Using GIS and SAR imagery to assess fish and yellow-billed loon habitat in the Arctic Network of Alaska Parklands

The summary for the Using GIS and SAR imagery to assess fish and yellow-billed loon habitat in the Arctic Network of Alaska Parklands 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.

Using GIS and SAR imagery to assess fish and yellow-billed loon habitat in the Arctic Network of Alaska Parklands: NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service’s intention to fund the following project activities without full and open competition.

ABSTRACT
Funding Announcement Number P15AS01001
Project Title Project Title: Using GIS and SAR imagery to assess fish and yellow-billed loon habitat in the Arctic Network of Alaska Parklands (Bering Land Bridge National Preserve)
Recipient University of Alaska Fairbanks
Principle Investigator / Program Manager Dr. Christopher Arp
Research Assistant Professor, Water and Environmental Research Center
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Institute of Northern Engineering
467 Duckering Bldg., P.O. Box 5860
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-5860
Phone: 907-474-2783
Fax: 907-474-7041
Email: [email protected]
Total Anticipated Award Amount $100,000
Cost Share None
New Award or Continuation? New Award
Anticipated Period of Performance July 1, 2015 - December 31, 2016
Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement
Statutory Authority 54 USC 101702; 54 USC 100703
CFDA # and Title 15.945, Cooperative Research and Training Programs – Resources of the National Park System

Single Source Justification Criteria Cited 4) Unique Qualifications
NPS ATR Point of Contact Lois Dalle-Molle






OVERVIEW

Data on fish species distributions across the vast Arctic parklands are scant. In massive, remote and inaccessible parklands, it is cost-prohibitive to conduct comprehensive, landscape-scale fish sampling in lakes using traditional fisheries techniques. We will collect data on potential fish species distributions using remote sensing techniques to address this data gap on fisheries resources across the vast Arctic Network of Alaska Parklands or ARCN ( specifically, in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve). Fish distributions are an important determinant for yellow-billed loon nest-site selection and other piscivorous water birds. The yellow-billed loon is a rare, international species of concern dependent on fish resources and recently considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act (but was not listed) that appears to be concentrated in particular localities in the arctic with rich fish resources. Lakes located in ARCN and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) are internationally recognized as key yellow-billed loon regions in arctic Alaska. To address this fisheries data gap, the use of GIS techniques, remote sensing data such as high-resolution satellite imagery, recently acquired high-resolution digital terrain models, spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, ice-growth models and weather station data will be used to develop a geospatial database of lake type, connectivity, depth, and flood regimes to identify potential overwintering fish habitats that remain partially unfrozen throughout the year to support fish populations. This will help us to target potentially overwintering areas important for fish for additional eDNA and future intensive fish and contaminants sampling. Dr. Christopher Arp at the University of Alaska Fairbanks using these techniques with his collaborators to assess fish distributions important for yellow-billed loons and other waterbird species through the Fish Café Project at Fish Creek in the NPR-A with the Bureau of Land Management. Additional data from contiguous arctic parklands will benefit Dr. Arp and the Fish Café Project by expanding the scope of their work to examine and compare potential overwintering fish habitats across arctic Alaska.

STATEMENT OF JOINT OBJECTIVES/PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

We will combine SAR imagery with other remotely sensed datasets from NPS ARCN, UAF and BLM to develop a GIS database that will help address data gaps in potential fish species richness and distribution in these areas. This is a first step toward integrating fish data from parklands into the UAF Fish Café Project at NPR-A for mapping freshwater fish distributions across arctic Alaska.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) agrees to:
1. Lead the compilation of climate station data and development of ice-growth models that will help guide SAR image selection and processing
2. Contribute to the development of fish-centric lake-based classification
3. Contribute to the analysis of remotely sensed imagery
4. Assist NPS with the synthesis of results and writing of reports and manuscript
5. Assist NPS with public presentations on the project
6. Assist with the development of the outreach curriculum with NPS
7. Assist NPS with development of the outreach curriculum module, public presentations and fact sheet on freshwater fish

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT

Substantial involvement on the part of the National Park Service is anticipated for the successful completion of the objectives to be funded by this award. In particular, the National Park Service will be responsible for the following:

1. Provide funding for the project (PMIS 186815)
2. Establish the CESU agreement with Dr. Chris Arp at UAF to initiate project work in March, 2015
3. Contribute yellow-billed loon and fish occurrence data from BELA
4. Assist UAF with the development of the outreach curriculum with Education Specialist Maria Berger (FAPLIC)
5. Assist UAF with public presentations on the results and help to develop fact sheet on freshwater fish and resource brief on yellow-billed loons
6. Assist UAF with writing the annual and final accomplishment reports and entering them into PMIS
7. Assist UAF with writing the manuscript
8. Coordinate data management and archiving of the imagery and GIS layer at NPS with BELA data manager, Scott Miller

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.


The National Park Service did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:


(4) Unique Qualifications

Single Source Justification: The University of Alaska (UAF) Fish Café Team has been conducting ongoing remote sensing research on fisheries resources and lake habitats for several years in arctic Alaska in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The NPR-A is adjacent to the NPS Arctic Network of Alaska Parklands. The UAF Fish Café Team's technical expertise, extensive experience with the progressive remote sensing methods on fish and previous winter work in arctic Alaska makes them uniquely qualified to conduct this work. It is necessary for NPS to join their partnership to increase the scope of their ongoing research across arctic Alaska and address this critical data gap in fisheries information.