National Park Service Grant to UAF Museum of the North for Southwest Alaska Vegetation Monitoring

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 Number: J2101100015

Project Title: Vascular and non-vascular plant specimen identification, curation, and technical support for vegetation monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network.

Recipient: University of Alaska Fairbanks/Museum of the North

Principle Investigator / Program Manager: Carolyn Parker

University of Alaska – Museum of the North
PO Box 756960
Fairbanks, AK 99775

Total Anticipated Award Amount: $50,000

Cost Share: None

New Award or Continuation? CESU – New Award

Anticipated Length of Agreement:5 years

Anticipated Period of Performance: June 25 – June 15, 2015

Award Instrument: Cooperative Agreement – CESU

Statutory Authority 16 USC 1a -2j, 16 USC 5933

CFDA # and Title 00.000

Single Source Justification Criteria Cited Continuation – CESU

Unique Qualifications

NPS Point of Contact:

Erica Cordeiro
Contract Specialist
907-644-3303

OVERVIEW, RECIPIENT AND NPS SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT DOCUMENTATION

PR NO. 2101100015

Type of funds to be used for this project (bold the type of funds) NRC

1, Why was this cooperator selected?

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) has had a successful, collaborative working relationship with NPS in the past, and offers timely completion of projects, to specifications, at a reasonable cost. UAF has been used by the NPS to provide technical support for Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) projects, including vascular plant inventories, baseline vegetation monitoring, and landcover mapping. In addition, the NPS I&M program places a strong emphasis on education and outreach. Collaboration with UAF offers NPS the opportunity to contribute to student education through hands-on training with real-world data sets, under the supervision of UAF faculty and staff.

2. Explain the nature of the anticipated substantial federal involvement?

NPS has, and will continue to be, involved with UAF to ensure the best quality data is collected during inventory and monitoring efforts. In the past, NPS has collaborated with the UAF Museum of the North to increase our knowledge of the distribution and abundance of vascular and nonvascular taxa in Alaska. The NPS I&M program has contributed thousands of specimens to the UAF collections through its inventory and monitoring efforts alone. These collections provide educational and research opportunities for UAF students and faculty and, through the ARCTOS database, to researchers worldwide.

3. Why is the substantial involvement considered to be necessary?

Prior experience has shown that professional judgment and technical expertise are required to delineate between what is technically desired in a project and what is possible. NPS and UAF have shown that technical issues that arise during a project can be effectively resolved through collaboration, resulting in a better data product. NPS staff lacks the technical expertise to identify taxonomically difficult species, and thus is dependent on taxonomic experts and the herbarium facilities at UAF and elsewhere to provide correct determinations for some collections. However, substantial involvement on the part of NPS is necessary in the collection and processing of samples, as NPS ecologists are responsible for the logistical aspects of field work and collaborate not only in the collection of field data, but also contribute local knowledge and professional judgment to the interpretation of field results.

4. Explain why the project or activity entails a relationship of assistance rather than a contract?

Long-term monitoring in the SWAN necessitates NPS involvement at all levels (sampling design, data collection, data analysis and reporting) to ensure data quality and continuity. Technical assistance from UAF is intended to supplement SWAN expertise and resources in a cost-effective manner, and is expected to yield higher quality information at a lower cost than could be provided by a contractor. To date, collaboration between UAF and NPS has resulted in a significantly better product than would be achieved by either party alone.

5. How was the determination made that the costs proposed are accurate and proper?

Similar projects (technical support) have been completed previously by UAF and NPS. Costs for those efforts are directly applicable to the current phase of work. Cost estimates for aspects of this project under contract were also considered. However, the iterative and collaborative nature of this effort is not amenable to contract, nor is the technical expertise readily available outside of an academic setting.

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.

BACKGROUND:
This project continues ongoing work of the SWAN I&M network. Plants are collected, the UAF Museum botanists assist with identification and plants are curated by the university, and housed for public use. Previous task agreements are J9910324505.

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

The expertise required to complete taxonomic determinations is limited to researchers affiliated with an established herbarium, generally at an academic institution. Researchers at UAF-Museum of the North are best equipped to perform determinations, as they have the facilities (e.g., herbarium collections, microscopes) and extensive knowledge of the flora of Alaska that researchers at other institutions lack.

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

The primary deliverables for this project are determinations for taxonomically difficult or uncommon species, as provided by UAF-Museum of the North staff. Determinations may be made in the field (e.g., as when UAF staff assist with NPS vegetation projects) and/or in the lab. Determinations will be provided in digital format by February 15 of each year for the previous summer’s collection.

Services to be performed include assistance with field projects (e.g., rare plant inventories, baseline monitoring), as needed; database queries, as needed; voucher processing; taxonomic determinations; and curation of vouchers, if applicable.

Base year cost: $8500 (+ 17.5% indirect costs)
Anticipated cost in subsequent years: $3000

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.

Deliverable has been acquired previously through TA J9910324505.

The expertise required to complete taxonomic determinations is limited to researchers affiliated with an established herbarium, generally at an academic institution. (Unlimited access to herbarium collections is required, in addition to extensive training in plant taxonomy, in order to adequately perform determinations.) Researchers at UAF are best equipped to perform determinations, as they have the facilities and knowledge of the flora of Alaska.

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:

See (3) above. A market survey was not conducted, as the expertise required to complete taxonomic determinations is limited to researchers affiliated with an established herbarium, generally at an academic institution. (Unlimited access to herbarium collections is required, in addition to extensive training in plant taxonomy, in order to adequately perform determinations.) Researchers at UAF are best equipped to perform determinations, as they have the facilities and knowledge of the flora of Alaska.

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

See (3) above. Deliverable has been acquired previously through TA J9910324505.

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:

No known new technology or source will be available in the future. Taxonomic determinations are completed manually by experts in the field (e.g., UAF Museum of the North (Herbarium) staff). Although botanists from other herbaria could be considered, those at UAF are most familiar with the flora of Alaska, and thus best qualified to complete the determinations.