Wetland Reserve Program & Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program for Easement Monitoring and Status Review

The summary for the Wetland Reserve Program & Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program for Easement Monitoring and Status Review grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the California State Office, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Wetland Reserve Program & Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program for Easement Monitoring and Status Review: The successful applicant will be responsible for making field visits, evaluating and documenting wetland and wildlife applications, assisting with design, installation oversight, and follow up of conservation practices according to NRCS Standards and Specifications. All work will be certified in compliance with NRCS guidelines, evaluating the planned practices by a standard set of evaluation criteria furnished by NRCS, and providing technical assistance to implement these practices when approved by NRCS. The applicant will also need to provide technical assistance to land users who are implementing practices approved in prior year WRP and WHIP contracts where implementation is planned for the current fiscal year and completing follow up compliance reviews. The anticipated workload for the WRP program is approximately 140 to 160 individual easement plans for follow up and compliance reviews. The approximate number of contacts per county for FY2004 is as follows: NRCS AREA 1: Butte (9), Colusa (27), Yolo (14), Glenn (5), Sutter (8), Tehama (2), Yuba (7), Lassen (1), Plumas (1), Shasta (9), Modoc (6), Humboldt (2), Trinity (1), Siskiyou (5); NRCS AREA II: Sonoma (2), Contra Costa (1), Santa Cruz (1), NRCS AREA III; Placer (4), Sacramento (4), San Joaquin (4), Fresno (7), Merced (10), Tulare (15), Kings (3), and Kern (9). The reviews will focus on review of current easement agreements, conservation practice status, and practice maintenance. The anticipated workload for the WHIP is 25 individual plans for follow up and status review. The review will evaluate restoration progress, determine what restoration repairs or enhancement is needed to ensure maximum wetland/wildlife benefits. Program participant contracts shall be selected by NRCS with at least 4 reviews per NRCS Area. Contact Alan Forkey, NRCS State Wetlands Biologist, for historical information on WRP and WHIP agreement concerns and for information existing project contracts at (530) 792-5653. NRCS expects to award from 1 to 5 cooperative agreements estimated to cost between $5,000 and $66,000. The successful applicant(s) will need to provide employee(s), mobile computer equipment, digital camera, telephone, and other required supplies. Vehicles, training and travel costs associated with providing technical services for the WRP and the WHIP programs will be the responsibility of the successful applicant. It is expected that the applicant will work closely with state, area and county NRCS office staff. Qualifications The applicant(s) will need to be certified as a technical service provider (TSP) meeting the NRCS national criteria established for certification in one or more of the category(ies) for which the applicant applies. The following identifies the categories and practices. 1. Categories: Wetlands (Interdisciplinary) Biological Components, Wetlands (Interdisciplinary) Engineering Components, Wetlands with Engineering Required, Wildlife and Fisheries, Wildlife and Fisheries Interdisciplinary Biological, Wildlife and Fisheries Interdisciplinary Engineering. Categories include providing assistance in either a single or all phases of plan development, design, layout, quality assurance inspections, checkout and certification as determined by CA NRCS. 2. Conservation Practices: Wetland Creation (658), Wetland Enhancement (659), Wetland Restoration (657), Dike (356), Structures for water control (587), Hedgerow Planting (422), Restoration and Management of declining Habitats (643), Riparian Herbaceous Cover (390), Upland Wildlife Habitat Management (645), Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management (644) Shallow Water Management for Wildlife (646), Stream Habitat Improvement and Management (395), Wildlife Watering Facility; and others as deemed necessary and applicable to California NRCS standards.