Climate Change Scenario Planning for Alaska Region National Park Service Units

Post Date

August 9th 2010

Application Due Date

August 16th 2010

Funding Opportunity Number

J9921101008

CFDA Number(s)

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Cooperative Agreement

Funding Activity Categories

Environment

Number of Awards

1

Eligibility Categories

Other

This is a CESU agreement. University of Alaska Fairbanks is the selected cooperator. This agreement is not competed.

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $335000

• Award Range:

  $220000 - $335000

Grant Description

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 (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities. ABSTRACT Funding Announcement: J9921101008 Project Title: Climate Change Scenario Planning for Alaska Region National Park Service Units Recipient: University of Alaska Fairbanks Principle Investigator: Nancy Fresco Total Anticipated Award Amount: $335,000 Cost Share: N/A New Award Or Continuation: New CESU award Anticipated Length of Agreement: 5 Years Anticipated Period of Performance: August 9, 2010 – September 30, 2014 Award Instrument: Cooperative Agreement/CESU Statutory Authority: 16 U.S.C. ¤1a-2(j) authorizes the National Park Service (NPS) to enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of NPS appropriated funds to educational institutions for the public purpose of carrying out NPS programs. More specifically, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), 16 U.S.C. Section 5933, authorizes the National Park Service to enter into cooperative agreements with colleges and universities, including but not limited to land grant schools, in partnership with other Federal and State agencies, to establish cooperative study units to conduct multi-disciplinary research and develop integrated information products on the resources of the National Park System, or the larger region of which parks are a part. CFDA# and 0.00 Not Elsewhere Classified Title: Single Source Justification Criteria Sited: JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (or SINGLE SOURCE) FOR DISCRETIONARY COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS CESU Task Agreement J9921101008 Climate Change Scenario Planning for Alaska Region National Park System Units BACKGROUND: The Alaska Region of the National Park Service (NPS) received notice in mid-April of 2010 of an award of $400,000 to complete Climate Change Scenarios for Alaska National Parks, organized by I&M networks or similar eco-regions, to inform future NPS management decisions in response to climate change effects on natural, cultural, and subsistence resources, their use and enjoyment, and facility developments and maintenance. The NPS Climate Change Response Program (CCRP) project fund is new this year, and is expected to be $10M over the next 3 fiscal years. This project is the flagship project for the Alaska Region and the first major climate change scenarios project under this fund. The NPS Alaska Region has received $200,000 in FY10 and $100,000 for both FY11 and FY12. A portion of these funds are to cover NPS travel and interpretive products for the project, and the balance would go to the selected CESU. The NPS has an existing CESU Agreement with the University of Alaska – Fairbanks, which is the most knowledgeable of climate change effects in the state of Alaska of any university in the USA. 1) 505 DM 2 Single Source - Only one responsible source will satisfy agency requirements. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Scenario Network for Alaska Planning (UAF-SNAP) is best suited to cooperate with the NPS Alaska Region to complete this project because this group has already completed climate change model runs under various future greenhouse gas emissions levels for at least three different future periods for each NPS unit in Alaska. These model projections result in park maps showing expected changes in temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration. UAF-SNAP has access to one of the foremost climate modelers in the USA and the UAF Geophysical Institute’s Global Change Research Center. UAF-SNAP takes this information to inform resources managers and to explore future options to address the ongoing and likely changes. Other universities have engaged in arctic research, but none have the onsite and on-the-ground expertise and experience with climate change effects on NPS areas in Alaska that is available at UAF. Furthermore, because of the late date of fund award, an existing CESU Agreement with UAF, and the need to obligate funds before the end of this fiscal year, making an award to an entity as qualified as UAF-SNAP makes eminent sense. 2) Nature and description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs: UAF-SNAP is to participate in an NPS Climate Change Scenario training session in Anchorage, Alaska with NPS in August 2010 to prepare for subsequent work. UAF-SNAP will provide climate change information and model projections of parks for webinars leading up to the training session as needed. By the end of FY10, UAF-SNAP will complete a work plan to conduct Internet seminars and four workshops to produce climate change scenarios and proceedings for all NPS parks in Alaska, organized by Inventory and Monitoring networks of parks, in the following two years. More detail on services and deliveries are contained in the CESU Agreement statement of work. UAF-SNAP has modeling and geographic information system expertise to produce climate change projections for Alaska NPS areas that no other entity in Alaska possesses. UAF-SNAP has also perfected vegetation and fire models to project areas most prone to future wildfire. UAF-SNAP will be uniquely positioned to assist park-affiliated communities, park stakeholders, partner agencies, and other state and local governments to address future climate change scenarios. Working with UAF-SNAP builds capacity to address climate change issues in Alaska not only for the NPS but also for other entities. The NPS has been provided $200,000 for FY10, $100,000 for FY11, and $100,000 for FY12. A portion of this will be retained by the NPS to cover NPS travel, licensing fees, and interpretive products, and the balance would be provided to UAF-SNAP. Additional funds may be provided for this project through the Alaska Subsistence Advisory Council fund. At present, the NPS plans to obligate $165,000 to UAF-SNAP in FY10. Assuming future funds are provided to continue the project, NPS would provide UAF-SNAP with $65,000 in FY11 and $67,500 in FY12. 3) Criteria for justifying award without competition. In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria. Please explain which criterion specifically addresses the proposed agreement. The two bullets below describe the rationale for this award without competition, especially the first bullet for unique qualifications. • 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; • 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. 4) A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted: We considered working with a private contractor such as GBN for the entire project, but costs estimates far exceeded more than twice the allotted funds. Furthermore, GBN’s experience is primarily with large corporate businesses and not government land management agencies. The UAF-SNAP frequently completes research and projects associated with Alaska resource management agencies. We also considered a CESU outside of NW AK CESU, such as the University of AZ, but their expertise with Alaska climate change modeling and resources issues are slim. 5) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: This is a new project for which a purchase request had not previously been created; however, the NPS has an existing CESU Agreement with the University of Alaska Fairbanks under which this project would become a task order. 6) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers for competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required: The NPS has worked with other private businesses and universities to conduct climate change scenario planning in other parts of the USA, and this will continue. No entities to our knowledge have the climate change modeling and natural resources knowledge base for Alaska than the University of Alaska. UAF-SNAP is uniquely qualified and capable of producing the products and services the NPS requires at this time. The plans to publish and make widely available the results of the workshops and products from this project, which could be used by other parties to develop capacities to address similar climate change projects in Alaska in the future. Furthermore, future different efforts, such as climate change adaptation planning, may be better suited for other entities. National Park Service Point of Contact: Erica_Cordeiro@nps.gov

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of the Interior

• Office:

  National Park Service

• Agency Contact:

  Erica Cordeiro
  Contract Specialist
  Phone 907-644-3303

• Agency Mailing Address:

  Work email

• Agency Email Address:

  Erica_Cordeiro@nps.gov