U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Alaska Maritime NWR Grant for Seabird Diet Monitoring and Prey Identification

Overview Information

The Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is seeking assistance with an important component of its long-term seabird monitoring program by awarding financial assistance to develop and implement a program to identify prey items from seabirds for the diet sampling part of the monitoring program. This information is used in various ways including providing input to commercial fisheries management planning and impact assessment and providing information to the public on changes in marine ecosystems through environmental education programs on the refuge. This Request for Proposals is the single designated competition through which the award will be made.

Proposals are to be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Refuge Manager, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in accordance with Section IV below by August 5, 5:00 PM Alaska time.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

Provide a program and annually identify prey remains (fish and plankton) from up to 500 seabirds as part of a long-term seabird monitoring program on Alaska Maritime NWR. This program will be part of the broader research effort to understand marine ecosystem processes to both inform conservation management of trust resources on the refuge and to better inform the public through enhanced environmental education. Specifically, the prey remains identification program must include the following aspects:

1) Develop a lab manual / protocol for handling prey samples of various seabird species
2) Maintain a reference collection of prey species commonly found in these types of samples (from the literature)
3) Maintain identification guides for common species
4) Annually identify prey remains, to the species level if possible, for up to 500 samples.
5) Document a data management strategy, and summarize data in a manner that will facilitate entry of results of analysis into the Alaska seabird diet database (currently under development).
6) Provide secure storage for archived samples

II. Award Information

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award a grant for the prey identification. This agreement will be for one base period and four option years, option years one through four will be contingent on attainment of the study objectives and availability of future government funding.

III. Eligibility

Individuals and organizations that have the necessary technical and administrative abilities and resources to ensure successful completion of studies may submit proposals. Entities submitting proposals may be independent investigators, Alaska Native organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, regional fishery organizations, or for-profit firms.

Applicants and organizations that are included on the Federal Government’s Excluded Parties Listing Systems (EPLS) cannot submit proposals. Inclusion on the EPLS listing system indicates debarment from doing business under Federal procurement and/or non-procurement (cooperative agreement) programs. See http://www.epls.gov for the most current listing of debarred organizations.

IV. Application and Submission

Address to Request Application Materials
Applicants may request more information from Vernon Byrd, Supervisory Wildlife Biologist, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 95 Sterling Hwy., Homer, Alaska 99603; telephone 907-235-6546; fax 907-235-7783; email, vernon_byrd@fws.gov.

Content and Form of Application

Proposal should address each of the six aspects listed above (Sec. I) in the funding opportunity description and should include a section that provides sufficient information to address the selection criteria in section V below.

Registration in the Central Contractor Registry: All applicants for this program are required to enroll or take the required steps to annually maintain their active status registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) on-line at http://www.ccr.gov. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not maintain the CCR website and questions which arise in completing your on-line registration should be directed to the CCR Assistance Center at (888) 227-2423, or (269) 961-5757 internationally.

In your study proposal application package to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, please provide us with your organization’s Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS Number) and a screen print showing either pending or active registrant status in CCR for your specific DUNS number. Non-registration by applicants or sub-applicants will result in rejection of your application package. You may provide a “screen print” of your registration in CCR as a part of your application package.

Submission Dates and Times
August 5, 2010 Deadline for Proposals, 5:00 PM Alaska time

Intergovernmental Review
This funding opportunity is not subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372.

Funding Restrictions
Awards will not allow reimbursement of pre-award expenses.

Other Submission Requirements
Electronic submission in Microsoft Word is required and must be received by August 5, 2010, 5:00 PM Alaska time. Electronic submissions should be emailed to steve_delehanty@fws.gov.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their proposal through Grants.govAPPLY. To do this, work with the Senior Administrator or Fiscal Official in your organization or agency to register on www.grants.gov. The registration process takes approximately two weeks. Visit Grants.gov and click on Get Registered. Submittal of application packages through Grants.govAPPLY is strongly encouraged; however, is not yet mandatory. For assistance during the registration process, please email at support@grants.gov or call the Grants.gov Contact Center Phone: 1-800-518-4726. The Contact Center hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

V. Application Review

Criteria
Each proposal is evaluated using the following criteria which will be equally rated:

Technical-Scientific Merit- Technical quality of the proposals, must demonstrate knowledge of current scientific approaches to sorting, identifying, and recording both plankton and fish from prey samples of seabirds, including approaches to account for partially digested items.

Investigator Ability and Resources- Investigators must show they are capable of successfully completing the study by providing information on the ability (training, education, and experience) and resources (technical and administrative) they possess to conduct the work.

Review and Selection Process
Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by the Refuge Manager and his staff at Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge based on the above criteria. Once the refuge makes a selection and the process has been reviewed by Contracting and General Services division, Fish and Wildlife Service, the successful applicant will be notified in writing.

VI. Award Administration Information

Award Notice
After the successful applicant receives written notification of selection, an appropriate agreement will be signed authorizing the award. The following forms should be submitted as part of the application package: Standard Form 424 “Application for Federal Assistance,” SF424A “Budget Information – Non Construction Programs,” SF424B “Assurance – Non Construction Programs,” and “Certifications for Federal Assistance.”

After the applicant has signed, the document must be forwarded to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for signatures from the appropriate Contracting Officer.

Awardees shall comply with the governing aspects of 43 CFR 12, which integrate the applicable Uniform Administrative Requirements and with cost principles covered under 2 CFR 220, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions; 2CFR 225, Cost Principles for State, Local, and Tribal Governments; 2CFR 230, Cost Principals for Nonprofit Organizations; 48 CFR 31.2 cost principles for commercial. These may be viewed by visiting http://www.doi.gov/pam, scrolling down to “Financial Assistance”, clicking Virtual Library, and selecting from the menu links page.

Reporting

Annual reports with data summaries from analyses will be submitted to the refuge by November 15. Delinquency or non-submission of reports may result in suspension of award(s), or termination.

VII. Agency Contact

For additional information please contact, Vernon Byrd, Supervisory Wildlife Biologist, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 95 Sterling Hwy., Homer, Alaska 99603; telephone 907-235-6546; fax 907-235-7783; email, vernon_byrd@fws.gov.

VIII. Other Information

The applicant is responsible for obtaining all Federal, State and local governmental permits and approvals for projects or activities to be funded under this announcement. Project approval may be suspended if applicable permits are not in place prior to award.