Youth Project Abstract Summary Carson City District Office.doc

Office: Carson City District Notice of Funding Opportunity Number: L22AS00306 Project Submission Dates and Times: June 16, 2022, 5:00 p.m. (ET)

Project Title: Carson City District Conservation and Land Management Program Maximum Available Funding in FY22: $200,000 Project Background Information: The Carson City District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 4.8 million acres of public lands in western Nevada and eastern California, having a varied landscape made up of: coniferous forests of the Eastern Sierra Nevada; pinyon-juniper woodlands/sagebrush dominated areas; and salt desert shrub dominated areas. Local ecosystems include: high-altitude montane, sand dunes, alkali playas, meadows, and areas recovering from wildfire.

Project Objective: The BLM Carson City District is equipped to mentor and introduce youth to careers in the BLM by providing a varied and meaning full range of opportunities while accomplishing District priorities in multiple resource management that benefit public lands. BLM specialists in botany, range, and emergency stabilization and rehabilitation will guide the youth crews in completing the work, as well as providing insights into resource management and career opportunities.

Opportunies will include:

Assist BLM staff with restoration of reclaimed sites using UTVs and hand seeding along with a cultipacker to firm the seed bed. This work must be conducted during the winter season to ensure the greatest possibility for seedling establishment.

Collect seeds from native plants within the Carson City District to be used in restoration efforts.

Locate areas with sufficient plants of the targeted species to make seed collections from.

Identify, collect, press and mount vegetation on herbarium sheets, to be used as voucher specimens for each of the species of interest.

Participate with other seasonal staff in the collection of seed from the species of interest.

Use GPS/GIS to map vegetation collection areas.

Assist BLM staff with ongoing noxious weed mapping and treatment.

Assist BLM staff with other conservation field work such as rare plant and habitat degradation monitoring.

Assist BLM staff with occasional volunteer events designed to increase public participation with public land stewardship.

Assist BLM mentor with youth education program designed to involve grammar school and high school students with outdoor educational activities.

In general, the time spent on the various activities is as follows: Restoration - 10%, noxious weeds - 20%, vegetation monitoring (rare and common species) - 10%, seed collecting – 50% and environmental education - 10%

Work Schedule: Youth crews will generally work Monday – Friday, generally 7:30 AM to 5PM, for starting in March and ending in mid November.

Qualification Requirements: This opportunity is suitable for organizations that have experience recruiting for and managing youth work crews. Members of the youth work crews must be able to work in outdoor conditions and have the basic skills and abilities to complete routine restoration and monitoring.

Housing: Agency cannot provide housing, however a housing allowance may be provided to assist in obtaining affordable housing.

Vehicle Needs: The applicant may be required to provide transportation for the youth crew members to and from the work location in the event that the BLM does not provide transportation. This transportation must be able to handle gravel, dirt, and the occasional primitive road conditions.

Other Project Considerations:

Food: The BLM will provide camping perdiem rates for over night trips to cover expenses related to food.

All Supplies: The applicant is required to provide the youth crews basic living supplies and work tools. The BLM may be able to supplement crews with basic work tools on a limited basis.

Training Requirements: The applicant is required to provide youth crew members with the appropriate training to complete the work outlined in this opportunity, including, but no limited to, basic tool use and operation, first aid, and crew lead training. The BLM will provide project specific training.

Travel: Travel between the youth crew camping location and project site may be required, but is generally no more than 10 miles each way.

Physical Demands:

Duties require outside work involving walking, bending, climbing hills, lifting and carrying various materials or supplies which are occasionally heavy. Remote field sites will likely require frequent camping out at the site for a period of 1-3 nights. During camping trips or while on any extended travel, alcohol or any illegal controlling substances are not permitted. Violation of this policy will result in immediate dismissal. Daily work shifts of 8 to 10 hours are anticipated within a 40 hour work week. The work week is Monday through Friday. Occasional circumstances require adjusting the work week to accommodate special environmental education events which typically take place on Saturday.

Work Environment Approximately 90 percent of the work is in the field. The fieldwork will involve driving and walking over rough and sandy terrain with wide variations in temperature ranging from below freezing in the fall and winter to above 90 degrees F during the summer.

Approximately 10 percent of the work is in the office. Office work involves the following: Use GIS to create maps and conduct analysis. Visit the University Herbarium to collect data on plant locations and to verify plant specimens. Mount pressed specimens on herbarium sheets and process into our herbarium. Enter data into Access and Excel databases. Process seed collections and ship to appropriate destination. Conduct internet literature research on a variety of restoration topics. Create documents and reports based on various projects.

BLM’s Involvement: There will be substantive BLM programmatic involvement by BLM professionals that will work with the crews weekly to ensure project objectives are known and complete, as well as providing information to crew members on the purpose of the work, relation to BLM management objectives, and career opportunities. The BLM will have the right to intervene by modifying the project work, if project is not staying on schedule, technical issues arise, etc.

BLM Program Contact:

Field PO Name: Dean Tonenna

Field PO Phone Number: 775 515 5198

Field PO Email: dtonenna@blm.gov

Applicants are encouraged to refer to the full program announcement number L22AS00306 posted on Grants.gov for all program requirements and applicable terms and conditions. Recipients selected for awards will be required to adhere to those requirements should an award be made.

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