Notice of Intent to Award

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THERE IS NO "FULL ANNOUNCEMENT" ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NOTICE, AS this is a Notice of Intent to award, in accordance with 505 DM 2, 2.14 B (4), a Grant Agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies for the purpose of advancing key objectives of the Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Action Plan, including conducting monitoring projects to assess the population status of Bicknell’s Thrush and undertaking critical conservation actions on this species’ wintering grounds. VCE staff have coordinated the Mountain Bird Watch monitoring program, which is focused on Bicknell’s Thrush, for the past 12 years and have coordinated wintering ground conservation activities for the past 10 years. Based on these experiences and their extensive research on this species, the VCE staff are widely recognized as experts on monitoring, research, and conservation planning for Bicknell’s Thrush and have developed extensive partner relationships around the conservation of this species over the past 10-15 years, making them uniquely qualified to conduct the work described in this announcement. The objectives of the work to be conducted under this grant agreement are: 1) Coordinate and implement the Mountain Birdwatch program in the United States and consult with Canadian partners on its implementation in Canada to monitor the population status of Bicknell’s Thrush across its breeding range during the 2013 breeding season. 2) Coordinate implementation of conservation actions on the Bicknell’s Thrush wintering grounds, as described in the Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Action plan. Specific Description of Work: For Objective 1: A. Coordinate implementation of the Mountain Birdwatch 2.0 monitoring program in 2013 through volunteers and paid technicians, aiming to complete surveys on 125 routes B. Coordinate international efforts to monitor Bicknell’s Thrush, modifying international protocols as necessary to ensure achievement of range-wide monitoring goals, C. Supervise data entry, conduct data quality assurance, and submit final data to the Avian Knowledge Network for archiving after the field season, D. Train volunteer observers in bird identification and bird survey methodologies used for Mountain Birdwatch, E. Supervise paid technicians for completing Mountain Birdwatch 2.0 routes not adopted by volunteers, F. Summarize data and provide an annual report on results to the Service and IBTCG For Objective 2: Through the activities of an Caribbean Coordinator for the International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group, coordinate and provide oversight of wintering grounds management, research and monitoring activities, outreach, capacity building, fund-raising, and communication for advancing conservation activities for Bicknells’ Thrush on its wintering grounds. This Single Source Award is being made in accordance with Department of the Interior Policy 505 DM 2.14 B(4), which allows for award without competition to an applicant who is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based on technical expertise.

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