National Park Service Grant for The Wilderness Foundation’s WILD 10 International Congress

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.

ABSTRACT
Funding Announcement P13AS00197
Project Title The Wilderness Foundation – WILD 10 International Congress
Recipient The Wilderness Foundation
Principle Investigator / Program Manager Julie Randal
Total Anticipated Award Amount $25,000.00
Cost Share none
New Award or Continuation? New Cooperative Agreement
Anticipated Length of Agreement From date of award to December 1, 2013
Anticipated Period of Performance
Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement
Statutory Authority 16 USC 1g
CFDA # and Title 15.954 National Park Service Conservation, Protection, Outreach, and Education
Single Source Justification Criteria Cited (4) Unique Qualifications
NPS Point of Contact June Zastrow 303-987-6718

OVERVIEW

The10th World Wilderness Congress (WILD10) is convening in Salamanca, Spain in October 2013. The NPS in partnership with The Wilderness Foundation (WILD) has set goals and objectives that will be met through pre-Congress planning and the convention of the Congress itself. These goals are founded in the objective to increase the United States, European, and developing countries’ conservation awareness, understanding, and action concerning the importance of wilderness and wild nature found in national parks, and making nature preservation relevant to urban communities, ethnically and economically-diverse publics, and youth.

WILD is a U.S. 501c (3) non-profit organization founded in 1974 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. WILD¿s mission is to increase awareness and understanding of the value of wilderness and protected areas among the public and advance the appreciation and application of ecological, scientific, economic, social, and spiritual benefits from wilderness and wild nature in parks to demonstrate their vital role in sustaining a healthy, prosperous, and peaceful world. WILD facilitates cooperation between government agencies, private entities, indigenous communities, and community groups across boundaries of political jurisdiction and ownership. WILD supports planning for greater benefits from wilderness and wild nature in parks through facilitation and capacity-building activities and the provision of technical resources for the improved management of protected lands and public education. Such resources include the Wilderness Management textbook and International Journal of Wilderness, published in partnership with the NPS and other U.S. federal land management agencies.

WILD plays a critical, central convening and capacity-building role in the international wilderness community. WILD serves as the World Wilderness Congress (WWC) headquarters and executive for WWC project development and implementation. WILD has been serving the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in a facilitation role with the North American Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected Areas ¿ an effort initiated with the Memorandum of Understanding on North American Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation that was signed the NPS and six other North American government agencies at the 9th WWC in Merida, Mexico in 2009.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

¿ Design and implement WILD10 as an international Congress.
o Includes: organizing the venue; managing logistical services; developing and implementing the registration process and managing delegate participation both in-person and via remote access technology; organizing and managing advisors and partners; developing an agenda aligned with clearly promulgated objectives; recruiting speakers and trainers; organizing the program of sessions across ten days; and managing the substantive coalitions process involving participants both in-person at WILD10 and joining the Congress virtually.
o Advise NPS offices to access WILD10 plenary and forum sessions via online materials and live-streaming of plenary and certain forum sessions. Such materials include PDF summaries of models and methodologies used in WILD10 capacity-building workshops.

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:

¿ Collaborate with WILD in the participation of the WILD10 Congress.
o NPS will contribute generally to the Science and Stewardship Symposium.
o Participate as an agency member of the North American Wilderness and Protected Areas Committee (NAWPA), on which the Director serves and recently chaired, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Parks Canada Agency, and the Mexican National Commission on Natural Protected Areas.
 Participate in the planning and preparation for WILD10 activities related to the following North American Wilderness and Protected Areas Working Groups: Climate Change; Valuing Ecosystem Services; Marine Wilderness and Protected Areas; and Relevance.
o Build the capacity of NPS personnel through their virtual participation in the Congress via remote access technology (online) in plenary sessions, working sessions, training workshops, and networking opportunities. Gary Machlis will serve as the in-person NPS delegate to the WILD10. Machlis will lead a workshop on Technology and Science for Wilderness highlighting best practices for conducting science in wilderness, identifying key technological needs and breakthroughs to enable wilderness-compatible scientific research, monitoring and exploration, and ethical considerations.

SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
SINGLE SOURCE POLICY REQUIREMENTS

Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award. The justification must address one or more of the following criteria as well as discussion of the program legislative history, unique capabilities of the proposed recipient, and cost-sharing contribution offered by the proposed recipient, as applicable.

In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Unsolicited Proposal ¿ The proposed award is the result of an unsolicited assistance application which represents a unique or innovative idea, method, or approach which is not the subject of a current or planned contract or assistance award, but which is deemed advantageous to the program objectives;

(2) Continuation ¿ The activity to be funded is necessary to the satisfactory completion of, or is a continuation of an activity presently being funded, and for which competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity or completion of the activity;

(3) Legislative intent ¿ The language in the applicable authorizing legislation or legislative history clearly indicates Congress¿ intent to restrict the award to a particular recipient of purpose;

(4) Unique Qualifications ¿ The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;

(5) Emergencies ¿ Program/award where there is insufficient time available (due to a compelling and unusual urgency, or substantial danger to health or safety) for adequate competitive procedures to be followed.

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

(4) UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS

Single Source Justification Description:

WILD’s unique mission is to increase awareness and understanding of the value of wilderness and protected areas among the global public through facilitating cooperation between government agencies, private entities, indigenous communities, and others. Serving as a third-party facilitator and convener of communication and exchange, WILD ensures that leaders in wilderness/protected area management serve as mentors to aspiring countries/practitioners as well as inspiring thoughtful, contemporary dialogue about wilderness management in the 21st Century. WILD¿s printed resources include the Wilderness Management textbook and International Journal of Wilderness, published in partnership U.S. federal land management agencies.

WILD serves as the World Wilderness Congress (WWC) headquarters and executive for the WWC project (WILD 10) development and implementation. WILD has been serving the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in a facilitation role with the North American Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected Areas (NAWPA) ¿ an effort initiated with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on North American Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation that was signed the NPS and six other North American government agencies at the 9th WWC in Merida, Mexico in 2009. This MOU selected The WILD Foundation as the facilitator for the NAWPA committee that is comprised of the heads of the signatory agencies to the MOU.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

16 U.S.C. §1g authorizes the NPS to enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of NPS appropriated funds to state, local and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations for the public purpose of carrying out National Park Service programs.
This section provides broad authority for NPS to enter into cooperative agreements with most recipients for a public purpose. Although broad, this authority must be read in conjunction with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 and other authorities that prescribe whether a particular relationship should be a procurement contract or a cooperative agreement. Thus, in making this determination, one must always consider whether the principal purpose of the work is to acquire goods and/or services for NPS¿s direct benefit in furtherance of its mission or for a public purpose.