Transportation Fellow Program | F18AS00031

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00031

The Transportation Fellow Program is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiative designed to improve how visitors get to, move through, and experience national wildlife refuges and other USFWS-managed sites. USFWS oversees the National Wildlife Refuge System, a vast network of protected lands and waters totaling roughly 855.6 million acres across 566 refuges, 38 wetland management districts, 50 coordination areas, and seven national monuments. With more than 53 million visitors each year, these places face real transportation challenges, from road access and parking to visitor circulation, safety, transit options, and resource protection. This program targets those needs by pairing transportation talent with on-the-ground refuge priorities.

At the core of the opportunity is a 10-month fellowship for outstanding recent graduates in transportation-related fields. Fellows are embedded directly with USFWS staff and placed at a national wildlife refuge or another USFWS office location. Their role is hands-on and project-driven: each fellow works on a specific transportation issue that supports transportation planning or implementation at the site. The intent is practical problem-solving that helps field stations develop transportation solutions that both protect sensitive natural and cultural resources and improve the visitor experience. Projects may include planning for alternative transportation, improving visitor flow, evaluating access strategies, or developing implementation-ready concepts that a refuge can carry forward.

The program is guided by three main goals. First, it aims to encourage early-career transportation professionals to consider and pursue careers serving federal public lands. Second, it provides transportation expertise that many refuges and regional offices need but may not have in-house, helping them address pressing transportation and visitor-access issues. Third, it supports the development, implementation, and evaluation of viable alternative transportation options for visitors, reflecting a broader interest in reducing congestion, limiting environmental impacts, and offering safer or more sustainable ways for the public to access refuge destinations.

This particular grant notice is structured as a discretionary cooperative agreement under the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, with an activity category focused on natural resources (CFDA 15.678). The eligible applicant type listed is public and state-controlled institutions of higher education. However, the notice is explicitly a Notification of Intent to make a single-source award to Montana State University (MSU), meaning the recipient had already been selected and it was not an open competition at the time of posting. Under the agreement, the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at MSU is expected to assist USFWS by supporting and mentoring Transportation Fellows assigned to refuge complexes and locations across the United States, essentially serving as a technical and programmatic backbone for the fellowship experience.

Key administrative details include an opportunity number of F18AS00031, with the announcement created on February 9, 2018, and an original closing date of February 15, 2018. The expected number of awards is one, with an award ceiling of $332,000. The period of performance listed runs from March 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, covering multiple fellowship cycles or placements during that window depending on program structure and staffing plans.

The program is authorized under a broad set of federal conservation and public lands statutes that collectively support wildlife conservation, habitat protection, visitor access, and stewardship. These include, among others, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the Fish and Wildlife Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, and the Public Lands Corps Act. Taken together, these authorities reinforce the program rationale: transportation decisions on refuges are not just operational concerns, but part of how USFWS carries out its conservation mission while accommodating millions of visitors in a way that is safe, sustainable, and compatible with resource protection.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Transportation Fellow Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.678.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 09, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 15, 2018 This is a Notification of Intent to award a single source Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit cooperative agreement to Montana State University. The recipient has already been selected.. (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 $332,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for F18AS00031

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