Habitat Improvement for the Endangered Mohave Tui Chub (fish) at Mojave National Preserve | P19AS00152

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00152

The Department of the Interior, National Park Service, announced a cooperative agreement project titled "Habitat Improvement for the Endangered Mohave Tui Chub (fish) at Mojave National Preserve" (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00152). The work focuses on protecting and improving habitat for the endangered Mohave tui chub in several key water bodies within Mojave National Preserve, especially Lake Tuendae, which supports one of the species primary populations. The notice is dated June 6, 2019, lists an award ceiling of $48,000, and is issued as a Notice of Intent to Award rather than an open solicitation. In other words, it is not requesting applications from the public; it is published to document that NPS will fund this work under an existing cooperative agreement (noted as being with GBI). Eligible applicant types are listed as nonprofit organizations, including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits (excluding institutions of higher education), but in practice this particular posting is informational because it is not open for competition.

The underlying problem the project addresses is that Lake Tuendae historically required dredging about every ten years to remove accumulated plant material, mainly cattail and aquatic ditchgrass (Ruppia maritime) detritus. Dredging keeps the lake from becoming overly choked with vegetation, but it also causes substantial mortality to tui chub as a direct consequence of the disturbance. On top of that, dredging triggers a lengthy Endangered Species Act Section 7 formal consultation process with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, adding time and complexity before habitat work can proceed. After the last major dredging effort in 2001, an interagency recovery team successfully delayed the next dredging need by more than five years by doing annual cattail control. Recently, though, staffing changes such as retirements and reassignments reduced the capacity for that ongoing maintenance. With minimal cattail control over the last two years, cattail expansion increased by more than 30 square meters in Lake Tuendae and at MC Spring, and existing Mojave National Preserve staff have not been able to keep up alone. The project is designed to restore consistent vegetation management and add native plant transplants to help prevent cattails from re-establishing, thereby reducing the likelihood that future dredging will be needed.

The project lays out three main objectives tied directly to habitat enhancement and improved survival prospects for the Mohave tui chub across Lake Tuendae, MC Spring, West Pond, and Morning Star Mine Lake. The first objective is a monitoring and assessment component: collecting basic physical measurements of the water bodies (such as depth, width, and vegetation cover) along with key water quality parameters including temperature, dissolved oxygen, and total dissolved solids (TDS). These measurements are intended to be compared to previous datasets so managers can detect changes over time, evaluate habitat conditions, and judge whether management actions are stabilizing or improving the aquatic environment the fish depends on.

The second objective is hands-on invasive or overabundant vegetation management, centered on mechanical cattail control and reduction of plant mats that limit open water. The plan calls for cutting cattails using cutters with different handle lengths, supported by a flat-bottom boat so workers can reach cattail stems and cut them as close to the soil level as possible. This is not described as a one-time treatment; it is a recurring maintenance approach, with monthly cutting and continued monthly work during the cooler part of the year to suppress regrowth. In addition, some dead mats of Ruppia species would be raked from the water to reduce their spread across open-water areas. Taken together, these actions aim to keep habitat from becoming too dense with emergent and floating vegetation, which can alter oxygen dynamics, water temperature patterns, and available open-water space needed by tui chub.

The third objective is a restoration step meant to make the improvements more durable: transplanting native vegetation to compete with and discourage cattail re-establishment. The project proposes digging up local stocks of bulrush and Coopers rush from waters that do not contain tui chub, then immediately transplanting those plants into cattail-infested shoreline areas at the waters edge. Follow-up visits are built into the approach, specifically to cut back cattails around the transplanted native plants until the transplants are established. The anticipated scale is substantial for a small aquatic system restoration effort, with an estimated 250 to 300 individuals of each native species needed to cover the target area. The logic is that establishing desired native plants can help occupy habitat niches and provide a more stable shoreline plant community, reducing the chance that cattails will rapidly dominate again.

From an implementation standpoint, the work is framed as a cooperative effort involving a Research Associate (RA) alongside Mojave National Preserve staff. The RA is expected to complete about half of the tasks independently, with the remaining tasks carried out with support from existing MOJA staff. Overall, the project is positioned as a proactive alternative to dredging: by maintaining cattail control, removing excessive plant detritus where necessary, and restoring native vegetation, the preserve aims to avoid or further postpone dredging actions that can kill fish and require extensive regulatory consultation. The intended outcome is a healthier, more sustainable habitat mosaic that supports the endangered Mohave tui chub while reducing long-term management disruption and risk.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Habitat Improvement for the Endangered Mohave Tui Chub (fish) at Mojave National Preserve" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.931.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 06, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Notice of Intent to Award. This is NOT a request for application. This funding announcement is to provide public notice that the National Park Service will fund the following project under an existing Cooperative Agreement with GBI.. (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 $48,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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