Connecting Yakutat Youth and Elders to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

The summary for the Connecting Yakutat Youth and Elders to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve 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 National Park Service, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Connecting Yakutat Youth and Elders to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve:
This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities without competition.

ABSTRACT
Funding Announcement P15AC00430
Project Title Connecting Yakutat Youth and Elders to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Recipient Yakutat Tlingit Tribe
Total Anticipated Award Amount $15,000
Cost Share 25%
Anticipated Length of Agreement 1 Year
Anticipated Period of Performance 6/15/2015-9/30/2015
Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement
Statutory Authority
16 USC §1723(c)(1) Public Land Corps
CFDA # and Title 15.931, Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations
Single Source Justification Criteria Cited Unique Qualifications
Point of Contact Erica Cordeiro 907-644-3315


OVERVIEW

This Cooperative Agreement is entered into by and between the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, (NPS) Alaska Region, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve (WRST), and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe (YTT) for the involvement of youth in the care and enhancement of public resources at Esker Stream Public Use Cabin (PUC) and the outer coastline of the park and to facilitate the preservation of Yakutat Tlingit traditional knowledge about and connections to National Park system lands within WRST. The latter will help the NPS to fulfill its legal mandate to preserve the ethnographic resources associated with an Alaska Native tribe with traditional association to national park system lands. This Cooperative Agreement will help the repair of the Esker Stream PUC, the cleanup of abandon cabin materials, and cleanup of the outer park coastline and to facilitate a cultural education fieldtrip where Tlingit elders will interact with the youth crew in their traditional homeland, sharing traditional knowledge about the place and its resources. The Yakutat Tlingit Tribe is a federally recognized tribal government located in Yakutat, Alaska. The traditional homeland of two Tlingit clans affiliated with YTT includes lands within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.




1. Specify a partnership between the NPS and YTT for cleaning up the abandon cabin and the debris on the outer coast.
2. Expose four to six youth to the park’s public use and outer coastal resources in an effort for the NPS to connect to youth.
3. Clean up debris at one of the park’s Public Use Cabins (PUC) and the outer coast, through the Public Lands Corps (PLC) program and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe (YTT).
4. Preserve Yakutat Tlingit traditional knowledge about and connections to National Park system lands. This can best be accomplished by ensuring that living tribal members retain their homeland by visiting it so that elders can pass traditional knowledge to youth in place.


RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

1. Hire and provide a four to six youth member crew trained in basic clean up skills. Consistent with the Public Land Corps program guidelines, the youth should be between 16 and 25 years of age and US citizens or permanent residents. Youth will be supervised by NPS while on site in backcountry and safely for up to 15 work days during June 2015.
2. Assure the four to six youth member crew will be physically able to perform manual labor of moderately intense physical effort for an eight-hour day.
3. Hired youth will complete cleanup of debris to the expectation of the NPS.
4. Coordinate work schedule with the NPS Youth Project Coordinator to ensure project completion within target schedule as stated above.
5. Coordinate clean-up project logistics with the NPS Youth Project Coordinator, including meal planning.
6. Handle all administrative records required for youth members.
7. Pay all administrative and operating expenses for maintaining crew members and leaders and request reimbursement from the NPS for those expenses as listed in the budget documents (SF-424A).
8. Provide itemized statements for all reimbursable expenses of allowable and allocable costs of performing work agreed to.
9. Assign a Yakutat Tlingit Tribe representative to coordinate the cultural education trip with NPS, including planning, scheduling and organizing the trip.
10. Coordinate with the appropriate clans to compile a list of elders and other tribal members to participate in cultural education trip to Wrangell Saint Elias National Park and Preserve’s (WRST) Yakutat District.
11. Identify any additional elders to interview about their traditional knowledge of WRST lands and resources.
12. Process honorariums to elders/cultural consultants as appropriate for their participation in the cultural education trip, traditional knowledge interviews, and other project-related activities.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT


1. Assign a Youth Project Coordinator to conduct park and cabin orientation and safety, direct technical logistics of project, and provide guidance on the NPS goals and mission.
2. Provide a place to camp and use of facilities where and when appropriate.
3. Provide and maintain equipment and materials needed to accomplish the project for all crew members and leaders, including personal protective equipment (PPE), hand and power tools, camping equipment, and fuel for power tools and cooking.
4. Provide any educational opportunities when and when applicable.
5. Conduct compliance oversight of project prior to and during execution to ensure work is completed within agreed upon time frame.
6. Reimburse the YTT for all agreed upon costs illustrated in budget documents in accordance with project work.
7. Provide transportation between Yakutat and the work sites for the youth crew and leaders as well as for elders and other tribal members participating in the cultural education trip. Participants may ride in a government airplane or highway vehicle.
8. Assign a WRST employee to coordinate planning for the cultural education trip and associated traditional knowledge interviews, including planning, scheduling and organizing the trip.


SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
SINGLE SOURCE POLICY REQUIREMENTS

Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award. The justification must address one or more of the following criteria as well as discussion of the program legislative history, unique capabilities of the proposed recipient, and cost-sharing contribution offered by the proposed recipient, as applicable.


In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Unsolicited Proposal – The proposed award is the result of an unsolicited assistance application which represents a unique or innovative idea, method, or approach which is not the subject of a current or planned contract or assistance award, but which is deemed advantageous to the program objectives;

(2) Continuation – The activity to be funded is necessary to the satisfactory completion of, or is a continuation of an activity presently being funded, and for which competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity or completion of the activity;

(3) Legislative intent – The language in the applicable authorizing legislation or legislative history clearly indicates Congress’ intent to restrict the award to a particular recipient of purpose;

(4) Unique Qualifications – The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;

(5) Emergencies – Program/award where there is insufficient time available (due to a compelling and unusual urgency, or substantial danger to health or safety) for adequate competitive procedures to be followed.


NPS did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:

(1) Unique Qualifications – The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;