Federal Formula Grant Award Summary

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources received $175,271.86 in formula grant funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 under the Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education and Safety program (CFDA 15.611), effective January 31, 2026, through December 31, 2028. This grant supports a comprehensive three-year research initiative focused on two species of greatest conservation need in West Virginia: the Eastern Whip-poor-will and the Chuck-will's-widow. The project addresses critical knowledge gaps regarding nightjar occupancy, habitat partitioning, and prey abundance in southern West Virginia, particularly within reclaimed mine lands and timber-managed forests across six counties (Boone, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Wayne, and Wyoming).

The deliverables include occupancy mapping, habitat assessment data, and management prioritization recommendations generated through systematic field surveys and data analysis. Specifically, the grantee will deploy 104 autonomous recording units across two study sites during the 2026 and 2027 survey seasons, conduct point-count surveys to assess diurnal species occurrence, sample vegetation structure, and employ single-season occupancy models and statistical analyses to identify factors differentiating species occupancy and the effects of forest structure and composition on habitat use. The project's core objectives include differentiating occupancy factors between species, evaluating forest management impacts on nightjar habitat selection, comparing occupancy patterns between reclaimed and timber-managed lands, and producing spatial occupancy maps to guide future conservation management decisions.