Fall Caribou Survey

Post Date

August 21st 2009

Application Due Date

September 4th 2009

Funding Opportunity Number

701819R175

CFDA Number(s)

15.608

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Cooperative Agreement

Funding Activity Categories

Environment
Natural Resources

Number of Awards

1

Eligibility Categories

State Governments

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $12000

• Award Range:

  $0 - $12000

Grant Description

The US Fish and Wildlife Service, Headquarters Region 7 intends to award a single source Cooperative Agreement to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation. This notice is not a request for proposals and the Government does not intend to accept proposals. Award will be made 10 days after this notice. PURPOSE: The continued monitoring, management, and study of factors affecting the abundance of caribou on the Alaska Peninsula. Data regarding population demographics such as population composition, recruitment, and survival rates provide information that is fundamental to the Department’s management decisions regarding caribou on the Alaska Peninsula. Radio-collared animals are an essential component of monitoring activities as they provide information regarding the locations, movements, and survival and rates of caribou on the Alaska Peninsula. This information facilitates appropriate management of caribou for the long-term benefit of subsistence and recreational users. The purpose of this agreement is to provide support and assistance to the Department in acquiring information fundamental to the management of game species and ongoing cooperative projects. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this agreement are to provide support and assistance to the Department for 2009 herd composition surveys and capture operations for caribou. Herd composition surveys and capture operations will be conducted by Department wildlife biologists and Service staff of the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof National Wildlife Refuges during 2009. Capture operations will be conducted within Game Management Units 9C and 9E. BACKGROUND Historically, the Northern Alaska Peninsula caribou herd (NAPCH) has been an important subsistence resource for the 12 communities in Game Management Units (GMU) 9C & 9E. The NAPCH also was a popular resource among recreational hunters prior to a moratorium on hunting in 2005. Similarly, the Southern Alaska Peninsula caribou herd (SAPCH) and Unimak Island caribou herd (UICH) are important resources to subsistence and recreational users in GMUs 9D and 10. Initiatives by the Bristol Bay Native Association, local Fish & Game Advisory Committees, Bristol Bay Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council, and the Aniakchak Subsistence Resource Commission have requested improved information to support State and Federal management decisions. Improved understanding of the NAPCH was the first priority of the 1997 Bristol Bay-Kodiak Ecosystem Partners meeting, as well as a priority issue with participants in the Bristol Bay Native Association’s 1998 Northern Alaska Peninsula Caribou & Moose Workshop. More recently, the Bristol Bay Native Association organized a Subsistence Summit for residents of the Alaska Peninsula at which refuge staff and Departmental Area Biologists discussed the ecology of local caribou declines. The Northern Alaska Peninsula caribou Herd (NAPCH) has declined by approximately 88% since the early 1990s. This dramatic decline has resulted in unmet demand for subsistence harvest. Composition surveys during 1998 indicated that NAPCH bull:cow ratios had declined and thus, a reduced quantity of harvestable bulls was available for subsistence and recreational harvest. Consequently in 1999, the Alaska Board of Game limited the NAPCH harvest to 600 bulls to be allocated as Tier II permits and the Federal Subsistence Board closed federal lands to non-local hunters. The NAPCH continued to decline and the Alaska Board of Game reduced the number of available Tier II permits to 400 in 2000. The Department continued to distribute 400 Tier II permits through 2003. As the harvestable quantity of caribou continued to decline, the number of Tier II permits was further reduced to 100 and 40 in 2004 and 2005 respectively. The NAPCH was subsequently closed to all hunting in 2005. Current understanding of caribou herd dynamics suggests that fall calf:cow ratios near 25 calves:100 cows are necessary to maintain migratory caribou herds at stable or increasing levels. Estimated NAPCH calf:cow ratios averaged 32.7 calves:100 cows from 1992-2002. Since 2003, estimated calf:cow ratios have declined precipitously with an average of 9.2 calves:100 cows from 2003-2007 and this level or recruitment is unlikely to support stabilization or recovery of the NAPCH. In addition, bull:cow ratios have also declined by approximately >19% since 2002. Current (2008) herd composition estimates indicate NAPCH calf:cow ratios are 8% and bull:cow ratios are 15%. The Department objective for the NAPCH is 25-40 bulls:100 cows and current bull:cow ratios indicate bull:cow ratios are below favorable levels for this herd. The effects of decreased range conditions, diseases, parasites, and predators have been proposed as potential factors limiting NAPCH numbers. Indications of nutritional stress, including low-body weights, high incidence of disease, and delayed year of first reproduction were reported during the late 1990’s. In addition, limited studies of range conditions suggested the winter range of the NAPCH may have been negatively affected by overgrazing. Preliminary results of a cooperative radio-telemetry study (2005-2007), indicated that low survival rates, poor nutrition, poor recruitment, high levels of parasites and disease, and high predation rates on neonates are having adverse effects on NAPCH numbers. Similarly, the SAPCH has undergone a long period of decline which necessitated elimination of both recreational and subsistence hunting during 1994 through 1996. Numbering over 10,000 in 1983, caribou counts dropped to a low of 1,400 in 1996. In the late 1990's the herd showed some signs of recovery: newborn calf weights were heavier than a decade before, body condition was improving, and pregnancy rates of young (3-year-old) cows reached 92% in 1999. A federal subsistence hunt was opened in 1997, and the general State hunt opened in 1999. Unfortunately, at this time the recovery of the SAPCH has faltered. During 2003 through 2005, autumn composition surveys recorded only six to eight calves per 100 cows (ADF&G and USFWS data). During 2006 and 2007, calf:cow ratios in the SAPCH were 1% and 0.5% respectively. Calf:cow ratios observed during this period are the lowest ever recorded for this herd and are of major concern to management agencies and local residents. In response to these extremely low levels of recruitment, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game has initiated intensive management strategies including wolf control. Consistent with the principles of ecosystem management and the laws and policies listed below, effective management of the Refuges is done in close coordination with the State of Alaska. The Department has the primary responsibility for managing resident wildlife populations such as caribou. Estimates of herd size, herd composition, and calf recruitment are fundamental to the Department’s management decisions regarding seasons and bag limits for caribou herds on the Alaska Peninsula. As a major land manager of caribou habitat on the Alaska Peninsula and Unimak Island, the Service has an interest in the status of the NAPCH, SAPCH, and UICH. Therefore, the staff of the Department and the refuge staffs of the Service at the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof National Wildlife Refuges regularly cooperate on surveys and studies of the caribou herds. Refuge funding has allowed for the continued monitoring, management, and study of factors affecting the abundance of these caribou herds. REASON FOR SINGLE SOURCE: (1) Continuation – The activity for which this agreement will support is necessary to the 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. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game has the primary responsibility for managing resident wildlife populations such as moose, caribou, and wolves. Consistent with the principles of ecosystem management and the laws and policies listed below, effective management of the Refuges has been done in close coordination with the State of Alaska Department of Fish & Game. The staffs of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Alaska Peninsula/Becharof NWR) regularly cooperate on surveys and studies of caribou on the Alaska Peninsula and Unimak Island. Refuge funding has allowed for the continued monitoring, management, and study of factors affecting the abundance of caribou populations on the Alaska Peninsula and Unimak Island. (2) 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, and if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game has the primary responsibility for managing moose, caribou, and wolves on the Alaska Peninsula. In addition, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game meets other criteria which preclude competition for this cooperative agreement, including location, property ownership, technical expertise, and support capacity.

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of the Interior

• Office:

  Fish and Wildlife Service

• Agency Contact:

  Richard Primmer
  Contract Specialist
  Phone 907-786-3611

• Agency Mailing Address:

  Work

• Agency Email Address:

  rich_primmer@fws.gov

• Location:

  Region 7