The U.S. Fish and wildlife service intends to enter into a cooperative agreement with the conserve wildlife foundation of new jersey (cwfnj) to monitor and manage piping plovers and other beach…

The U.S. Fish and wildlife service intends to enter into a cooperative agreement with the conserve wildlife foundation of new jersey (cwfnj) to monitor and manage piping plovers and other beach nesting birds at the edwin b. Forsythe NWR (refuge) and a recently formed adjacent island (horseshoe island) for the 2025 breeding season. Cwfnj will conduct tasks including 1) nest searches 2) nest and chick monitoring 3) colony counts 4) assessing causes of nest failure 5) predator control support 6) habitat and predator transects 7) data collection and entry 8) and public outreach as needed. Cwfnj will ensure data collected in the field is correct and entered into appropriate databases. They will prepare and distribute progress reports during the season and a final report that is distributed to the refuge and its partners. Monitoring and management of horseshoe island will be done in partnership with new jersey fish and wildlife. The refuge will be substantially involved in the projects under this funding opportunity. Specifically the refuge will 1) provide assistance with transportation to the monitoring sites by providing use of a refuge boat 2) work with cwfnj to establish the timing of monitoring 3) determining the scope and priority of project activities in the event of budget shortfalls 4) review documents to ensure compliance under the national environmental policy act and section 7 of the endangered species act and section 106 of the national historic preservation act are met prior to conducting field work 5) provide equipment as necessary for monitoring or management (e.g. spotting scopes or exclosures) 6) and provide housing for cwfnj staff as available and needed.