National Park Service Grant for Burbot Stock Assessment in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve Lakes

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities.

ABSTRACT

Funding Announcement: J9865100016

Project Title: CESU – Burbot Stock Assessment in Tanada Lake and Copper Lake in Wrangell-St.Elias National Park & Preserve.

Recipient: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Principle
Investigator: N/A

Total Anticipated
Award Amount: $21,150.00

Cost Share: N/A

New Award
Or Continuation: New Award – Task Order

Anticipated
Length of
Agreement: Date of award until March 29, 2014

Anticipated
Period of
Performance: April 1, 2010 – March 29, 2014

Award
Instrument: Cooperative Agreement – CESU

Statutory
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1a-2j and 16 U.S.C. 5933

CFDA# and 0.00 – Not Elsewhere Classified
Title:

Single Source
Justification
Criteria Sited:

Title: Burbot Stock Assessment in Tanada Lake and Copper Lake in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

This is a CESU project with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Wrangell-St.Elias National Park/Preserve will benefit from the information generated from a previous study between ADF&G and UAF.

1) 505 DM 2 Single Source – Only one responsible source will satisfy agency requirements.

• The University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences

2) Nature and description of the deliverable required to meet the agency’s needs:

Objectives:
1. Describe the vertical movements of burbot in Tanada Lake. Information shall include data collected from a previous agreement between UAF and ADF&G during the spring 2009 and fall 2009 season. Data shall be collected from the start of agreement until fall 2010.
2. Describe the vertical movements of burbot in Copper Lake from spring 2010 to fall 2011.
3. Describe the relative thermal habitat utilized by burbot in Tanada and Copper lakes from data collected in a previous agreement between UAF and ADF&G from spring 2009 and fall of 2009. UAF/NPS data collected from spring 2010 through fall 2011 shall be used for this agreement.
4. Map bathymetry of Tanada and Copper lakes.
5. Map season temperature variations at depth in Tanada and Copper lakes from spring 2009 to fall 2011. Data used for this information was collected during the spring/fall of 2009 in a previous agreement between UAF and ADF&G.
6. Use recorded movements of burbot surgically implanted with data loggers (time-depth-temperature) to evaluate the assumptions of closure, equal probability of capture, and mixing for a two-sample mark-recapture experiment relative to depth of sampling.
Schedule
Spring 2010: Study plan is developed and investigator identified.
Summer 2010: Field work
Fall 2010 – Spring 2011: Year 1 data analyzed, summary reports/presentations written. Principals meet and revise study plan as needed.
Summer 2011: Field work continuing
Fall 2011 – Spring 2012: Data analysis, reports written.
Spring 2013 – Final report reviewed by all parties and accepted.

This study was previously funded by ADF&G. The current portion of the study will extend the study to lakes of WRST, and provide information which can be compared to that of the same studies done throughout the Copper River drainage. Comparability of results is necessary for efficient management of the total Copper River drainage burbot population, jointly managed by the State of Alaska ADF&G and the National Park Service.
The National Park Service (NPS) portion of support for this project is $21,150 to be used by the University of Alaska for investigator support. Additional support from NPS is estimated to exceed $15,000 in value of park provided support for the project, including an NPS technician, logistics, boat, motor, supplies, and housing for the project. This amount would be expected in year two also (2011).

3) Criteria for justifying award without competition. In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria. Please explain which criterion specifically addresses the proposed agreement.

Unique qualifications – UAF is uniquely qualified to collect data, analyze data and report on organized data. This current project began in 2009 between UAF and ADF&G. The NPS study for FY2010 and beyond, will focus on two lakes within WRST: Copper and Tanada Lakes. The University of Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences is familiar with northern burbot and their history within Alaska. This justification is based on technical expertise, as UAF/ADF&G/NPS have cooperatively worked and shared information unique to this area for many years. ADF&G continues to study areas around WRST which will aid UAF in their complete analysis of burbot populations within the Copper valley of Alaska. Comparability of results is necessary for efficient management of the total Copper River drainage burbot population, jointly managed by the State of Alaska ADF&G and the National Park Service within. In order for methodology and data to be comparable, the same study needs to be and extended to park resources. Starting another study, or using another investigator, would not provide comparable results because it would necessarily use different equipment than the existing equipment, and there would be variation introduced by differences in personnel, timing.
For these reasons, UAF is solely qualified to perform this study.

4) A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted:

• Market research was not conducted because there is no other ongoing burbot study in the Copper River drainage being done cooperatively with ADF&G.

5) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

• The principle investigator began work on this project in 2009 in other areas of the Copper River Basin. This extends work to WRST.

6) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers for competition before any potential future agreement award:

• The NPS and ADF&G continue to work cooperatively to manage the various sport and subsistence populations common to both jurisdictions. Both agencies are aware of the other’s research efforts. When new studies are undertaken, consideration will be given to available expertise consistent with the protocol used by both agencies.

National
Park Service
Point of Contact:Erica Cordeiro, Erica_Cordeiro@nps.gov