Cooperative Agreement 98T97701

DESCRIPTION:THE AGREEMENT PROVIDES FUNDING TO COLLABORATIVELY CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE NEVADA WETLANDS PROGRAM. TASKS INCLUDE SURVEYS OF FENS AND VERNAL POOLS, STREAMLINED WETLAND DATA COLLECTION, MANAGEMENT, AND SHARING TOOLS WITH SURVEY123 AND ARCGIS ON-LINE HUBS, ESTABLISHMENT OF REFERENCE WETLANDS, ENHANCED SPRINGS AND SPRINGS DEPENDENT TAXA DATA THROUGH INVENTORY AND ASSESSMENT, DELIVERY OF SPRINGS AND SPRINGS DEPENDENT TAXA DATA THROUGH SPRINGS ONLINE, AND EXPANDED COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH TO STAKEHOLDERS AND THE PUBLIC.. THIS ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT PROVIDES PARTIAL FEDERAL FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $236,327. PRE-AWARD COSTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED BACK TO 4/1/24. ACTIVITIES:TASK I-A: VERNAL POOL SURVEYS - THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR WILL VISIT AT LEAST 25 VERNAL POOLS, COVERING THE ENTIRE GEOGRAPHIC RANGE. TASK I-B: FEN SURVEYS - AT LEAST 20 LIKELY FEN SITES WILL BE VISITED COVERING THE ENTIRE GEOGRAPHIC RANGE OF THE STATE. TASK I-D: REPORTING AND OUTREACH - THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR WILL REPORT ON NEVADA'S FENS AND VERNAL POOLS THROUGH A VARIETY OF DELIVERY METHODS TARGETED BOTH AT EXPERTS AND THE PUBLIC. TASK II-A: CREATE AN NVRAM SURVEY123 FORM - THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR WILL CREATE A SURVEY123 FORM FOR COLLECTING WETLAND DATA FOLLOWING THE NVRAM PROTOCOL. TASK II-C: INCORPORATE EXISTING WETLAND DATA INTO HUB - THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR WILL REACH OUT TO THE WETLAND WORKING GROUP OR OTHER PARTNERS THAT MAY HAVE WETLAND DATA TO ADD TO THE HUB. NWI POLYGONS, DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE (DRI) RIPARIAN POLYGONS AND LEVEL 1 ANALYSES, SPRING POINTS FROM SSI, FEN AND VERNAL POOL SURVEYS, NEVADA PRIORITY WETLANDS INVENTORY (NPWI), AND OTHER WETLAND DATA WILL UNDERGO QC AS NEEDED AND BE UPLOADED TO THE HUB. TASK III-A: ESTABLISH REFERENCE SITE CRITERIA WITH WETLAND EXPERTS - DRI AND NDNH WILL CONVENE THE WETLAND WORKING GROUP TO IDENTIFY CORE REMOTE-SENSED AND FIELD-BASED METRICS THAT CAN BE USED TO DESIGNATE REFERENCE WETLANDS. TASK III-C: FIELD SURVEYS OF POTENTIAL REFERENCE WETLANDS (NDNH)- THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR WILL SURVEY AS MANY CANDIDATE REFERENCE SITES AS PROJECT RESOURCES ALLOW TO VALIDATE OR REJECT THEM FROM THE LIST USING THE FIELD-BASED METRICS IDENTIFIED IN TASK III-A. BASELINE DATA WILL BE COLLECTED FOR VALIDATED SITES FOLLOWING THE NVRAM PROTOCOL. SUBRECIPIENT:TASK I-C: VERNAL POOL REMOTE SENSING - DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE (DRI) - DR. MCGWIRE WILL UTILIZE THE LEVEL I WETLAND ASSESSMENT TOOLBAR (WETBAR) TO CONDUCT REMOTE SENSING ANALYSIS OF VERNAL POOL SITES IDENTIFIED BY THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR. WETBAR WILL BE USED TO GENERATE A STANDARDIZED LEVEL I ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR EACH CANDIDATE SITE TO SUPPLEMENT THE NVRAM FIELD DATA COLLECTION AND PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE SITE DOCUMENTATION. TASK II-D: CREATE AND SHARE PUBLIC NEVADA WETLANDS MAPPER - THIS SUBTASK INVOLVES THE CREATION OF THE NEVADA WETLANDS MAPPER, AN INTERACTIVE WETLAND MAP OF NEVADA WITHIN THE AGOL HUB. THE MAPPER WILL GIVE THE PUBLIC ACCESS TO VIEW AND/OR DOWNLOAD A SUBSET OF DATA IN THE NEVADA WETLANDS HUB, INCLUDING NWI POLYGONS, THE DRI RIPARIAN MAP, AND SPRINGS. TASK III-A: ESTABLISH REFERENCE SITE CRITERIA WITH WETLAND EXPERTS - DRI AND NDNH WILL CONVENE THE WETLAND WORKING GROUP TO IDENTIFY CORE REMOTE-SENSED AND FIELD-BASED METRICS THAT CAN BE USED TO DESIGNATE REFERENCE WETLANDS FOR VENAL POOL SITES IDENTIFIED BY THE WETLAND PROGRAM COORDINATOR. WETBAR WILL BE USED TO GENERATE A STANDARDIZED LEVEL I ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR EACH CANDIDATE SITE TO SUPPLEMENT THE NVRAM FIELD DATA COLLECTION AND PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE SITE DOCUMENTATION. TASK III-B: CREATE GIS-BASED CANDIDATE SITE LIST (DRI) - DR. MCGWIRE WILL PRODUCE A SHAPEFILE AND LIST OF CANDIDATE REFERENCE SITES BY NARROWING DOWN THE NEVADA WETLAND LAYER USING THE GIS METRICS AND ANY EXISTING DATASETS IDENTIFIED IN TASK III-A. TASK IV-A: INVENTORY AND ASSESS NEVADA SPRING