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## UNITED STATES 

## DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

**BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT**

**NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD**

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This
announcement is to provide public notice of the Bureau of Land
Management's intention to fund the following project activities without
full and open competition.

  ----------------- ------------------------------------------------------
  **ABSTRACT**      

  **Funding         CA-NOI-08-0004
  Announcement**    

  **Project Title** Optimizing habitat management for the giant kangaroo
                    rat and associated San Joaquin Valley upland species

  **Recipient**     University of California-Berkeley

  **Principle       Dr. Justin S. Brashares, Assistant Professor of
  Investigator /    Wildlife Ecology, Department of Environmental Science,
  Program Manager** Policy and Management, University of
                    California-Berkeley, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA
                    94720-3114, (510) 643-5373,
                    <brashares@nature.berkeley.edu>

  **Total           \$75,000
  Anticipated Award 
  Amount**          

  **Cost Share**    UC Berkeley endowed chair funds (\$20,000); third
                    party contributions from The Nature Conservancy
                    (\$20,000) and the California Dept. Fish and Game
                    (\$90,000).

  **New Award or    Continuation of a project begun in 2007 for which
  Continuation?**   BLM's funding contribution consisted of in-kind
                    services only.

  **Anticipated     5 years
  Length of         
  Agreement**       

  **Anticipated     05/01/08 through 09/30/2012
  Period of         
  Performance**     

  **Award           Cooperative agreement
  Instrument**      

  **Statutory       The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
  Authority**       (FLPMA), as amended, 43 U.S.C Section 1737(b), P.L.
                    94-579

  **CFDA \# and     15.231 -- Fish, Wildlife, & Plant Conservation
  Title**           Resource Management

  **Single Source   \(2\) Continuation -- The activity to be funded is a
  Justification     continuation of an activity presently being funded.
  Criteria Cited**  (4) Unique Qualifications -- The applicant is uniquely
                    qualified to perform the activity based on technical
                    expertise and cost-sharing ability.

  **BLM Point of    Larry Saslaw, Bakersfield Field Office, Bureau of Land
  Contact**         Management, 3801 Pegasus Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308.
                    Telephone 661-391-6086; email: <lsaslaw@blm.gov>
  ----------------- ------------------------------------------------------

**OVERVIEW**

The interactions of cattle grazing and giant kangaroo rats are key in
developing management prescriptions that enhance the native plant
community composition while providing suitable habitat structure for the
suite of listed plants and animals inhabiting the Carrizo Plain National
Monument. Giant kangaroo rats (Endangered) are considered a keystone
species that is primary prey for San Joaquin kit fox ([Endangered,
CAThreatened]{.mark}) and modifies habitat for numerous other listed
plant and animal species. The amount of persistent non-native grasses
appears to have considerable influence on the abundance of the giant
kangaroo rats. Whether giant kangaroo rats can maintain appropriate
habitat structure or whether cattle grazing on an occasional basis can
reduce the non-native grasses to provide suitable habitat for the listed
species is a recovery actions being addressed by this study. The study
results will inform management prescriptions within the Monument.
Completion of the project will enable BLM to better understand the
relationships of cattle grazing and giant kangaroo rats in determining
native plant composition, vegetation structure, and animal community
structure. Specifically: 1) What is the optimal grazing regime for giant
kangaroo rats and associated upland species? 2) How do giant kangaroo
rats impact other species in the ecosystem?

**RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT**

The Principal Investigator will implement a three-year study to tease
apart relationships between cattle grazing and giant kangaroo rats using
replicated cattle and GKR exclosures. In 2008, 2009, and 2010 annual
surveys will be conducted on the experimental plots which were
established and sampled for baseline data in 2007. The following tasks
will be performed: determining plant composition and biomass; taking
soil samples; conducting mark-recapture surveys for GKR and San Joaquin
antelope squirrels, line transects for reptiles and grasshoppers, point
counts for birds, and spotlight surveys for predators and lagomorphs;
collecting kit fox scats to assess their diet; determining GKR diet
preferences with a seed choice trial; mapping GKR precincts; and
assessing the invertebrate community by pitfall trapping. If the
necessary permits can be obtained, the study would also radio-collar
adult and juvenile GKR to assess rates and causes of mortality and
juvenile dispersal distances.

**BLM INVOLVEMENT**

BLM will collaborate with the principal investigator by providing
logistical support during the planning and implementation stages and by
providing imaging and GIS mapping support at the analysis and report
stages. BLM will provide housing on the National Monument for field
crews. BLM will provide 400 Sherman live traps and 200 Tomahawk live
traps. BLM personnel will also assist the principal investigator with
trapping small mammals, placing radio transmitters on giant kangaroo
rats and San Joaquin antelope squirrels, and provide equipment,
materials and assistance in maintaining the fence exclosures. The BLM
will administer the cattle grazing authorization to provide a grazing
treatment effect required by the study and will provide appropriate
livestock use and monitoring data. BLM will provide the principal
investigator with monthly precipitation data for the Monument and other
pertinent information regarding local environmental conditions.

**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.                                        |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

**(2) Continuation of an activity presently being funded**

**(4) Unique Qualifications; cost-sharing ability**

**Single Source Justification Description:**

\(2\) [Continuation of an activity presently being funded.]{.underline}
This project was initiated in 2007 with funding provided by the
University of California, Department of Environmental Science, Policy
and Management (\$50,000) and The Nature Conservancy (\$50,000). The BLM
provided in kind services of labor, equipment, housing, and logistic
support (including project NEPA compliance) of approximately \$20,000.
For the fiscal years 2008, and 2009, UC Berkeley has been awarded
\$90,000 in Endangered Species Act Section 6 funds from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service and Department of Fish and Game, and has obtained
\$20,000 per year from The Nature Conservancy. The UC Berkeley
researchers have submitted grants to the US Department of Agriculture
for an additional \$100,000 to evaluate the effects of giant kangaroo
rats on native plant restoration success. This project is integral to
implementing an effective adaptive management approach at Carrizo Plain
National Monument. The role of the endangered giant kangaroo rat and
livestock grazing in the management and restoration of native plant
communities is the focus of an ongoing cooperative effort to manage
endangered species habitat in the Monument by BLM, California Department
of Fish and Game, The Nature Conservancy, and other partners.

\(4\) [The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based
upon technical expertise and cost-sharing ability.]{.underline} The
principal investigator has obtained funding for this project from
several sources including UC Berkeley endowed chair funds: \$30,000, The
Nature Conservancy: \$20,000 per year; and California Department of Fish
and Game Section 6 funds \$90,000. The BLM contribution to this project
is less than 20% of the known project funding. It would not be possible
for another source to conduct the study tasks described in this funding
announcement with only the BLM funding contribution. The principal
investigator has technical expertise in the ecology and conservation of
small [mammal]{.mark} populations and has conducted research and
published scientific articles on inter- and intra-specific variation in
ecology and behavior. These subject areas are directly applicable to the
questions at hand regarding cattle grazing and giant kangaroo rat
inter-relationships at Carrizo Plain National Monument and the
consequences that different grazing scenarios will have on native plant
composition, vegetation structure, and animal community structure.

**STATUTORY AUTHORITY**

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, P.L. 94-579, Section
307(b) FLPMA, which provides that the Secretary of the Interior may
conduct investigations, studies, and experiments, on his own initiative
or in cooperation with others, involving management, protection,
development, acquisition, and conveyance of the public lands and may
enter into Cooperative Agreements for these purposes, subject to
applicable law.