This project focuses on two charismatic megafauna found in florida

This Cooperative Agreement, awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Recovery Implementation program (CFDA 15.657), provides $140,000 to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida Inc. to support two key efforts:

1. Develop a framework and protocol for predicting and quantifying the uncertainty in Florida panther vehicle mortalities, to support decision-making for transportation projects. This will build on previous statistical analysis to create models for predicting the probability and count of panther mortalities based on factors like habitat suitability, road segment characteristics, and travel corridors.

2. Assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in rapidly responding to the ongoing unusual mortality event affecting Florida manatees. Funding will be used to support activities like purchasing lettuce for supplemental feeding and procuring services to help monitor the situation at the Cape Canaveral Energy Center.

The award period runs from the grant start date of December 15, 2023 through the ultimate completion date of September 30, 2028.

The first supports the florida panther.predicting the number of panther vehicular mortalities (pvms) and attempting to attribute a portion of thepredicted number to proposed projects is a challenging task. Historically, predictions were made at the roadsegment level through a simple math calculation equating the ratio of baseline to future annual average dailytraffic (aadt) to the ratio of baseline to future pvms. The formula is implemented deterministically with noregard for substantial uncertainty in the inputs, uncertainty in the mathematical form of the association, or theother sources underlying the two underlying complex temporal-spatial processes: traffic movement on the roadwaysand panther movement across the landscape. The proposed work will build on previous statistical review andexploratory analysis and consists of two tasks: (1) create a documented framework and protocol for use ofpredicted PVM quantities, with quantified uncertainty, to support decision making (e.g., as part of a jeopardyanalysis), and (2) assess the ability of accessible statistical regression models to predict the probability (orcount) of pvms for road segments of interest based on relevant and obtainable variables (e.g., index describinghabitat suitability surrounding road segment, length of road segment within known travel corridors, visualdistance from road, speed limit, etc.). The work may also include statistical support for specific projects underreview. The second supports the current unusual mortality event(UME)for florida manatees that began in december 2020 andhas required herculean efforts from many partners to manage the crisis. A joint U.S. Fish and wildlife serviceand florida fish and wildlife conservation commission(USFWS-FWC)incident command was stood up the last two yearsto coordinate response efforts including carcass retrieval, live animal rescue, and supplemental feeding at thetemporary field response station at the cape canaveral energy center. In addition to federal and state funding, the fish and wildlife foundation of florida(fwff)contributed private funding and logistical support to aid theeffort. To assist FWS and FWC with ramping up an efficient and rapid response should conditions deteriorate, fwsis entering into this cooperative agreement with fwff. Ffwf will utilize these funds to support UME responseefforts including but not limited to purchasing lettuce, and procuring services.to help monitor the situation.