Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly Captive Rearing and Population Surveys at Defense Fuel Support Point San Pedro, California | N62473 19 2 0009

Opportunity Information: Apply for N62473 19 2 0009

This grant opportunity is a Department of Defense cooperative agreement focused on keeping the Palos Verdes blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus paloverdesensis, PVBB) from slipping back toward extinction by continuing captive rearing and conducting population surveys at Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) San Pedro in Los Angeles County, California. DFSP San Pedro is an active military fuel depot, but it also contains biologically valuable habitat and has played an outsized role in the species recovery story. After the PVBB was presumed extinct for about a decade, it was rediscovered on DFSP San Pedro in 1994. That rediscovery triggered a rapid conservation response by DoD entities (including the Defense Logistics Agency and the Department of the Navy) to meet Endangered Species Act obligations and to rebuild the species through active management. For a period, DFSP San Pedro effectively supported the last known wild population, and it remains central to current recovery and reintroduction efforts.

The work funded under this opportunity is meant to sustain and expand the long-running conservation program that has been recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program is guided by a formal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion tied to DFSP routine maintenance operations (2010), which specifically requires DFSP San Pedro to maintain a captive breeding program as part of PVBB protection and recovery. In practical terms, the cooperative agreement supports the ongoing tasks that keep the program functional year to year: rearing and breeding butterflies in captivity, monitoring and surveying populations, maintaining facilities and procedures, and producing the documentation needed for federal oversight and adaptive improvements to the program.

A key feature of the effort is that captive rearing is not limited to a single location. The agreement supports captive stock maintenance at both the primary site at DFSP San Pedro and a designated secondary rearing facility at Moorpark College in Moorpark, California. Keeping a secondary facility is framed as a safeguard against catastrophic loss at any one site (for example, disease outbreaks, facility failures, or other unexpected events) and as a way to stabilize the overall recovery pipeline. This dual-site approach also helps ensure that captive-reared individuals and related husbandry knowledge remain available to support reintroductions to other historically occupied locations on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The opportunity also reinforces a set of ongoing commitments DFSP San Pedro has made under consultation history and federal wildlife review. Those commitments include continuing to fund the existing onsite captive breeding program (originally initiated during consultation connected to a Chevron pipeline project), submitting annual reports to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service California Fish and Wildlife Office that describe methods, results, and any proposed adjustments, supporting the maintenance of secondary rearing capacity, and sharing PVBB information with other partners working to create habitat and establish additional populations. Together, these elements make the award less about launching a new pilot project and more about ensuring continuity of a proven recovery program that depends on consistent technical work and steady reporting.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the Department of Defense, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, using a cooperative agreement instrument in the Natural Resources activity area (CFDA 12.300). Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning it is broadly open to applicants unless further limitations are described elsewhere in the full announcement. The opportunity number is N62473 19 2 0009. The anticipated award ceiling is $85,000, with one expected award. The posting indicates it was created July 10, 2019, with an original application closing date of August 9, 2019. The full technical scope is referenced as being provided in a separate statement of work attachment, but the core deliverables are clearly centered on captive rearing and breeding operations at the primary and secondary facilities, along with population survey work and the annual reporting necessary to support PVBB survivorship, compliance, and broader recovery planning.

• The Department of Defense, NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly Captive Rearing and Population Surveys at Defense Fuel Support Point San Pedro, 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 Jul 10, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 09, 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 $85,000.00 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.

Apply for N62473 19 2 0009

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