Migratory Bird Joint Venture

This notice is an announcement for issuing a single financial assistance award to the American Bird Conservancy, The Plains, Virginia. The intent of this award is to support implementation of the Operational Plan of The Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture (AMJV), as approved by the AMJV Management Board in 2015 and subsequent revisions. This work reflects the priorities and goals of the AMJV for the calendar years 2017-2022, including: 1) creating a dynamic forest landscape providing for the needs of species across forest types and all seral stages, 2) habitat conservation and delivery across the suite of forest habitats in the Appalachians, 3) increasing investment and involvement in wintering ground and migratory stopover conservation work for AMJV priority species, 4) strengthening AMJV organizational performance, and 5) improving AMJV communications, education, and outreach. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region, intends to make a sole source award of a cooperative agreement to the American Bird Conservancy of Virginia (hereafter the ABC). Funding for this project is provided under the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 742a-754, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 16 U.S.C. 709a. ABC was selected to receive this award based on a combination of the following criteria: 1) this project is a continuation of activities for which ABC has already been funded in support of the operations of the AMJV, and ABCâ¿¿s unique qualifications for successfully completing the work described below with regard to implementing the AMJV Operational Plan. ABC has previously been funded to support on-going operations of the AMJV. As ABC employees, the AMJV staff have successfully guided the vision, mission, and operation of the Joint Venture since its inception and are the most qualified to continue working on implementation of the AMJV Operational Plan.