William I. Spencer Conservation Grants

William I. Spencer Conservation Grants is a program from the Boone and Crockett Club that funds wildlife research and early-career development for graduate students and researchers at U.S. and Canadian universities. Grants are typically $15,000 or less, with a current award pool of up to $50,000 through a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation match.

Projects must focus on native North American big game species and their habitat relationships. Since 1948, the program has supported landmark wildlife research including studies on wolves, black bears, and mountain lions. Applications are evaluated on scientific merit and relevance to wildlife conservation and management.

William I. Spencer Conservation Grants | Boone and Crockett Club William I. Spencer Conservation Grants SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW KNOWLEDGE IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB’S MISSION.

The Boone and Crockett Club’s Conservation Grants Program, supported by endowments honoring conservation leaders William I. Spencer and Tim Hixon, contributes to this goal by assisting researchers or graduate students who have chosen to pursue careers in the wildlife profession. New knowledge, applied in creative ways by competent and committed professionals, is essential to the future of wildlife conservation and management.

Wolves holding a moose at bay. The pack harassed the animal for 5 minutes, then left. From The Wolves of Isle Royale by L.

David Mech, Ph. d. Since 1948, the Boone and Crockett Club has been investing in research and career development through its Conservation Grants Program.

The early careers of some of the wildlife profession’s brightest and best were assisted by B&C conservation grants. Examples include David Mech’s early wolf and moose studies on Isle Royale, Lynn Rogers’ landmark work on black bears in Minnesota, and Maurice Hornocker’s pioneering research on mountain lions in Idaho.

Today, as then, conservation grants serve the dual purpose of developing new scientific information and seeding the early careers of aspiring wildlife professionals. It does this through modest grants (usually $15,000 or less) toward selected research projects. Typically, the grants are leveraged by additional resources that the graduate students and researchers develop to support the overall program of study.

The Conservation Grants Program (formerly called Grants-in-Aid) was the Club’s sole research instrument until the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch was established in 1986 and the Boone and Crockett Club’s Professorships were established about five years later. The Conservation Grants Program complements these other programs, but remains unique in its wide solicitation of proposals from graduate students across the U.S. and Canada.

Support the Club’s mission to promote the guardianship and provident management of big game and associated wildlife in North America by funding research that will be of benefit to managers and policy-makers. Complement the Club’s other research programs (Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, Boone and Crockett Professorships) by supporting the work of others at diverse locations across North America.

Assist and encourage promising graduate students who have chosen careers in the wildlife profession The Boone and Crockett Club was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887 for the primary purposes of halting the decline of North American big game populations and conserving their habitats. Accordingly, proposed investigations must generally be concerned with native North American big game and/or their habitat relationships.

In most recent years, the Club selects a high-priority research theme and invites proposals from universities in the U.S. and Canada that have graduate programs in wildlife science or management. B&C is currently using our dollars to address research needs surrounding Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

There are several considerations that moved us in this direction (1) CWD remains an important topic with the Club and there is interest in using our grant funds for CWD research. (2) We want to maximally leverage our grant program dollars. (3) CWD research is expensive and the pursuit of several key issues requires more funds than we have available.

(4) We want to make a meaningful impact. Therefore, forming partnerships and leveraging dollars was appropriate. Priorities for this funding opportunity were developed through working groups coordinated by the CWD Alliance and its partnering organizations.

Research priorities were reviewed and edited by members of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Fish and Wildlife Health Committee as well as state CWD researchers and managers. Special recognition should be given to Dr. Mike Miller, Dr. John Fischer, Dr. Kelly Straka, and Dr. Colin Gillin. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation agreed to match our $50,000 contribution with $50,000.

We are requesting funds from other sources as well and expect applicants to further leverage these dollars. There were three topics that are part of a Request for Proposals (RFP) document administered by the CWD Alliance that was distributed on June 14, 2019. These include the following: Topic 1: Retrospective analyses to identify beneficial or ill-advised harvest strategies.

Topic 2: Prospective comparisons of alternative harvest management approaches for suppressing CWD. Topic 3: Improved prion detection in environmental samples such as soil, water, and in situ crop and forage plants. Since 1997, the Club has helped fund over 40 projects totally over $500,000.

Factors affecting the distribution and abundance of cougars ( Felis concolor ) in Montana: a regional landscape approach to conservatio Craighead Wildlife and Wildlands Institute Conservation Genetics of Bighorn sheep University of California - Berkeley Urban Deer, Kensington and El Cerrito, California Grizzly bear population viability analysis based on habitat.

Michigan State University Habitat evaluation and communication strategies to reduce agricultural crop damage by white-tailed deer Mississippi State University Feasibility of reintroduction of the black bear into Mississippi Energy, fractal movement patterns, and scale-dependent Habitat relationships of urban and rural mule deer North American Wild Sheep Conference Transaction of the North American Wild Sheep Conference, April 6-9, 1999 Influence of Artificial Water Sources on Desert Bighorn Sheep The Conservation of Large Carnivores in Fragmented Landscapes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains Cheryl-Lesley Chetkiewicz Evaluating Predator Compensation Programs as a Means of Resolving Social Conflict and Promoting Social Tolerance Louisiana State University Restoration of the Black Bear into Suitable Habitats Influence of Artificial Water Sources on Desert Bighorn Sheep Evaluating Predator Compensation Programs as a Means of Resolving Social Conflict and Promoting Social Tolerance Louisiana State University Restoration of the Black Bear into Suitable Habitats University of Idaho - Moscow Using the metapopulation concept to understand the patial and temporal population dynamics of elk in Idaho Influence of Artificial Water Sources on Desert Bighorn Sheep Wildlife Conservation Society Kinship, population dynamics, and spatial organization of black bears Conditions affecting limiting factors for mule deer in Southwestern Montana Sul Ross State University Evaluating landscape changes of mule deer habitats in Trans-Pecos, Texas Arizona Game and Fish Department Defining practical units of conservation and record keeping through analysis of genetic diversity in mule and black-tailed deer Conditions affecting limiting factors for mule deer in Southwestern Montana Arizona Game and Fish Department Defining practical units of conservation and record keeping through analysis of genetic diversity in mule and black-tailed deer University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Riparian Areas Arizona Game and Fish Department Defining practical units of conservation and record keeping through analysis of genetic diversity in mule and black-tailed deer University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Riparian Areas Sul Ross State University Public Policy vs. Biology: Evaluating Effects of Season Change on Harvest Characteristics of Mule Deer in West Texas Sample collection from important areas in Northern Mexico for genetic analysis of Coues white-tailed deer and diagnosis of whitetail deer x mule Genetic Differentiation of Odocoileus Species Sample collection from important areas in Northern Mexico for genetic analysis of Coues white-tailed deer and diagnosis of whitetail deer x mule Wildlife Genetics International Differentiating Coues' whitetail deer from other whitetails Colorado State University Paranasal Sinus Tumors of Bighorn Sheep: Investigation of an infectious Etiology University of Nevada - Reno Bighorn sheep disease outbreaks: underlying genetic diversity of declining versus persistent populations Marjorie D.

Matocq, Ph. D.

University of Nevada - Reno Assessment of water facilities for mule deer in the Mohave National Preserve of California Fitness consequences of energy development: an effort to understand and reduce the human footprint on large ungulate populations Colorado State University Effects of Natural Gas Development on Neonatal Mule Deer Survival Fitness consequences of energy development: an effort to understand and reduce the human footprint on large ungulate populations Colorado State University Effects of Natural Gas Development on Neonatal Mule Deer Survival National Agricultural Genotyping Center Testing for CWD in Cervids: Performance Assessment of a New Generation Assay for Ultra-low Levels of Prions Quantifying Contact Rates For Disease Transmission In Mule Deer Colorado State University Examination of Chronic Wasting Disease Prion Strains from Free-Ranging Cervids Modeling Spatial Harvest Strategies for Chronic Wasting Disease Transmission University of Wisconsin-Madison Accumulation of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Plant Tissues Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Prospective Simulation Assessments of Alternative Harvest Strategies to Mitigate and Control CWD Invastion and Spread Dr. Christopher S.

Jennelle Currently partnering with the CWD Alliance and other organizations to pool grant funds for CWD research.