Description
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the primary federal agency responsible for the conservation, protection, and enhancement of the nation's fish and wildlife populations and their habitats. The USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System manages 855.6 million acres of lands and waters and includes n 566 national wildlife refuges, 38 wetland management districts, 50 coordination areas, and seven National Monuments.. These refuges attract more than 53 million annual visitors seeking a host of transportation services, with which the USFWS requires assistance.The Public Land Transportation Fellow program provides fellowships to outstanding graduates in a transportation-related field to spend 10 months working directly with USFWS staff on key visitor transportation issues. Fellows are placed at a national wildlife refuge, or other USFWS office location and provided field work experience, facing a transportation issue to facilitate a transportation planning or implementation project. The assigned projects help the field stations develop transportation solutions that preserve valuable resources and enhance the visitor experience.The fellows program has three main goals1. Encourage emerging transportation professionals to pursue their career serving Federal lands;2. Provide much-needed transportation expertise to USFWS field stations and regions to help them address critical transportation issues; and3. Support the development, implementation, and evaluation of viable alternative transportation for visitors to USFWS field stations.Through this agreement with Montana State University (MSU), USFWS requests that the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at MSU assist the USFWS with supporting and mentoring Transportation Fellows for complexes and refuges located within the United States.This award is a single source Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit cooperative agreement in the amount of up to $350,000 to Montana State University and is a continuation of a very successful program. FWS has placed 9 Transportation Fellows at priority refuges since 2012, and these refuges have benefitted greatly by addressing long-standing recreational access issues, repairing and/or building strong community relationships, prioritizing transportation projects to better help people access our lands and move through them, and successfully applying for the Federal Land Access Program (FLAP) grants from the Department of Transportation. These FLAP grants have brought in non-FWS funds to improve access to refuges outside of our boundaries, and the success of these applications have been directly related to the Fellows' work. This new group of Fellows will continue on these past successes to enhance recreational access, building relationships, and identify opportunities to leverage non-FWS funds. We are also helping train and mentor youth who may choose employment with the FWS later on. The Period of Performance for this award is 3/08/2019 through 09/30/2023.Authorizing Legislation: Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, 16 U.S.C. §§661-666; Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §1531 et seq.; Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. §2901 et seq.; Fish and Wildlife Act, 16 U.S.C. §742 et seq.; Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 16 U.S.C §703 et seq.; Coastal Barrier Resources Act, 16 U.S.C. §3501 et seq.; and Public Lands Corps Act - Public Lands Corps, 16 U.S.C. §§1721-1726.