Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Grants

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For many years representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alaska Native Community worked together to amend the 1916 Migratory Bird Treaty with Canada, and the 1936 Migratory Bird Treaty with Mexico, to allow legal spring subsistence harvest of migratory birds in Alaska. The U.S. Senate ratified the Protocols to the two bilateral migratory bird treaties on October 23, 1997, paving the way for a regulatory process to ensure proper implementation of these amendments. The Protocol with Canada mandates that subsistence users will have an effective and meaningful role in the development of regulations through regional management bodies. The Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council was established in March 2000, with representatives of the Alaska Native Community, Federal Government, and State of Alaska as equals to develop recommendations for, among other things: seasons and bag limits; law enforcement policies; population and harvest monitoring; education programs; research and use of traditional knowledge; and habitat protection. Coordination with eleven Alaska Native regional partner organizations was established to organize subsistence user participation within each region. 50 CFR 92.11(a), states that “we are working with the Alaska Native non-profit groups and local governments…” Under 50 CFR 92.4, Partner 50 CFR 92.11 (b), states that the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service will establish partner agreements with at least one partner organization in each of the listed regions. Organizations or Regional Partners are defined as a regional or local organization or a local tribal government that has entered into a formal agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the purpose of coordinating the regional programs necessary to involve subsistence users in the regulatory process. Region-specific, formal working agreements have been established with ten Alaska Native non-profit groups and one local government to accomplish the mission of the Migratory Bird Treaty Amendment Protocols. These specific regional organizations were designated as partner organizations following an extensive public involvement process. A list of partner organizations was published in the Federal Register, 65 FR 16405 (March 28, 2000), and amended in 71 FR 35690 (June 21, 2006). The purpose of this announcement is for public awareness of the program at this point. The eleven annual grant agreements are directed specifically to those eleven regional partners who have already entered into a pre-requisite formal agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The purpose of each of these grant agreements is to defray each Alaska Native regional partner’s travel and communication expenses enabling them to participate in the co-management process. These grant agreements are not open to competition outside of existing Alaska Native regional partner organizations serving on the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council. There are currently no vacancies among the Alaska Native regional partner organizations serving on the Council. When a future Council vacancy occurs, opportunity to compete for that specific Regional Partner position and the accompanying grant agreement will be posted on Grants.gov FIND and APPLY. Current Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council partner organizations may complete and submit an application through Grants.gov APPLY.

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