The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services (VS) and Wildlife Services (WS) is announcing the availability of around $12,050,000 in cooperative agreement funding to control and prevent CWD in farmed and wild cervids of which up to $2,000,000 may be awarded through non-competitive cooperative agreements as needed to address CWD outbreaks in farmed cervids. The amount available is based on the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Congressional appropriations language and directions. Applications must be submitted through ezFedGrants using the funding opportunities highlighted below.

Please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) attached or the CWD Funding Opportunity website for additional information and hyperlinks to the work plans and the financial plan templates.

Wild Cervid: $5,500,000

ezFedGrants Opportunity USDA-APHIS-10025-WSNWRC00-26-0001

Proposals may include, but are not limited to, the development and implementation of wild cervid CWD surveillance, testing, management, and response activities, including further development and evaluation of techniques and strategies to prevent or control CWD in wild cervids.

Wild Cervid – Tribal Nations Only: $500,000

ezFedGrants Opportunity USDA-APHIS-10025-WSNWRC00-26-0002

Proposals may include, but are not limited to, the development and implementation of wild cervid CWD surveillance, testing, management, and response activities, including further development and evaluation of techniques and strategies to prevent or control CWD in wild cervids on lands owned or managed by Tribal entities.

Farmed Cervid: $6,050,0004

ezFedGrants Opportunity USDA-APHIS-10025-VSSPRS00-26-0007

Proposals may include, but are not limited to, the development and/or implementation of CWD surveillance, testing, management, and response activities. Proposals can include the use of funds for the indemnification and removal of CWD-affected farmed cervid herds and CWD-exposed cervids, as part of an overall CWD management plan and in accordance with 9 CFR Part 55.2.

If assistance is needed with locating application materials, please reach out to VS.FiOps.ASC.Agreements@usda.gov for farmed cervid or APHIS-WS.CWD_Agreements@usda.gov for wild cervid and wild cervid Tribal Nations, at least 72 hours prior to the application deadline.

All applicants are required to register in SAM prior to submitting a proposal for this funding opportunity, provide a valid unique entity identifier (UEI) in the application, and maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during the application process and award period of performance (2 CFR Part 200.206).

All proposals must be completed and received electronically through ezFedGrants no later than June 15, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The electronic date and time stamp from ezFedGrants will be used to determine whether proposals were received before the deadline. Proposals received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered for funding. Submissions through Grants.gov will not be accepted.