Karner Blue Butterfly Assisted Migration in Western Wisconsin | F17AS00063

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00063

The Karner Blue Butterfly Assisted Migration in Western Wisconsin opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F17AS00063) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior) cooperative agreement focused on restoring and managing habitat for the federally listed Karner blue butterfly and testing assisted migration and translocation approaches in the western Wisconsin portion of the St. Croix River region. The project is designed as a hands-on, collaborative effort that combines habitat restoration, coordinated land management, and rigorous monitoring to evaluate whether moving Karner blue butterfly eggs and supporting habitat work can improve establishment and persistence across a targeted landscape corridor.

The work centers on identifying and restoring suitable Karner blue butterfly habitat at sites located between the Glacial Lakes Grantsburg Wildlife Management Complex and New Richmond, Wisconsin. The St. Croix Wetland Management District and the St. Croix River Association (SCRA) are the core partners, coordinating closely to locate priority areas, align management actions with known butterfly locations, and ensure restoration is carried out in a way that supports the butterfly's life cycle requirements. A major component includes organizing data collection with the University of Minnesota to measure the success of translocation efforts, meaning the project is not only implementing field actions but also generating evidence on outcomes and effectiveness.

A key feature of the project is that it spans multiple land ownerships and management authorities, with different entities taking the lead depending on the property type. Habitat on the Glacial Lakes Grantsburg Complex is to be managed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service properties are to be managed directly by the Service, and restoration work on private lands is to be carried out through the Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in partnership with SCRA and willing private landowners. This structure reflects the practical reality that Karner habitat often occurs as scattered patches across a mixed public-private landscape, so achieving meaningful conservation outcomes requires coordinated management across boundaries rather than isolated site work.

The opportunity is issued as a notice of intent to make a single-source award, and it is not open for applications. The Service states there is no application process because competition is considered impractical under the cited justification (505 DM 2.14.B.(4)), largely due to SCRA's unique positioning and capacity. Specifically, SCRA is described as being collocated in both Minnesota and Wisconsin and having the relationships and experience needed to work across state lines and coordinate projects that involve numerous state and federal agencies and partners, including its role as a National Park Service Friends Group. The expectation is one award, with an award ceiling of $150,000.

Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service anticipates substantial involvement in implementation rather than serving only as a pass-through funder. The Service's St. Croix Wetland Management District biologist, Christopher Trosen, is identified as a central, ongoing participant who will work closely with SCRA throughout the agreement. His responsibilities include helping identify suitable restoration sites on both public and private lands, setting management timing and options, and providing training to support rigorous monitoring. Restoration and monitoring are explicitly described as shared responsibilities between SCRA and the Service, with the Service maintaining close operational involvement for the duration of the project.

In terms of conservation strategy, the project includes the possibility of reintroducing Karner blue butterflies to Minnesota and testing assisted migration techniques by moving Karner blue butterfly eggs into parts of St. Croix County, Wisconsin. That emphasis signals a forward-looking response to habitat fragmentation and broader ecological pressures by evaluating whether carefully planned translocation, combined with habitat preparation and coordinated management, can expand or stabilize populations in suitable areas. Overall, the opportunity supports an integrated, multi-partner approach: restore and manage habitat across jurisdictions, conduct translocation where appropriate, and collect standardized data to judge whether these actions are working and how they might be improved or replicated.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Karner Blue Butterfly Assisted Migration in Western Wisconsin" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.657.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 19, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 26, 2016 There is not an application process for this funding opportunity. This is a notice of intent to award a single source cooperative agreement to the St. Croix River Association under justification 505DM 2.14.B.(4).. (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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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