U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Trails Inventory | F18AS00347

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00347

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), through the Headquarters National Wildlife Refuge System, announced a discretionary cooperative agreement opportunity to produce a large set of standardized trail inventory deliverables for the National Wildlife Refuge System. The core purpose of the award is to generate about 350 trail inventory reports using a trails geodatabase provided by the Service. Rather than building a new reporting method from scratch, the selected recipient is expected to use an existing FWS report module to produce the reports, then submit them to the Service for review and formal acceptance. The overall effort is designed to strengthen the Service's trail asset records by pairing field-verified trail information with consistent reporting and data management practices.

The scope of work is heavily focused on reconciling, collecting, validating, and delivering geospatial and tabular trail data in close coordination with FWS staff and systems. A key early requirement is providing a two-person team to perform extensive data reconciliation of existing trail data while working directly with staff responsible for the Service Asset Maintenance and Management System (SAMMS), starting about 4 to 6 months before youth crews are hired. In addition, the recipient must provide two separate youth crews to complete in-person field data collection. The recipient is also responsible for coordinating across multiple FWS roles, including Regional Transportation Coordinators, Facility Management Coordinators, and local refuge managers, to confirm accuracy and resolve discrepancies. Another major component is working with SAMMS staff and FWS GIS staff to automate the entry of GIS and tabular information into SAMMS so the system can capture financial values and identify deficiencies associated with trail assets.

On the production and delivery side, the project targets trail inventory data collection at roughly 175 stations per year, with the recipient handling all necessary data processing, validation, and compilation after field collection. Turnaround expectations are explicit: the recipient must submit a processed, clean trails geodatabase to the Service no later than 15 business days after each station completes the required data collection. The recipient must also work with Service staff to post the cleaned geodatabase and related materials to the Service SharePoint site, and continue collaborating to make any required revisions. All field datasets and final revisions to geodatabases are due by September 30, 2021, which effectively sets the deadline for completing and correcting the delivered data products before the end of the broader sponsorship window.

The agreement is structured as incrementally funded, meaning funding is added over time as available rather than provided entirely upfront. The overall federal sponsorship (performance period) runs from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021, while the first funding segment covers January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. For that first segment, the Service indicated $536,023 in available funding. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $1,536,023 and anticipates a single award.

Eligibility is limited and targeted. Applicants must be nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), and they must have been previously selected under Funding Opportunity F18AS00058, the Natural Resources Conservation Careers Program. That earlier program focused on youth- and veteran-serving organizations capable of working cooperatively with the Service to provide introductory education and work experiences tied to natural resource careers. The emphasis includes reaching culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse participants and underserved communities that have historically had lower participation in outdoor recreation and related career pathways. In practice, this trails inventory award ties technical asset-management and GIS deliverables to workforce development by explicitly requiring youth crews as part of the field data collection approach.

Administratively, this opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number F18AS00347, categorized as a discretionary award using a cooperative agreement instrument under the natural resources activity area (CFDA 15.676). It was created on September 11, 2018, with an original closing date of November 15, 2018. The award is made under multiple statutory authorities, including the Fish and Wildlife Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the National Fish Hatchery System Volunteer Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, and the Public Lands Corps authorities (including Youth Conservation Corps provisions).

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Trails Inventory" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.676.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 11, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 15, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,536,023.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for F18AS00347

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