The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking applications for the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Program in Alaska.
Donor Name: Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
State: Alaska
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/01/2023
Size of the Grant: $175,000
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Alaska Aquatic Resources Program conserves and restores riparian and wetland areas, aquatic habitats, and water resources (hereafter referred to as aquatic resources) to provide resource values and ecosystem services necessary to achieve the BLM’s multiple use mandate. The agencies aquatic resources and issues are diverse and include watersheds; riparian-wetland systems; springs, streams, rivers, and groundwater; ponds and lakes; fisheries; water quality; water rights and uses; and aquatic invasive species. These systems also support myriad species of plants, fish, and wildlife; provide ecosystem services such as drinking water, pollination, and nutrient cycling; attenuate wildfires, floods, and drought; and are key to the vitality of local economies and communities. The Program also works to support the thoughtful implementation of other aspects of BLM’s mission (e.g., locatable minerals, fluid minerals, range, forestry recreation, renewable energy), which could either impact aquatic resources or require restoration of such resources to achieve multiple-use and sustained yield management objectives. This program supports projects funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Section 40804 (b) Ecosystem Restoration. This program supports projects funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Sections 50221 Resilience, 50222 Ecosystems Restoration and 50303 DOI.
The BLM Alaska Aquatic Resources Program’s core functions include:
Decision Support: Inventory, assess, and monitor riparian and aquatic resources to facilitate and inform our understanding of condition and trend and inform BLM management activities, and assess regulatory compliance. Examples of decision support projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:
- Expanding the current coverage of the Alaska Anadromous Waters Catalogue and/or the Alaska Freshwater Fish Inventory datasets through expanded inventories within key areas of Alaska (e.g., Fortymile and Jim River drainages).
- Update evaluations of quantity and geographic extent of adult salmon returns to streams and rivers in concentrated BLM management areas with outdated information (e.g. within the Koyukuk Mining District, Steese NCA, Fortymile Region).
- Inventory and assess (or reassess) existing culverts on BLM managed lands for fish passage. Inventory moderate to high risk (based on recreational use and access) aquatic habitats for Elodea and other aquatic/riparian invasive species.
- Develop and implement a remote sensing approach to inventory and assess available winter fish habitat in priority watersheds to aid the BLM with implementation of an instream flow program and protection of flows necessary for fish.
- Develop a remote sensing approach to delineate riparian vegetation composition and structure to support assessment, inventory, and monitoring of aquatic resources.
- Utilize telemetry technology to expand on earlier studies that characterized seasonal movements of fishes with the goal of further refining the extent of overwintering habitat, fidelity to feeding/spawning areas, and mortality estimates within the National Petroleum Reserve.
Conservation: Maintain and conserve the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of aquatic resources. Examples of conservation oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:
- Develop and implement a framework that the BLM can use to evaluate water temperatures throughout priority watersheds utilizing remote sensing techniques.
- Develop and establish a network of long-term water quality monitoring stations at a regional scale for parameters related to specific management priorities (e.g. turbidity throughout the Koyukuk Mining District) and climate change detection.
Restoration: Restore aquatic resources affected by past and present impacts, aquatic invasive species, wildfire, drought, and floods; and increase their resistance and resilience to the impacts of climate change. Examples of restoration oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:
- Establish sediment transport rating curves in watersheds impacted by development and reference watersheds to monitor changes due to impacts & climate change.
- Establish soil temperature monitoring stations in the talik zones of permafrost influenced watersheds to identify impacts due to resource development & climate change.
- Evaluate the biological response to restoration/reclamation actions (e.g., MBACI or EPT study design to evaluate fish response to floodplain/instream restoration actions).
Sustainability: Identify the quantity and quality of water required to conserve and restore riparian and fisheries resources, and secure water rights and protections so sufficient water is physically and legally available for all public land management purposes. Examples of sustainability oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:
- Implement well-designed, long-term, sustainable, cooperative stream gaging programs in watersheds with planned instream flow programs to ensure data quality and timely processing of data.o Utilize remote sensing techniques to identify cold water refugia and conduct longterm monitoring with in-situ instrumentation habitat in priority watersheds to aid in the identification of critically important habitats.
- Expand toolsets incorporating high-resolution imagery and modeling approaches to predict lake water level response to drought events. Identify vulnerable lakes to inform management of water resources.
Collaboration: Coordinate, cooperate, and consult with federal, state, tribal, and local governments and other programs, partners, and communities, to foster adaptive approaches to conservation and restoration and implement education and outreach programs. Examples of sustainability oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:
- Develop resources to improve fish passage at mine sites using a combination of educational materials and stockpiling of materials that could be recycled at little to no cost, such as old culverts and bridge decks for other projects.
- Develop an approach for securing fish tissue samples from subsistence users to monitor potential changes in levels of contaminants in fish tissues and bile metabolites. In addition, consult and coordinate with contaminants specialists to ensure statistically and ecologically meaningful study design, analyze contaminant levels, and present results to impacted communities.
Funding Information
- Estimated Funding Amount: $200,000
- Maximum Funding Amount: $175,000
- Minimum Funding Amount: $5,000
Period of Performance
Projects cannot be funded for more than a five-year period.
Eligible Applicants
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- County governments
- Private institutions of higher education
- City or township governments
- Special district governments
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Independent school districts
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- State governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
