# Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/w81ewf-25-soi-0006-interior-least-tern-monitoring-on-the-mcclellan-kerr/  
Official notice: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/359824

> Engineer Research and Development Center offered grants of up to $48,000 to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make $240,000 in total. Applications closed on August 13, 2025.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Opportunity number | W81EWF-25-SOI-0006 |
| Agency | Engineer Research and Development Center |
| Status | Forecast |
| Deadline | August 13, 2025 |
| Award ceiling | $48,000 |
| Award floor | not stated |
| Expected awards | not stated |
| Total funding | $240,000 |
| Cost sharing | not required |
| Assistance Listings | 12.630 |

## Who can apply

- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

This opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the Great Rivers or Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU).

## What the grant funds

A. Short Description of Funding Opportunity: ERDC seeks applications for Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District. B. Background: Least terns (Sternula antillarum) are fish-eating birds that nest in a variety of open habitats on rivers and coasts (Thompson et al. 1997). The interior population of the Interior Least Tern (ILT) is defined as all Least Terns nesting >50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico on rivers of the Great Plains and in the Lower Mississippi Valley (USFWS 1985, 1990). Most individuals of this population nest on sandbars with little to no vegetation that are located on large rivers, primarily the Mississippi, Red, Arkansas, Canadian, Missouri, and Platte (Lott 2006). ILT was listed as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)in 1985 due to concerns about breeding habitat loss and degradation associated with water resource development projects, which affect a large proportion of this population (USFWS 1985). Large multi-purpose dams, engineered navigation systems, bank stabilization projects, and wells or canals that remove water for irrigated agriculture affect ILT nesting habitat across much of their range (USFWS 1990). Many of the large dams and navigation systems in the range of ILT are operated by USACE (U. S. Army Corps of Engineers 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004a, 2004b, 2005) as detailed in the incidental take statement of the 2016 PBO in accordance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (USFWS 2016). Historically, sandbar nesting habitat on many rivers throughout the range of ILT has been lost or strongly degraded due to channel responses to large dam placement or channelization for navigation (Friedman et al. 1998, Funk and Robinson 1974, Williams 1978, Stinnett et al. 1988, Tommelleri 1984, and Knoll 2006). In addition to this initial (and in some cases, ongoing) pulse of habitat loss during channel adjustment to large-scale river engineering, multi-purpose dam operations continue to have direct effects on ILT reproductive success (e.g., nest and chick mortality due to flooding) that are strongest directly below 8 large multi-purpose dams on the Arkansas, Red, Canadian, and Missouri Rivers (USFWS 2003, 2005a). Habitat restoration efforts and monitoring has been ongoing on the Arkansas River since 2016 to present.

## Questions people ask

### Is W81EWF-25-SOI-0006 still open?

No. It closed on August 13, 2025. A newer notice is open: W912HZ26S0001, closes January 1, 2027 (55 days left).

### Who can apply for Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District?

Engineer Research and Development Center accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

### What is the deadline for Interior Least Tern Monitoring on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the Little Rock Corps District?

Closed August 13, 2025. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

### How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $48,000 each. About $240,000 in total.

### Who has won Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Battelle Memorial Institute, Msi Stem Research & Development Consortium, University of California San Diego. The program made 1,101 awards worth $1.3 billion in that time.