statewide aim 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 the Utah State Office under the

MASTER

Funding Opportunity Announcement No. L16AS00005 CFDA Numbers

15.231 Fish, Wildlife and Plant Conservation 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: May 24, 2016 Contact Information

Melanie Beckstead, Grants Management Officer (GMO) Phone: 801-539-4169 Email: mbeckstead@blm.gov Alan Bass, Range Management Specialist

Phone: 801-539-4149

Email:abass@blm.gov

SECTION I. BLM Utah Assessment, Inverntory, and Monitoring (AIM) Implementation Project Project Background Information: In 2004, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conducted a program evaluation of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) resource protection activities. The OMB found “gaps in the monitoring of resource conditions to support management decisions” and that the BLM had no reliable mechanism for reporting on the condition of public lands above the local scale. The BLM established an Interdisciplinary Core Team that evaluated assessment processes, resource inventories, and monitoring procedures and developed a comprehensive plan of action that would lay the foundation for a monitoring strategy. Two reports, (1) the Local Workgroup Report for the National Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring Strategy (BLM 2007) and (2) the Findings and Recommendations for Regional Monitoring for Wildlife and Water with an Emphasis on Energy Development (Falise et al. 2008), were also completed and provided vision toward developing an Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) Strategy.

The AIM Strategy is intended to reach across programs, jurisdictions, stakeholders, and agencies to provide data and information valuable to decision makers. The strategy focuses on 10 management questions important to land managers at varying levels of the Bureau, from field office to national levels. Answering each of the management questions requires a multiscale, coordinated, and integrated approach for new data collection while recognizing the value of many current monitoring activities. This approach will provide: (1) an opportunity to collect vegetation and soils monitoring data that can be used many times for many purposes and (2) the quantitative data essential for informed, defensible land management decision making, (3) opportunities to work with organizations that provide experience for entry level field positions within natural resource management agencies.

Project Objectives: The principal objective of this project is to provide opportunities for youth to gain valuable field experience and knowledge while working with BLM professionals to gather standardized data sets for reporting land conditions above the local scale using the AIM Strategy and to collect data about specific ecological sites to determine ecological capability of the landscape to respond to management actions. Increasing opportunities for practical work experience in natural resources at the entry level will increase capacity over the long-term by developing a pool of qualified candidates for public and private sector natural resource careers.

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: For 2016 BLM Utah is looking to provide an opportunity for one individual to work in the Utah State Office. The duties would include providing support for the implementation of AIM throughout the state by: assisting in developing an understanding of AIM core indicators and project design. They would assist the State Office AIM coordinator in helping the field office understand the full process of an AIM monitoring project from planning and funding, design, data collection, quality assurance and control, data management, analysis and reporting. Additional information regaurding these components can be found at aim.landscapetoolbox.org. Duty station would be at the Utah State Office in Salt Lake City, Utah with occasional travel to the field to support and oversee data collection crews and to visit with office staff on AIM implementation.

There is also the opportunity for one or more field crews of three individuals throughout the state. BLM Utah is focusing this effort currently within the West Desert District offices in Northern Utah; however, it is expected for this effort to include statewide locations over the 5 year lifespan of this agreement. Duties would include the collection of BLM core indicatiors using the Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring protocol. This includes an initial BLM training on how to set up the protocol and collect the data. Individuals would need to be able to navigate using a GPS and once at the plot location collect soils and vegetation data. This includes: soil pit classification, soil stability measurements, transect layout and vegetation data collection using line point intercept, gap, height and species inventory. All methods would be taught and crews would be calibrated at the BLM training. Data capture will use electronic technologies compatable with efficient uploading into established BLM corporate databases. Crews woud be expected to gain the ability to identify different soil textures and identify plants. Depending on location of the plots and for the most efficient use of time, field crews may need to camp. These situations would be identified and appropriate measures taken to make any necessary arrangement for the crews.

BLM’s Involvement: There will be substantive BLM programmatic involvement by BLM professionals 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 12-16 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. 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.

Funding Availability: Award Ceiling Amount for FY16 is NTE: $ 117,000 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)

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