Mississippi River Basin 2017 Asian Carp Partnership Projects for USFWS Funding

The Service has committed, in part, FY2017 base funds for Asian carp prevention and control outside the Great Lakes. Projects considered under this Notice of Funding Opportunity were coordinated by the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA) to support implementation of the Ohio River Basin Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework and the Upper Mississippi River Basin Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework. Projects address Asian carp early detection and response, population status and assessment, containment, control and removal, and coordination and outreach. The awards will support specific activities and require specific deliverables that the Service is directed by Congress to lead in partnership with State Natural Resource Management Agencies. This is a notice of intent to award single source grants in the to the 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, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources without competition under justification 505DM 2.14.B.(4). Competition for the award 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.