Coastal Landform Change in the NPS Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network

Description

This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project with University of Alaska Fairbanks under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) program. CESUs are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. The project intended award is $60,216. STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Agreements Concerning Cooperative Research and Training on NPS Resources (16 U.S.C. § 1a-2(j)): The Secretary may enter into agreements with public or private educational institutions, States and their political subdivisions, for the purpose of developing adequate, coordinated, cooperative research and training programs concerning the resources of the National Park System, and pursuant to such agreements, to accept from and make available to the cooperator such technical and support staff, financial assistance for mutually agreed upon research projects, supplies and equipment, facilities, and administrative services relating to cooperative research units as the Secretary deems appropriate. STATEMENT OF JOINT OBJECTIVES/PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN: The public purposes served by this agreement include: increasing our understanding and ability to predict coastal changes that will affect subsistence resource use and private infrastructure in and near the NPS units; educating University of Alaska students through research opportunities, advising, and financial support; and education and outreach to the public through interpretive products. In addition, this project coordinates and supports work currently being supported by the George Melendez Wright Climate Change Youth Initiative (CCYI), which manages paid internships in which undergraduate or beginning graduate students work for approximately 12 weeks on projects in research, interpretation, park operations, policy development, or other fields. The CCYI in cooperation with UAF is currently funding initial work on this project. Work has been done by the student starting in September 2013 will be continued by this project. The partner, in cooperation with the National Park Service will: 1) complete digitizing of the water and erosions lines on 2003 and 2013 imagery for the CAKR coast, and where possible the erosion line of both BELA and CAKR on earlier imagery (c. 1950 and c. 1980). 2) Complete geomorphic analysis of the processes responsible for coastal change, based both on image analysis and fieldwork in the summer of 2015. 3) Produce a set of GIS layers and one or more chapters of a graduate dissertation that will be devoted to a discussion of the process that control coastal geomorphic change in ARCN. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT -Substantial Involvement :1. Provide a scientist (D. K. Swanson) to work with and give technical guidance to the student who working on this project. Dr. Swanson will serve as a member of the student¿s graduate committee and provide local knowledge and advice regarding the natural environment of the study area. 2. Provide access to NPS bunkhouses and expediting support in Kotzebue for summer fieldwork. 3. Collaborate as co-authors in written reports 4. Provide the imagery required for the remote sensing portion of this project, including orthorectified aerial photographs from c. 1950, c 1980, and 2003, new high-resolution satellite imagery from 2013, and USGS DSAS data from the 2003 and earlier images. 5. Provide a high-resolution (5 m) digital elevation model of the study area. 6. Provide funding sufficient for a graduate student to complete the work outlined above SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION: Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award . The National Park Service did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria: Unique Qualifications: The UAF graduate student was the successful recipient of an NPS George M. Wright Climate Change Youth Initiative Fellowship, with which she is completing roughly half of the work planned for ARCN Coastal Erosion vital sign monitoring. This planed project continues that effort. Technical contact information: Dr. Jim Lawler, Jim_Lawler@nps.gov National Park Service, Alaska Region, End of FOA

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