National Park Service Grant: Field Ecology and Technical Support for Long-Term Monitoring in Southern Colorado Plateau Network

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service¿s intention to fund the following project activities without full and open competition.

OVERVIEW

As part of the Southern Colorado Plateau Network’s (SCPN’s) Vital Signs monitoring program, this project contributes to understanding the current status and tracking trends in condition through time for a selected suite of indicators of ecosystem condition. The purpose of the project described herein is for SCPN and Northern Arizona University (NAU) to collaborate to conduct long-term monitoring of upland, riparian/aquatic and landscape-level indicators in targeted park ecosystems and to communicate monitoring results to a broad audience of park managers, partners and the general public.

In using the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU), federal agencies and nonfederal partners (e.g. tribes, universities, state agencies, and other organizations) collaborate through technical assistance, education, and training to address natural and cultural resource management issues. Under the Colorado Plateau CESU, the National Park Service (NPS) and NAU will contribute to describing regional ecological integrity and furthering scientific understanding of the current conditions of park resources, which often serve as reference conditions when evaluating the condition of public lands that are impacted by human use. Results from this project will be publicly available through the SCPN website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/scpn/index.cfm) and the Learning Center of the American Southwest website (http://www.southwestlearning.org/).

The specific objectives of this Task Agreement are to implement long-term monitoring projects for water resources and upland ecosystems, to develop the network¿s data management system, and to prepare reports, articles and other publications describing the program’s purpose as well as inventory and monitoring results.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

CSU agrees to:
– Water Resources Monitoring
– Integrated Upland Monitoring
– Data Management and GIS Support
– Technical Writing/Editing of SCPN Project Reports
– Science Communication Products for SCPN and Learning Center of the American Southwest (LCAS) Websites
– LCAS Website Management
– SCPN-NAU Project Oversight and Administration

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT

Substantial involvement on the part the National Park Service is anticipated for the successful completion of the objectives to be funded by this award. In particular, the National Park Service will be responsible for the following:
– Provide overall coordination of the project and to set the priorities and work schedule.
– Provide relevant reports, data and other supporting material from SCPN and park files.
– Provide timely review of products associated with this project and input as needed.
– Provide field and office equipment to accomplish monitoring objectives.
– Work collaboratively with NAU to meet project objectives.

The National Park Service did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:

(2) CONTINUATION, AND
(4) UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS

This is a Task Agreement, P13AC01043, under the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Cooperative Agreement H2370094001, in the amount of $141,500.00 with a period of performance from date of award through March 31, 2015.

16 U.S.C. §1a-2(j) Cooperative research and training programs
Secretary of the Interior¿s authorization of activities – Enter into cooperative agreements with public or private educational institutions, States, and their political subdivisions, for the purpose of developing adequate, coordinated, cooperative
research and training programs concerning the resources of the National Park System, and, pursuant to any such agreements, to accept from and make available to the cooperator such technical and support staff, financial assistance for mutually agreed upon research projects, supplies and equipment, facilities, and administrative services relating to cooperative research units as the Secretary deems appropriate; except that this paragraph shall not waive any requirements for research projects that are subject to the Federal procurement regulations.

16 U.S.C. §5933 Cooperative agreements
(a) Cooperative study units – The Secretary is authorized and directed to enter into cooperative agreements with colleges and universities, including but not limited to land grant schools, in partnership with other Federal and State agencies, to establish cooperative study units to conduct multi-disciplinary research and develop integrated information products on the resources of the National Park System, or the larger region of which parks are a part.
(b) Report – Within one year of November 13, 1998, the Secretary shall report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives on progress in the establishment of a comprehensive network of such college and university based cooperative study units as will provide full geographic and topical coverage for research on the resources contained in units of the National Park System and their larger regions.