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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 Announcement**                         CA-NOI-08-0008
  **Project Title**                                Quantitative survey of invertebrate populations, physical habitat characteristics and water chemistry in Rough Creek, Bodie Creek and tributaries, Bodie Hills, Mono County, CA.
  **Recipient**                                    University of California-Santa Barbara
  **Principle Investigator / Program Manager**     Dr. David B. Herbst, Associate Research Biologist, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, University of California, and Marine Science Institute, University of California-Santa Barbara. HCR 79, Box 198, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546, (760) 935-4536, [[herbst\@lifesci.ucsb.edu]{.underline}](mailto:herbst@lifesci.ucsb.edu)
  **Total Anticipated Award Amount**               \$100,000 over 5 Years
  **Cost Share**                                   The estimated values of the commitments are unknown at this time but are likely to substantially benefit BLM.
  **New Award or Continuation?**                   New Award
  **Anticipated Length of Agreement**              5 years
  **Anticipated Period of Performance**            07/01/2008 through 09/30/2012
  **Award Instrument**                             Cooperative Agreement
  **Statutory Authority**                          The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, 43 U.S.C Section 1737(b), P.L. 94-579
  **CFDA \# and Title**                            15.231 -- Fish, Wildlife, & Plant Conservation Resource Management
  **Single Source Justification 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 Contact**                         Steven Nelson, Wildlife Biologist, Bishop Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 351 Pacu Lane, Suite 100, Bishop, CA 93514. Telephone 760-872-5006; email: snelson\@blm.gov

**OVERVIEW**

The proposed project is to conduct a quantitative survey of invertebrate
populations, physical habitat characteristics and water chemistry in
Rough Creek, Bodie Creek and interconnected perennial tributaries in the
Bodie Hills, Mono County, CA. The proposed project is a collaborative
effort of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bishop Field Office, and
the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Laboratory and Marine Science Institute,
University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) to collect, compile, and
evaluate data about aquatic invertebrate populations and associated
habitat conditions in the project area. The proposed project is also
part of a larger cooperative effort of the Walker River Implementation
Team (WRIT), of which BLM is a member, to support recovery of Lahontan
cutthroat trout, a Federally Threatened listed species. The data
generated by this effort will substantially increase BLM's understanding
of existing invertebrate populations and associated physical habitat
characteristics and water chemistry in the project area. The proposed
project will also provide both relevant and timely information for
evaluation of the potential establishment of a meta-population of
Lahontan cutthroat trout in these waters in support of recovery efforts.
Data relevant to recovery efforts collected as part of the proposed
project would: 1) Document existing invertebrate populations and
associated physical habitat characteristics, and 2): Ensure adequate
environmental analysis of possible impacts to existing invertebrate
populations that could result from treatments required to remove
non-native trout prior to any re-introduction of Lahontan cutthroat
trout. Cooperative agreement will be issued against the Master
Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, (CCESU) Cooperative
Agreement.

**RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT**

The Principal Investigator will conduct a quantitative survey of
invertebrate populations, physical habitat characteristics, and water
chemistry in the project area. Proposed survey work includes
quantitative invertebrate sampling with a level of taxonomic resolution
to identify midges to both genus and species-group levels. Midges often
account for 30-50% of total invertebrate diversity and abundance in
small streams and are crucial food resources to most drift-feeding fish
including trout. Quantitative invertebrate sampling would also identify
water mites, another group of small-bodied but often abundant
invertebrates, to the genus level. Proposed survey work also includes
broad-scale and/or intensive physical habitat and water quality
sampling. Broad-scale sampling surveys will be limited to the collection
of habitat type and basic water quality (pH, temperature, conductivity)
data. Intensive sampling surveys will include substrate composition
(particle size distribution), channel dimensions (depths, widths,
habitat forms at multiple transects), discharge, current velocity
profiles, riparian cover, channel slope and sinuosity, large wood debris
inventory, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, temperature, organic
matter resource base and algae periphyton resource base. The mix of
broad-scale and/or intensive sampling sites will be based on final
survey design as developed collaboratively by the Principal Investigator
and BLM Bishop Field Office. Newly collected data would be compiled and
compared with existing data already collected by the Sierra Nevada
Aquatic Research Laboratory and UC Santa Barbara to gauge the similarity
and changes to aquatic invertebrate communities in the project area over
time.

**BLM INVOLVEMENT**

BLM will be involved in all phases of the project from overall project
design through the collection and evaluation of survey data.
Specifically, the BLM will collaborate with the Principal Investigator
on survey design including the identification and selection of sampling
sites. The BLM will also provide planning, logistical and field support
to the Principal Investigator throughout the project period. BLM will
assist the Principal Investigator in the compilation and evaluation of
survey data as requested. BLM will be the project lead for integrating
and coordinating project data with the Walker River Implementation Team
(WRIT) in support of recovery efforts for Lahontan cutthroat trout, a
Federally Threatened listed species.

**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:

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

**Single Source Justification Description:**

(4) [The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based
    upon technical expertise and cost-sharing ability.]{.underline}

> The Principal Investigator has extensive technical expertise in the
> ecology and survey of aquatic invertebrate species and is uniquely
> qualified to conduct the proposed project. Dr. Herbst also has
> extensive experience working in the Eastern Sierra region of
> California and has completed numerous projects within the proposed
> project area. He developed and refined sampling protocols for the
> region (compatible with standard protocols in use by the State of
> California, US Forest Service, and US Department of Interior methods)
> and used these tools to compile data sets that define biological
> standards for the ecological integrity of stream ecosystems of the
> Eastern Sierra region (Index of Biological Integrity). This data set,
> along with his local experience, provides a unique ability to define
> the environmental quality of streams from samples of resident aquatic
> invertebrates. Dr. Herbst has also used this approach in a variety of
> settings to evaluate the effects of planned management (such as
> application of piscicides), or progress of restoration projects (such
> as stream re-construction). Dr. Herbst has dedicated considerable
> effort making the results of scientific research useful to applied
> problems of natural resources management and has consulted with, or
> conducted research for: the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control
> Board, US Forest Service, US Bureau of Land Management, US
> Environmental Protection Agency, US Fish and Wildlife Service, CA
> Department of Fish and Game, National Park Service, The Nature
> Conservancy, and other public and private organizations.

**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.