Alaska Nanuuq Commission Co-Management of Polar Bears

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The US Fish and Wildlife Service, Headquarters Region 7, Service, intends to award a single source Cooperative Agreement as authorized by 505 DM 2.14.B to the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, Commission. This notice is not a request for proposals and the Government does not intend to accept proposals. Award will be made 15 days after this notice. PURPOSE: The purposes of this Cooperative Agreement between the Service and the Commission are to: 1. conserve polar bears in Alaska 2. encourage comanagement of polar bears by involvement of subsistence users through the Commission and 3. exchange information on polar bear population status and trends for the development of sound management practices integral to fulfilling the Commission¿s mission and the Service¿s species oversight responsibilities. The proposed Agreement and specific projects will serve to involve subsistence users through the Commission in comanagement activities of polar bears, and to implement Section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, MMPA, as Amended 16 U.S.C. 1388, which authorizes the Service to enter into Marine Mammal Cooperative Agreements with Alaska Native organizations. The Service will obtain reports and data pertaining to the implementation of specific projects identified in the Cooperative Agreement. The Commission will obtain information important to subsistence polar bear hunters. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this agreement are to support and implement the following four projects: 1. Project 1: maintain the organizational structure of the Alaska Nanuuq Commission for comanagement of Alaskas polar bears. This includes funding for an office, staff, annual meetings, travel and other operational expenses. 2. Project 2: continue implementing the U.S. and Russia Bilateral Agreement for the Conservation of Polar Bears, including the Shared Harvest Management Plan. 3. Project 3: recruit an intern position to help develop a long term strategy to minimize human-bear conflicts in coastal villages, focusing on the use of deterrents. 4. Project 4: lead cooperative activities with the Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters of Chukotka, ATMMHC, to obtain information on human-caused removals, human-polar bear conflicts, and natural polar bear mortalities in Chukotka, Russia. REASON FOR SINGLE SOURCE: 1. Continuation, the activity to be funded is necessary for the 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. The Commission was formed in 1994 to represent Alaska Native hunters concerning issues related to the conservation and subsistence uses of polar bears. The Commission represents 15 villages from northern and western coastal Alaska and has been working with the Service on polar bear conservation issues since its establishment. The Commission is also a signatory party to the U.S./Russia Bilateral Agreement, an international treaty that calls for conservation and management of the Alaska Chukotka polar bear population shared with Russia. 2. Unique Qualifications, the Commission is the only state wide Native organization that specifically addresses issues that affect conservation and subsistence use of polar bears, and has been designated by tribal councils to do so. Since this contract is being paid for from funds designated by Section 119 of the MMPA, an Alaska Native Organization must be used. The Commission is the only American Native organization that is a signatory party to the U.S. and Russia Bilateral Agreement international treaty for polar bear conservation.

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