SGFO Natural Resource Conservation Youth Project - D Corry Mini.doc

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

(BLM)

BLM-UT, Youth Opportunities to Work on Conservation Projects throughout Utah Public Lands

Public Lands Corps Act, 1993 (Amended 2005); PL 109-154; Title 16 U.S.C. Chapter 37, Subchapter II Sec 1721-1729, excluding Sec 1725 – Resource Assistant

This project is a specific project for St. George Field Office under the

MASTER

Funding Opportunity Announcement No. L16AS00005 CFDA Numbers

15.225 Recreation Resource Management

Applicants are required to apply under the above Funding Opportunity Announcement through Grants.gov. All terms and conditions will remain the same. The only thing different will be the proposal format and evaluation criteria, see below:

Applications due by: March 19, 2016 Contact Information

Melanie Beckstead, Grants Management Officer (GMO) Phone: 801-539-4169 Email: mbeckstead@blm.gov SECTION I. SGFO Natural Resource Conservation Youth Project Project Background Information: The St. George Field Office (SGFO) is located in the southwestern corner of Utah and manages all the public land within Washington County, Utah. The SGFO is bordered on the north by the Dixie National Forest, Pine Valley Ranger District and on the East by Zion National Park. The Arizona state line is the border to the south and the Nevada state line is the border to the west. The St. George area is also the nexus of three geographical regions. The Mojave Deseret, which extends west-southwest to California. The Colorado Plateau which is located to the east towards Zion National Park and Great Basin to the north. The St. George Field consists of approximately 100 federal grazing allotments on approximately 600,000 acres of federal land.

Project Objective: BLM Utah, SGFO has an opportunity to introduce youth to careers with the BLM under the Natural Resource Management Area, specifically Rangeland Management. The objectives for this project are:

a. to offer educational opportunities for college level students and recent graduates to pursue career and personal goals through public service;

b. to assist in the accomplishment of important natural resource management tasks by assisting BLM staff in accomplishing designated projects that not only are important objectives for each BLM Field Office management plans, but also consistent with each students’ career development aspirations, through their direct personal service and involvement;

c. to provide career development and leadership training for youth form all socioeconomic backgrounds and to foster commitments to diversity, public service, and the wise stewardships and conservation of our country’s natural resources and heritage.

The work completed through this project will enhance classroom learning by providing an opportunity for hands-on field experience in the areas of public land range management, including projects related to but not limited to, botany, ecology, recreation, soils, water, and wildlife. This opportunity will provide an opportunity for students to obtain valuable field experience by being exposed to various natural resource management projects on public land.

Program/Project Performance Goals a.

Expose young men and women to public service while furthering their understanding and appreciation of the nation’s natural resources, and gain experience.

b.

Stimulate interest among the youth and young adults in conservation careers by exposing them to conservation professionals in land managing agencies, and by providing a conservation project that qualifies the student for noncompetitive hiring status under the Public Land Corp Act.

c.

Promote and stimulate public purposes to enhance classroom learning by providing education, job training, and development of responsible citizenship, productive community involvement of youth and young adults in the care and enhancement of natural resources.

d. Assist qualified Youth Conservation Corps in providing an experience in conserving or developing natural resources and enhancing and maintaining environmentally important lands and waters through the use of the nation’s young men and women.

Duties: The successful youth applicants will assist the SGFO, Rangeland Management Program with the implementation of the Utah Monitoring Manual for Upland Rangelands. They will also support other projects identified by the SGFO that benefit public land and that can be tied to a BLM Performance Measure. Field work includes surveys, collection, and monitoring of rangeland resources both for management and decision making purposes. Office duties will largely consist of recording and filing of data, report writing, and development of supporting documentation use in the development and preparation of Environmental Assessments.

The participant will work out of the SGFO in St. George, Utah. The applicant will be coordinated by the Field Office Rangeland Management Specialist. Fieldwork may be done in a remote backcountry setting and requires strenuous exertion. Weather and terrain conditions may be extreme (e.g. heat, cold, thunderstorms, steep badlands).

BLM’s Involvement: There will be substantive BLM programmatic involvement by BLM professional that will work daily side by side with recipients on all projects and also be providing project orientation and hands-on training. In addition, BLM and recipient will meet weekly to discuss progress and track project outcomes, review any training needs, and then make a decision what direction to take in finalizing project or move to the next phase.

Work Schedule:

Monday – Friday, generally 8 AM to 5PM, for 12 weeks, with flexible start/end dates in May-June/August-September. Weekends might be required, but would be a rare occurrence.

Qualification Requirements:

This opportunity is suitable for youth working towards an undergraduate or graduate degree in natural resource management-related discipline. As stated in the duties this opportunity will require time outdoors and field work that is often under somewhat rigorous physical conditions. Applicants must also meet the following criteria: 1). Pass a DOI security background check.

Housing: Agency cannot provide housing but may be able to assist in locating appropriate clean housing. A personal vehicle is NOT required for the position but is strongly encouraged as it makes the applicant's days off much more enjoyable. The St. George area is serviced by the St. George Regional Airport, the nearest large airport is in Las Vegas, Nevada (McCarran-about 110 miles away), where you can get much lower fares. There are bus shuttles available from St. George to Las Vegas Airport. St. George area has a population of about 150,000, with most big city amenities.

Funding Availability: Award Ceiling Amount for FY16 is NTE: $40,000

Section II – Reporting Requirements: (Refer to Full Announcement for details) A. SF425 – Federal Financial Report’s

B. Performance Report due yearly or at the end of the project

C. Youth reporting due quarterly.

SECTION III. The Application Package – Also refer to Funding Opportunity Announcement Section D. Application and Submission Information for further detailed information.

Applications must include all required Standard Forms (SF) shown below, a Proposal (Attachment A), a Budget Detail with narrative (mandatory) (Attachment B), and a copy the applicant's approved federal agency Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), if applicable. Non-governmental organizations that have not previously received award funds or have not had an active award within 3 (three) years must complete a Financial Assistance Evaluation Questionnaire. A copy of the questionnaire may be requested by contacting the individual(s) listed on the application coversheet.

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance

SF-424A Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs

SF-424B Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

Grants.gov Lobbying Form

Project Proposal (Attachment A)

Budget Detail and Narrative Mandatory (Attachment B)

Federal Agency-approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA, if applicable)

Financial Assistance Evaluation Questionnaire (if applicable)

�Select specific CFDA code for your project. Refer to umbrella FOA.

� YOU MAY WANT TO ADD EXPECTED OUTCOMES, MILESTONE, GOAL.

Where appropriate, the BLM may include specific performance goals, indicators, milestones, or expected outcomes (such as outputs, or services performed or public impacts of any of these) with an expected timeline for accomplishment. Reporting requirements must be clearly articulated such that, where appropriate, performance during the execution of the Federal award has a standard against which non-Federal entity performance can be measured. The Federal awarding agency may include program-specific requirements, as applicable. These requirements should be aligned with BLM strategic goals, strategic objectives or performance goals that are relevant to the program

�This example is for an individual intern. Crew work you may want to state anticipated weeks of work or delete all together if applicable.

�This section is to state whether or not individual has to pass a background check, defensive driving, if weed spraying meet certain certifications. You can not require an specific degree required, but suggest a “suitable” defree.

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