Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Planning in the Eastern Great Lakes Basin

This is a notice of intent to award a single source cooperative agreement to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF)without competition under justification 505DM2.14.B.4. SUNY-ESF will conduct research and planning for the newly-established population of piping plovers in the eastern Great Lakes Basin. This award will involve assisting the USFWS East Lansing Field Office with pending data analyses for Great Lakes Piping Plovers, coordinating with USFWS and other partners in the Lake Ontario Piping Plover working group to monitor pairs and productivity, lead data collection efforts on habitat use and behavior by adult and juvenile plovers for Lake Ontario and to lead banding efforts and collection of demographic data for piping plovers on Lake Ontario. Competition for these awards is not practical as these recipients are uniquely qualified to perform the activities of the project based on a variety of factors. The selected recipients have been chosen for meeting the following merit requirements: possession of qualifications sufficient to conduct the proposed activities or ability to obtain them; experience conducting this type of work; adequate resources to carry out the proposed activities or ability to procure them; understanding of project goals to implement the work in a manner that achieves service goals; and being located close to the project area.