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Upland Game Bird Proposal Specifications and Guidelines
Request for Proposals — July 2025

Guidelines

1. Upland Game Bird Stamp Fund Research Grant

All proposals must be consistent with the purpose of the Upland Game Bird Stamp Fund Research Grant in that they must contribute to the conservation and/or management of upland game birds and their habitat in Texas.

2. Matching Requirements and Funding Limitations

We anticipate up to $600,000.00 will be available to support the proposals funded through this RFP. Specifically, $300,000.00 per Fiscal Year (September 1 – August 31) will be available. TPWD has a statutory and fiduciary responsibility to maximize cost-effectiveness of grant dollars. One important measure of cost- effectiveness is the quantity or quality of tangible products proposed to be generated from funded projects. Although match is not required, applicants are encouraged to include match in their proposals.

Due to state budgetary rules, project expenditures are not allowed after the end of the biennium (August 31, 2027); however, proposals may request funds past the biennium for completion of the project if additional activities are required for project completion past the fiscal year end date listed above. Grant funds will be subject to availability of the State of Texas and any project commitments beyond the biennium are not guaranteed.

3. Proposal Format and Proposal Preparation Guidance

All proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be written in the format described in Upland Game Bird Appendices I and II. Proposals should contain a thorough description of the activities to be performed and the data that will be collected and provided with the project's Interim Performance Reports and Final Report.

Proposals must be submitted in Microsoft Word format using 8-1/2 x 11-inch pages and 11-point font or greater with one-inch margins for all sections. Sections A through R of the proposal text (see Upland Game Bird Appendix I) should not exceed 10 pages. Proposals exceeding this length will not be accepted. The proposal may include up to six additional pages for needed attachments and/or appendices that may present data tables, graphs or maps that support the proposal's narrative section.

Total electronic file size for all materials submitted should not exceed 25 MB. We will send an email within 2 business days confirming receipt of your application. Application materials will not be returned following evaluations and awards.

4. Compliance with Federal and State Law

Upland Game Bird (Stamps) Endorsements are collected through Texas hunting license sales of 1) Upland Game Bird (Stamps) Endorsements, and 2) Super Combo licenses. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Wildlife Division has opted to pass some of these monies on to sub-recipients for research purposes through this RFP.

Successful grant recipients will be considered sub-recipients of TPWD and will be required to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations including the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. If handling endangered species, the Primary Investigator (PI) will be required to provide his or her federal scientific collecting permit number or indicate if the PI will obtain a federal scientific collecting permit before contract approval. Additionally, the grant recipient is required to obtain a state scientific collector's permit for any other upland game birds that will be captured, held in possession temporarily, or collected as part of the project.

Proposals that will request grant funds to purchase and/or operate any unmanned aerial system (UAS)/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/drone must purchase the UAS from a federally approved manufacturer. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently following guidance provided by the Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) "Blue sUAS project" at www.diu.mil/blue-uas regarding what UAS manufacturers they will approve for purchase and use in projects they fund. As directed by the Governor, Texas is also following these federal guidelines even for UAS purchases using only state funds. Therefore, any proposal requesting funds for the purchase or operation of a UAS must purchase/operate a UAS from one of the federally approved manufacturers listed in the link above.

Projects that involve construction or soil-disturbing activities must be prepared to address their potential effect on archaeological and cultural resources as well as historic preservation. Projects that involve the capture or collection of any vertebrate species may require Animal Welfare compliance (e.g., Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and Health Research Extension Act of 1985).

As a condition of accepting stamp funds, grant recipients must agree to adhere to the timely submission of financial and project performance reports. The recipient's organization must also have a system to track and document all expenses claimed toward the grant.

Any work to be performed on private lands in Texas using these funds requires, as a matter of state statute (TPW 12.103) and TPWD policy, that grantees secure written permission from the private landowner(s) for the purposes of (1) access to the land, and (2) use of data collected on that land. If your project will include reporting results from specifically identified private lands, written permission from applicable private landowners will be required to be provided to TPWD before the contract can be approved. Complete and attach Landowner Permission for Wildlife Research and Investigation Form including landowner(s) signature and date to this application packet to verify that they have read, understood and agreed to your proposal; will grant access to their land to specified individuals; and will grant permission to use data obtained from the project for scientific and/or environmental consultation purposes (e.g., reports, maps, databases). OR, if the project has not specifically identified private lands at the time of proposal submission, a Landowner Permission for Wildlife Research and Investigation Form must be provided later before contract approval. If such action becomes necessary after the contract has been signed, then documentation, as specified above, will be required before work can begin on identified private lands study sites.

5. TPWD Wildlife Division Project Coordinator

All TPWD-funded research projects must include a TPWD employee contact who will serve as first point-of-contact and advisor on all matters related to the project. This person may serve as a co-author on any publications resulting from this research and will be the point-of-contact for submission of all required reports. If no PC is identified by the PI, then one will be assigned. If a PI has identified a preferred PC, the PI must contact the proposed PC to inform him/her of this fact and to obtain written approval (email is sufficient) from the proposed PC's supervisor (via the PC) stating that he/she is approved to function as PC on the project. This approval must be obtained prior to listing the proposed PC on the proposal. Include this supervisory approval email as one of the proposal attachments. A PI's failure to verify supervisory approval prior to proposal submission may result in a different PC being assigned to the project IF the project is selected for funding.

6. Performance Reporting Requirements

All successful applicants will be required to provide annual reports of their project's activities to satisfy state project monitoring requirements.

An Interim Report will be due to TPWD within 30 days of the annual reporting period end date of the grant as listed in the contract. A Final Report will be due to TPWD within 30 days of the completion of the grant. Interim and Final reports are critically important and must be submitted on time to process grant invoices. Invoice payments may be delayed because of untimely report submissions, and invoices may be returned if the required reports are not received on or before their scheduled due dates. Each Interim Report and the Final Report must be provided in Microsoft Word format; reports submitted in any other format will be rejected. PIs are encouraged to submit digital images/photos with their reports that depict various aspects of their project including procedures employed in the field, their study site, and the species involved in the project. Performance reports must contain a comparison of the actual accomplishments during that grant segment with the objectives of the grant as written in the proposal/scope of work. If applicable, an explanation must be provided describing why the objectives were not met and any other pertinent information relevant to the project results.

7. Duration of Grants

Grants may start between October 1, 2025, and December 1, 2025. Please be sure to take into account delays that result from hiring students, complying with federal or state regulations (particularly those involving ground disturbing activities), special order equipment or other items applicable to the submitted project. Typical grant duration is expected to be two years in length.

8. Budget Preparation

Budgets must be submitted on the provided Upland Game Bird Excel template. The project title on the Excel budget form should match exactly the title from the MS Word proposal. Text in the Excel budget should also be 11-point font or greater.

The necessary funding for the entire project should be included in the proposal. Detailed information itemizing expenses should be provided in the Budget Justification of the Excel template under the applicable cost categories. The budget also should identify the source(s) of matching funds that will be provided by the grant recipient, if applicable. The budget shall be prepared by the institution's fiscal, budget or grant staff, and signed by this individual. More information about budget preparation is found in the Upland Game Bird Appendix I, Section M and in Upland Game Bird Appendix II. PIs and/or institutional budget/contracting personnel are strongly encouraged to email wildlife.research@tpwd.texas.gov if you have any questions while drafting your proposal budgets to avoid having to resolve errors after they have been finalized and submitted, which delays TPWD's proposal review process.

Furthermore, since this grant program is not federally funded, TPWD has set the maximum allowable indirect rate for proposals at 15% or less. However, for those proposals that do include matching funds, the entity's NICRA can be used for calculating the amount of unrecovered indirect funds they will contribute as match. Upland Game Bird Appendix II provides an example.

9. Pre-Award Meeting

Successful grant applicants and their relevant fiscal staff shall participate in a pre-award meeting with relevant TPWD program staff to discuss reporting requirements and financial aspects of the grant process.

10. Evaluation Criteria

All of the proposals received through this RFP will be evaluated under the same set of criteria. These criteria are described in Upland Game Bird Appendix III.

Proposal Submission Deadline and Contact

The deadline for the submission of proposals is the close of business (5:00:00 p.m. CST) on Friday, August 15, 2025. Proposals received after this date and time will not be considered for selection. No exceptions will be allowed.

Applicants must submit an electronic copy (Microsoft Word/Excel files) of their proposal in the format described in the attachments to TPWD by this deadline. Email proposals to wildlife.research@tpwd.texas.gov. Emailed proposals should include “Upland Game Bird Research” in the email subject heading.

Questions regarding the content of this RFP may be directed to wildlife.research@tpwd.texas.gov.

Proposals sent in response to this solicitation will be evaluated by a review committee based upon the criteria listed in Upland Game Bird Appendix III. The solicitation and evaluation will follow the timeline below.

Approximate Timeline:

  • On or about July 1, 2025 — RFP posted on TPWD website.
  • August 15, 2025 — Proposals due to TPWD by 5:00 PM CST. Copies of proposals that followed all submission instructions will be distributed for review.
  • August 15 to 31, 2025 — Upland Game Bird Research Review Committee meets to assess, rank and choose final proposals for award.
  • On or about September 1, 2025 — Successful grant applicants will be notified, any needed revisions to proposals will be requested of the PIs and a TPWD biologist will be assigned to each project. The TPWD lead biologist, or Project Coordinator (PC), will guide each proposal through the process of becoming a contract. TPWD will enter into a contractual agreement with the sub-recipient and ultimately issue a purchase order to fund the project.
  • Awardees (PIs) will have until October 1, 2025, to submit back to TPWD through their PC any changes to their proposals requested by the Upland Game Bird Research Review Committee. Projects will only be approved once all awarded proposal and budget edits are completed to the satisfaction of the Upland Game Bird Research Review Committee. Delays in return of these updates/edits will result in a delayed project starting date in the contract.

Other Considerations

At all times, grantees shall be considered cooperators and not agents or representatives of TPWD.

Grantees shall be subject to potential audit by the Texas State Auditor's Office. Because of the origin of this funding, grantees will be considered to be sub-recipients of TPWD.

TPWD reserves the right to terminate a contractual agreement for failure to perform obligations under the contract.

TPWD reserves the right not to select a proposal in the listed topic areas due to funding limitations, insufficient proposal quality, or any other factors deemed appropriate.