildlife, bank stability, shading and temperature moderation, nutrient cycling, and overall riparian biodiversity. While the notice does not list specific tasks, the description indicates the work should directly inform management decisions related to river operations and watershed-scale influences on sediment and floodplain development, with relevance not only to these two park units but also to riparian restoration and management across the larger Colorado River basin.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under the Natural Resources activity category (CFDA 15.945). Funding is provided through a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates the agency expects to be substantially involved during the project period (for example, through coordination, data sharing, joint planning, or collaborative interpretation of results). Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, positioning the opportunity primarily for universities and similar academic entities capable of conducting applied river and riparian ecosystem research in partnership with the National Park Service. The opportunity anticipated a single award, with an award ceiling of $42,300. The funding opportunity was created on August 13, 2018, and had an original closing date of August 22, 2018, reflecting a short application window typical of some targeted research solicitations.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as targeted, management-relevant research funding aimed at clarifying how altered hydrology and sediment dynamics affect cottonwood forest establishment on river floodplains in Canyonlands and Dinosaur, and translating that knowledge into clearer, more defensible actions that can support riparian cottonwood recruitment and associated ecosystem values across the Colorado River basin.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cottonwood Forest Establishment along the Green and Yampa River" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 13, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 22, 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 $42,300.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P18AS00518

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: