UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

BLM Youth Initiative
FY 2012 Projects
Authority:
Public Land Corps Act of 1993
16 USC 1723 (c) Public Lands Corps
16 U.S.C. 1725 (b) Resource Assistants

Request for Applications (RFA)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NO. L12AS00009

CFDA No. 15.239

CFDA Title:

Management Inititatives

ISSUE DATE: December 15, 2011

CLOSING DATE:
January 20, 2012

Contact Information:

Programmatic: See Section I, Funding Opportunity Description, for listing of project contacts.

SECTION I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Project Background Information: BLM has historically had opportunities in which youth gain land management experience and job skills by working with land managers on various projects. This type of program offers education about public land resources, and helps to create the next generation of conservation leaders.

B. Project Objective: To provide youth ages 16 to 25 with a meaningful work experience on public lands that is safe and educational and that helps to develop conservation and stewardship ethics and knowledge about career pathways in natural and cultural resource management.

C. Statement of Joint Objectives:

·  Applicants to complete a separate application package for each project being applied for and identify the project name and State on each package;

·  Submitted and approved applications will be forwarded to the appropriate State(s) for evaluation and determination.

·  Individual awards will be issued and administered by the applicable State Grants Management Officer (GMO) and identified Program Officer (PO) for technical administration;

·  Individual agreements will be issued a CFDA number applicable to the project.

FY 2012 State Youth Projects

State / Office / Project Description and Location / Funding
(estimate) / Technical Contact Information
Alaska / Anchorage Field Office / Assist archaeologist in cultural resource inventory of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. / $15,000 / Jenny Blanchard
(907) 267-1341
Alaska / Anchorage Field Office / Receive educational and hands-on cultural and recreation management experience in the techniques of historic collection management, public outreach for the Iditarod National Historic Trail (INHT), and the management of recreation resources. / $15,000 / Kevin Keeler (907) 267-1207
Arizona / Lake Havasu Field Office / Assist with development of an environmental education program for Boy Scouts and other youth at Partners Point. / $10,000 / William Bryan (727) 716-0054
Eastern States/ Virginia / Lower Potomac Field Station / Assist the Environmental Education Specialist with environmental programs and learning opportunities for families and youth at the Lower Potomac Field Station (LPFS). / $10,000 / Theresa Jefferson (703) 339-0410
Eastern States/ Mississippi / Jupiter Inlet Outstanding Natural Area / Assist with environmental education and interpretive programs, greeting the public, assisting with group tours and working with staff specialists, including archivists and curators. Opportunity to work on invasive species management and to assist with visitor and natural resource monitoring projects. / $10,000 / Grace Guess (601) 977-5415
Idaho / Upper Snake Field Office / Assist with summer river patrols, including visitor contacts, as well as monitoring of Wilderness Study Areas. / $4,300 / Shannon Bassista (208) 524-7552
Montana / Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument / Historic Trail stewardship duties, including public contact and education program development at the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. / 4 Awards
totaling
$250,000 / Dave LeFevre (406) 896-5037
Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument / Complete Earth Cache project at the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.
Statewide / Implement Seeds of Success program, as well as wildlife and native plant materials projects.
Statewide / Complete a variety of resource management projects, including trail construction/maintenance, fence building and repair, etc.
New Mexico / Statewide / Assist the Wildlife Program by installing, upgrading, and maintaining wildlife escape ramps in both wildlife and livestock watering troughs and open storage tanks.
Assist in maintainence of fences in the form of enclosures around riparian areas and wildlife waters. Assist in control of noxious and invasive weeds, using hand grubbing or chopping. / $25,000 / Don Ellsworth (505) 761-8900
Wyoming / Statewide / Support the BLM Wyoming Plant Conservation Program in particular, and other programs dealing with Vegetation Management including Range, Science, Wildlife, Fire/Fuels, and Surface Compliance (Reclamation). Assist BLM staff to manage, conserve, and restore botanical and ecological resources and ecosystem services on public lands. / $50,000 - $100,000/year / Adrienne Pilmanis (307) 775-6035

Additonal Contact: If unable to reach a contact identified above, please contact Betsy Wooster, National Youth Program Lead, at (202) 912-7454.

The BLM Project Officers will collaborate and provide technical guidance with Recipient Project Officers to manage the stages of project development, implementation and evaluation and ensure the projects meet applicable state and federal laws.

D. Period of Project: From the date of each award for a period of up to five years.

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Expected Number of Awards: 12 – 15

B. Estimated Total Program Funding: $500,000

C. Award Ceiling: $4,300 to $100,000

D. Assistance Instrument: Cooperative Agreement

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Eligible Applicants: Qualified youth or conservation corps. The term “qualified youth or conservation corps” means any program established by a State or local government, by the governing body of any Indian tribe, or by a nonprofit organization that (A) is capable of offering meaningful, full-time, productive work for individuals between the ages of 16 and 25, inclusive, in a natural or cultural resource setting; (B) gives participants a mix of work experience, basic and life skills, education, training, and support services; and (C) provides participants with the opportunity to develop citizenship values and skills through service to their community and the United States.

Cost Sharing or Matching: The required match of the recipient is 25%. This program has a matching requirement of 75/25. BLM may not pay more than 75% of the cost of any appropriate conservation project carried out on public lands by a qualified youth or conservation corps. The remaining 25% of the costs may be provided from non-federal sources in the form of funds, donations, services, facilities, materials, equipment, or any combination thereof.

SECTION IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Address to Request Application Package: This announcement contains all information and electronic addresses necessary to submit an application through Grants.gov.

Content and Form of Application: The application package shall consist of all the required Standard Forms (SF) shown below AND a project narrative and budget narrative that must include the following information:

SF Forms to Submit / SF Form Number and Title
Application / Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance
Budget Information / Form SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs
Assurances / Form SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

Certification Regarding Lobbying - Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans, and Cooperative Agreements. Attachment A applies to recipients of awards exceeding $100,000.

Proposal Submission Format. Attachment B can be used as an example when submitting your proposal. The proposal technical text must be no longer than 10 pages, no smaller than font size 11, and have 1-inch margins. The 10-page limit includes all text, figures, references, and vitae. (The Budget, Attachment 3, is not included in the 10-page limit.) The text should include the following:

Purpose, Objectives, and Relevance. (a) Describe why the project is needed by the applicant; (b) Describe the applicant’s objectives; (c) Describe how the applicant’s objectives support their mission and how this project will provide a public benefit.

Technical Approach. Describe how the applicant proposes to conduct and achieve the project in accordance with the Statement of Joint Objectives in Section I.C. The project design must contain enough detail to show the development of the project and the relationship between the partners, tasks, milestones, and objectives. The work plan must be clear, suitable, and feasible with respect to the following; (a) Describe the techniques, procedures, and methodologies to be used; (b) Describe data collection, analysis, and means of relationship interpretation; (c) Describe expected results or outcomes; and (d) Describe the procedures for evaluating project efficacy, including fixed performance indices with probabilities for obtaining them. Explain how the applicant will meet the completion schedule identified in Section I.D.

Qualifications, Experience, and Past Performance. Describe who will carry out the project activities. List all project personnel, including consultants. Describe their responsibilities and the amount of time each will dedicate to the project. Briefly describe how their experience and qualifications are appropriate to successfully achieve the stated objectives.

Budget. Attachment C may be used as an example when submitting your budget. Please include a description of the cost share (cash vs. in kind). The budget should contain the following:

Salaries and Wages. Include all employees and their titles working on the project.

Fringe Benefits. Propose your rates/amounts. If rates are audit approved, include a copy of the audit agreement and/or the name of the audit agency. If more than one rate is used, list each rate and the wage or salary base.

Consultant/Contracting Fees. Include payments for professional and technical consultants and contractors participating in the project.

Travel and Per Diem. For each trip, indicate the number of persons traveling, the total days they will be in travel status, and the total subsistence and transportation costs for that trip. Per diem rates shall not exceed maximum Federal rates. To view current Federal per diem rates, visit: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentId=17943&contentType=GSA_BASIC and follow the links to per diem information.

Supplies and Materials. Include consumable supplies and materials to be used in the project, listing each item and quantity individually. Include items of expendable equipment, i.e., equipment costing less than $500 or with an estimated useful life of less than two years. Equipment costing more than that should be listed in the Other Costs category (Category G, below).

Services. This should include the cost of duplication and printing, long distance telephone calls, equipment rental, postage, and other services not previously listed.

Other Costs. List equipment items in excess of $500 and other items not previously listed. Note that equipment items worth less than $500 or that have a useful life of less than 2 years must be listed in the Supplies and Materials category.

Indirect Charges. Most States, Universities and larger non profits have a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement with the Federal Government. This agreement provides the rates approved for use on cooperative agreements, grants, contracts and other agreements with the Federal Government. A copy of the current rate agreement must be submitted with any proposed project. Smaller organizations may not have an agreement with the Federal Government. In these cases the indirect cost rate must be accompanied by a determination from an independent auditing firm. This determination will include the indirect cost rate, the calculations of the indirect cost rate, including the base and indirect costs pools and the associated dollar figures for both. Proposals that fail to document their indirect costs will have those costs disallowed.

D.  Submission Dates and Times:

The electronic submission into Grants.gov is due by January 20, 2012 @ 11:59 p.m. Easterm Standard Time. A proposal received after the closing date and time will not be considered for award.

If it is determined that a proposal will not be considered due to lateness, the applicant will be so notified immediately.

All proposals will be required to be submitted electronically through grants.gov. All of the required attached forms can be prepared online. Any form that is not available online may be submitted as attachments at the end of the proposal. If you have not registered in grants.gov, go to visit the website www.grants.gov and get started in the registration process. Application preparation time may take several weeks to get certified. Once at the website, choose “Get Started” and work through the first 5 steps. If you have any questions or problems with the registration process, please contact the grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726. In addition, Grants.gov has an “Applicant Users Guide” available at: http://www.grants.gov/help/user_guides.jsp that will answer most if not all your questions.

E. Submission Instructions and Information:

Applications/proposals may be submitted by the following methods only:

On-Line Submittal - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is participating in the Grants.gov Initiative that provides the grant community with a single site to find and apply for grant funding opportunities. BLM requires applicants to submit their applications/proposals electronically through: http://www.grants.gov/Apply.

YOU MUST REGISTER WITH GRANTS.GOV PRIOR TO SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION THROUGH THE GRANTS.GOV WEBSITE. THE REGISTRATION PROCESS MAY TAKE FROM 7 TO 21 DAYS.

Electronic Signature - Applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute submission as electronically signed applications. The registration and e-authentication process establishes the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). When you submit the application through Grants.gov, the name of your authorized organization representative on file will be inserted into the signature line of the application. Applicants must register the individual who is able to make legally binding commitments for the applicant organization as the Authorized Organization Representative.

Late Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals of Application and/or Proposal - Any application/proposal received after the exact time specified for receipt will not be considered in the original selection process unless the application is received before award is made and it is determined by BLM that the late receipt was due to mishandling by the Government. Any modification of an application or quotation is subject to the same conditions stated above.

Electronic Application Submission and Receipt Procedures - This provision provides information on the application submission and receipt instructions for applications submitted through Grants.gov apply. Please read the following instructions carefully and completely.

Timely Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission:

Electronic Submission.

An electronic time stamp is generated within the system when the application is successfully received by Grants.gov. The applicant will receive an acknowledgement of receipt and a tracking number from Grants.gov with the successful transmission of their application. Applicants should print this receipt and save it.