Group items tagged

To assist the Bureau of Land Management in managing Montezuma quail populations by evaluating Montezuma quail responses to common silviculture and rangeland practices in the Fort Stanton Snowy River National Conservation Area (NCA). (1) To describe spatial patterns and habitat use prior and after thinning projects (canopy cover reduced to a mosaic of 30% to 40% canopy cover) (2) controlled burns determine habitat use in relation to canopy cover (3) determine population characteristics (sex and age composition, survival rates, cause -specific mortality and density) of Montezuma quail in the NCA. Because few studies have been published on Montezuma quail using radio-telemetry, our knowledge on habitat use and life history is overly dependent on anecdotal observations. This study will be the first to document habitat use in relation to canopy cover, thinning projects and response to controlled burns. This project will address several conservation actions and monitoring recommendations for Montezuma quail. We will allow determination of current habitat use as well as provide needed information to construct management schemes to improve or maintain current Montezuma quail habitat. Ultimately, the understanding of the dynamics and ecology of Montezuma quail will aid in their management and the habitat they reside in.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

Background: The BLM Richfield Field Office works together with Utah State Parks, the Forest Service, and private land owners to manage and maintain the Paiute Trail and other motorized trails to provide a unique and seamless experience for users and the public. This trail is over 900 miles long and benefits the local economies of multiple communities, draws in thousands of visitors each year, and helps maintain solid working relationships between the agencies and landowners with cohesive goals to benefit the public through the motorized trail systems. The BLM has worked with and Utah State Parks for the past 5 years to provide maintenance, public outreach, and to improve the trails for the benefit of the public. The BLM Richfield Field Office is seeking proposals to assist with maintenance, education, and monitoring on the Paiute and associated OHV trails. Objective: 1. The partner and BLM will continue to provide monitoring, education, and maintenance on over 150 miles of motorized and Paiute ATV trail on public lands, provide upkeep on kiosks and trailheads, litter removal and to provide a quality experience for thousands of recreational visitors. Areas to be maintained include recreation areas and trailheads associated with the motorized trails. Otter Creek trail access including Fishermans Beach, Tamarisk Point, and South Point. Sauls Meadow, Kingston Canyon, Aurora Open Area, Glenwood Open Area, Bicknelll Bottoms Trailheads, Koosharem Reservoir, and other recreation areas and trailheads along the trails will be maintained. Work would also include public outreach and education, trail work, maintenance, sign installation and maintenance, clearing, improving, and additional work and special projects as needed along the motorized trails on public land connecting communities, state parks, and trailheads. This would ensure a well-marked, signed, and maintained long-distance trail system with adequate support facilities that are open to the general public for recreati

The MacroSystems Biology: Research on Biological Systems at Regional to Continental Scales will support quantitative, interdisciplinary, systems-oriented research on biosphere processes and their complex interactions with climate, land use, and invasive species at regional to continental scales as well as planning, training, and development activities to enable groups to conduct MacroSystems Biology Research.

BLM CA has been working with the Amargosa Conservancy for establishing baselines for ground water hydrographs within the region. BLM has installed monitoring wells on public lands within the Amargosa River ACEC. With both BLM and Amargosa Conservancy having the same end results in working with private landowners to conduct much of the restoration on BLM and private lands in the region. BLM will continue to work on joint restoration planning and coordination to continue the monitoring of ground water and control invasive species and restore habitat within the California portion of the Amargosa River watershed. The benefit of having a recipient monitoring resources in addition to the ground water will assist BLM in the development of the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River AWSR management plan especially in data development. A recipient must be able to access all data for this projects that have transpired for the past several years and BLM needs to stay consistent with the same database lines.

This program will support implementation of the Island Lake Fire Burned Area Rehabilitation (BAR) Plan. This BAR plan describes activities and treatments for lands and wildlife habitats burned during the Island Lake Fire. The fire burned wetland, riparian and upland vegetation composed of a mix of native and exotic species. The primary fire carrier was common reed (Phragmites australis), which allowed the fire to spread quickly throughout the river corridor. Dense stands of exotic saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and areas with sparse and healthy stands of native mesquite, cottonwood, and willow were also consumed. Potential restoration sites were initially evaluated based on vegetation, site conditions, soils, water table depth, and fire severity. Sites were then prioritized based on the probability for restoration success. Strategic restoration efforts will be focused in areas encompassing about 6 percent (ca 200 acres) of the overall 3,304 acre fire. The identified restoration areas will be further refined through on the ground evaluation of desirable site characteristics listed above. The primary rehabilitation concern is re establishment of native wildlife habitats including riparian cottonwood and willow forest and mesquite woodlands. These habitats are increasingly rare and very productive for a diversity of wildlife species. This rehabilitation effort will focus on facilitated recovery of native species through integrated removal and herbicide treatment of exotics, cottonwood and willow pole planting, mesquite seeding, and flood irrigation. Activities under this funding opportunity will include, but are not limited to:Preparing restoration site boat accessAssistance with restoration site assessmentsRemoval of non-native saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and common reed (Phragmites australis) through manual removal or herbicide treatmentsSite preparation activities such as raking, irrigating, and soil preparationMesquite seed collectionCottonwood and willow pole harvestingPol

The Bureau of Land Management has been working with the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE) since 2001 to re-introduce and monitor the Pink Sand-verbena population at the North Spit. The population has been monitored every year since 1997 and has grown from 1,700 plants to over 350,000 plants currently. The Conservation Strategy for pink sand verbena was developed and employed by IAE in 2004. This research and work has been the foundation and guideline for the ongoing monitoring used by IAE that is crucial part of the conservation strategy for this species. Pink sand-verbena is a Species of Concern by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), listed as Endangered by the State of Oregon, listed as threatened with extinction by the Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, and listed as a BLM sensitive species. BLM manual 6840 for Special Status Species provides guidance to conserve listed species and the ecosystems on which they depend. The primary threats to the species include competition from European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria), habitat disturbance by off road vehicles (ORVs), and changes to the natural disturbance regime. Repeated seeding at Coos Bay North Spit since 1997 have resulted in the largest population of pink sand verbena in Oregon. Seed collected from the North Spit is currently the only seed source available in sufficient quantities for restoration efforts of the species throughout the State. Despite continued management treatments and seeding efforts at the North Spit, recent declines in the size and reproductive effort of plants at the site, and an increase in non-native species has been observed. Continued monitoring of this population combined with assessments of associated vegetation and substrate will allow for quantifying factors that influence successful re-introduction efforts for this dune species. At New River, 50,000-150,000 seeds have been dispersed within swales throughout the fore dune almost every year from 1997 to 2014. The population

Through the program, general support grants of up to $7,000 as well as funding for specific projects will be awarded to nonprofits working in one or more of the foundation's five focus areas - promoting Earth's beauty and bounty; creating a robust, healthy food system; increasing opportunities for outdoor activity; reducing environmental health hazards; and building stronger communities. Preference will be given to organizations that can demonstrate a clearly defined objective and a viable plan to achieve it, and that operate at the community level and have strong community ties. Organizations also must promote positive change through both their project and the implementation process.

The Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) supports translational research and education activities in all aspects of advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) that lead to deployable, scalable, and sustainable systems capable of transforming science and engineering research. Advanced CI includes the spectrum of computational, data, software, networking, and security resources, tools, and services, along with the computational and data skills and expertise, that individually and collectively can transform science and engineering. OAC supports advanced CI research to address new CI frontiers for discovery leading to major innovations, and supports the development and deployment processes, as well as expert services, necessary for realizing the research CI that is critical to the advancement of all areas of science and engineering research and education.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is pleased to announce the National Coastal Resilience Fund. Projects funded under this national program will provide benefits to communities, as well as for fish and wildlife. In partnership with NOAA, NFWF will make investments to advance identified priorities for restoring and strengthening natural systems so they can protect coastal communities from the impacts of storms and floods and enable them to recover more quickly, while also enhancing habitats for important fish and wildlife populations.

Background: The BLM partners with the Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit (CESU); State Agencies and political subdivisions thereof; private entities; and for profit and non-profit entities to study, monitor, protect, preserve, and conserve various species, to include Special Status species, throughout Oregon and Washington as well as restoring their habitat.

The development and qualification of new structural materials and fabrication of commercial scale components made from new structural materials are key steps in the development of next generation fossil energy (FE) power generation technologies, improving the efficiency of existing FE power plants by increasing working fluid (e.g. steam or supercritical CO2) steam temperature, and to enable existing FE power plants to safely and effectively operate in cycling modes for well beyond their original 30-year design life. Advanced ultra-supercritical (AUSC) pulverized coal fired power plants and transformational supercritical CO2 power cycles will operate at temperatures and pressures up to 760 °Celsius and 5,000 psia (pounds per square inch absolute), and will require large components, up to 10 tons (such as boiler and heat exchanger tubing; valves, large diameter, thick wall steam and sCO2 pipe and pipe fittings, and steam and sCO2 turbine parts) to be fabricated from gamma prime strengthened nickel superalloys, such as Haynes 282 and Inconel 740. Gamma prime strengthened nickel superalloys this large have seldom been needed for other industries, and thus, there is not an established manufacturing supply chain for such components.

The 2019 Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies Funding Opportunity Announcement will invest up to 47 million dollars, to allow all interested parties (universities, corporations, non-profits, national labs) to research and develop innovative technologies that will improve energy productivity, improve flexibility, security and resiliency, as well as lower energy costs. With this Funding Opportunity Announcement, Building Technologies Office intends to fund high-impact, early-stage research in the following three topic areas: Topic Area 1 - Flexible Building Technologies; Topic Area 2 - Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technologies; and Topic Area 3 - Solid-State Lighting Technologies.

This purpose of this announcement is to select and award projects that focus on critical gaps in our understanding of reservoir behavior and optimal completion, stimulation and wastewater disposal strategies in order to increase and enable more cost-efficient and environmentally sound recovery from shale gas, tight oil, and tight gas resources. This can be achieved by developing technological solutions that enable effective resource recovery from fewer and less environmentally-impactful wells. This announcement is a critical component of the Depart of Energy portfolio to advance the environmentally-sound development of domestic unconventional oil and natural gas resources.

The National Park Service is at a crossroads in conservation. After more than one hundred years of organizational evolution, the public that has both supported and challenged their mission is re-evaluating their role at home, and abroad. This project seeks to bridge a gap in nationalistic and international ideals, through the lens of protected area managersâ¿¿ real-world issues. The premise is that we can assist local protected area resiliency, thus the conservation of biological diversity, through a collective understanding of management efforts at home and abroad. This project will focus on â¿¿where the rubber meets the roadâ¿¿ and link together an analysis of management issues common to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, Rocky Mountain National Park, parks in the Arenal-Tempisque Conservation Area of Costa Rica, the Huascaran National Park of Peru and Bernardo Oâ¿¿Higgins National Park in Chile. The five locations will serve as sentinel sites along the backbone of the Western Hemisphere to tell a story that is local to global, and provides the information needed to support the resiliency and adaptive management capacity of local protected areas. The story will build upon comparative ecology as well the sociopolitical. Differences among sites will celebrate the power of place; while issues and opportunities in common will be highlighted as a source of strength, connectedness, and leverage. This story will serve as a foundation to engaging communities towards a more sustainable future for the protected area they find most important while giving the park managers actionable items and a network of support and understanding to achieve their goals.

This project will pro-actively restore and improve Federally Endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax trailii extimus; SWFL) habitat at prioritized sites along the Colorado River Corridor in Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA). The biological control agent northern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) began establishing in the park in 2009, and is successfully defoliating non-native tamarisk, altering what has become important habitat for the SWFL. While tamarisk management is in alignment with NPS policies and plans, the NPS must also protect endangered and sensitive species that have adapted to tamarisk-dominated riparian habitat. This project will focus on selective tamarisk removal during the non-breeding season in order to minimize impacts to avian species and installation of native species to fill its niche. This work is in accordance with the 2002 USFWS Recovery Plan, the 2006 Colorado River Management Plan EIS, and the 2009 Invasive Plant Management Plan EA. The project will focus on assessment, design and vegetative and habitat restoration at Cardenas Camp RM 71.7L, as well as assessment and design components for restoring Grand Canyon Youth Camp (GCY) RM 274L .

The Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to study the causes and effects of phenological changes in salamander life history events. This opportunity will provide an avenue for assisting the USGS-WARC with the development of models for simulating and predicting the effects of future climate conditions on salamander populations. Research being conducted by USGS-WARC scientists is being used to inform recovery efforts of the federally-listed flatwoods salamanders (2 species; Ambystoma cingulatum and A. bishopi). WARC scientists are monitoring populations of A. cingulatum at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge; their work has demonstrated the variation in timing of key life history events, such as breeding and metamorphosis, as well as their dependence on weather patterns. The largest remaining population of A. bishopi exists at Eglin Air Force Baseâ¿¿approximately 250 km west of St. Marks NWR. This opportunity is for collaboration with CESU partner scientists to evaluate spatial and temporal variation in phenological patterns of flatwoods salamanders. This collaboration would ensure that forecasts of salamander population viability account for a more complete range of future possibilities

This notice is not a mechanism to fund existing NOAA awards. The purpose of this notice is to request applications for special projects and programs associated with NOAA's strategic plan and mission goals, as well as to provide the general public with information and guidelines on how NOAA will select applications and administer discretionary Federal assistance under this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This Broad Agency Announcement is a mechanism to encourage research, education and outreach, innovative projects, or sponsorships that are not addressed through NOAA's competitive discretionary programs. This announcement is not soliciting goods or services for the direct benefit of NOAA. Funding for activities described in this notice is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019, and Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations. Applicants are hereby given notice that funds have not yet been appropriated for any activities described in this notice. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to review an application beyond an initial administrative review, or to award any specific project, or to obligate any available funds. In furtherance of this objective, NOAA issues this BAA for extramural research, innovative projects, and sponsorships (e.g., conferences, newsletters, etc.) that address one or more of the following four mission goal descriptions contained in the NOAA Strategic Plan: 1. Long-term mission goal: Climate Adaptation and Mitigation 2. Long-term mission goal: Weather-Ready Nation 3. Long-term mission goal: Healthy Oceans 4. Long-term mission goal: Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies

The Maritime Administration, Office of Environment is issuing this request for proposals (RFP) for projects that demonstrate shipboard energy conservation or efficiency measures. Background: Over the past several years, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) has been partnering with government agencies, industry, and academia on efforts to reduce vessel and port emissions, as well as efforts to support the use of alternative fuel and energy sources. Currently, MARAD would like to focus on exploring and supporting proposals focused on shipboard energy efficiency and conservation. This RFP is specifically seeking to provide cost share funding through a cooperative agreement(s) for one or more proposals that offer the potential for advancement and improvement of energy efficiency for marine vessel operations. The MARAD cost share will not exceed 50% of the total project cost. Collaborative partnerships with other entities such as industry, ports, maritime organizations, and state or local governments are highly encouraged. This announcement is an expression of interest only and does not commit MARAD to make any award. The total amount of funding under the RFP will be up to $400,000.

The principal purpose of the project is to support the Government’s objective to provide opportunities for youth to learn about the environment as well as relevant job skills by spending time working on projects in National Parks. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing community often struggles to break into the job market, so crew participants in this project will particularly benefit from the professional development and job skills gained during this experience. The NPS receives the indirect benefit of completing conservation projects. The project engages crew participants, partners, and the Deaf/Hard of Hearing communities in shared resource stewardship. This project will align with DOI priorities such as Restoring Trust With Local Communities (in this case, the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community and rural New Mexican communities) and Modernizing Our Infrastructure (projects will address deferred maintenance whenever possible).