Mississippi River Basin 2018 Asian Carp Partnership Projects for USFWS Funding

On June 10th, 2014 the President signed into law the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA). Public Law 113-121, authorizing a broad array of agency actions and public projects across the US. As part of the WRRDA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) is authorized, in collaboration with the National Park Service (NPS)and the U.S. Geological Survey (USFGS), to take actions to slow, and eventually eliminate, the spread of Asian carp in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) and the Ohio River Basin (ORB), and tributaries. Those actions include provisions of technical assistance, coordination, best management practices, and support structures for state and local governments engaged in activities to minimize and eventually eliminate this threat. This is a notice of intent to award single source grants to the following entities without competition under justification 505DM 2.14.B. (4). Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State University (designee for Iowa Department of Natural Resources), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Competition for these awards is not practical as the State Natural Resource Management Agencies, and their designees, are uniquely qualified to perform the proposed work based upon their jurisdiction and authorities where activities will occur, their active role in the collaborative partnerships addressing Asian carp management and control in the Ohio River and Upper Mississippi River basins, their technical expertise and ability to leverage this funding and the associated projects with additional Asian carp management and control activities funded by alternative sources, and the agencies will be able to provide qualifications and perspective that no other entity can provide.