U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2 Grant for Playa Lakes Joint Venture Migratory Bird Conservation Base Operations

Joint ventures, the partnerships that were originally formed to implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, are regional, self-directed organizations involving Federal, State, and local governments, corporations, and a wide range of non-governmental conservation groups that have proven to be a successful means of developing cooperative conservation efforts to protect the habitats of waterfowl and other birds. Joint ventures address multiple local, regional, and continental goals for sustaining migratory bird populations by developing scientifically based landscape conservation plans and habitat projects that benefit migratory birds and other wildlife populations. The joint ventures incorporate biological planning, conservation design, and conservation delivery with monitoring and research in an adaptive resource management framework (i.e., strategic habitat conservation) to create the biological-science and conservation-partnership base which will allow the joint venture partners to pool resources for regional projects in critical habitats for priority bird species. Under authorities of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides administrative funding for joint ventures, to help cover the costs of primary support staff and base program operations.

First established in 1989, the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership is directed by a Management Board that ensures that commitment and support is maintained to achieve the goals and objectives of this migratory bird joint venture. The Management Board has approved a master plan that outlines the overall direction of the partnership; this plan identifies the following elements as essential to the management and conservation of bird species and their habitats in the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership region: Conservation Delivery; Biological Planning; Communications; Conservation Policy; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); Funding; Granting; Education; Research; and Annual Review. Collectively, these functional elements provide the framework for the base operations of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership, and its success and sustainability. The master plan describes the administrative structure of the partnership, including the core support staff needed to perform or guide the activities or functions that are necessary to conserve priority migratory bird habitats in the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership region.

The objective of the cooperative agreement with the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, a federally-recognized non-profit corporation, is to support core staff and base program activities of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership. A cooperative agreement was chosen because there is substantial Federal involvement in the project (i.e., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a member of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture Management Board which participates in directing and managing this project, including the approval of any modifications). Competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity of the effectiveness of operations of the migratory bird habitat conservation partnership, especially activities under the various functional elements of the master plan. The single-source determination is in accordance with criterion #2 (Continuation) under Department of Interior guidance (505 DM 2 at 2.14 B). THERE IS NO FULL ANNOUNCEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NOTICE OF INTENT.