Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska – a system of conservation units for monitoring the status of arctic fauna and flora and their uses by indigenous  (USFWS-Alaska-IPY)

Outline
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats in the United States. The FWS maintains a large presence in Alaska through a network of 16 National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) totalling more than 78 million acres, located in particularly important fish and wildlife habitats. Many of these Refuges were created in areas adjacent to or surrounding villages of Alaskan Natives. Today these refuges include within their boundaries 81 villages, about 20 million acres of Native Corporation lands, and allotments owned by thousands of individual Native Americans. The presence of these villages and the strategic location of these national wildlife refuges are the foundation of the FWS’s proposed participation in the IPY. This EOI is organized around the following themes and can form a template for similar work in other Arctic nations. Theme 1. Status: The FWS will establish permanent plots on NWRs across Alaska to obtain a snapshot of the current distribution and abundance of various biota, and to monitor change. Two state-wide transect lines above the 60th latitude, along which most of the Refuges in Alaska are spatially oriented, will be established. These transects will bisect the major biomes in Alaska including coastal grasslands/tundra, boreal forest and arctic tundra. Within each Refuge, plot sampling along these transect lines will be stratified to capture diversity and variability across various ecosystem types, including aquatic habitats. Theme 2. Change: The FWS will implement a Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Plan by convening working groups of scientists from Arctic nations with expertise on fish, wildlife and plants. These working groups will be modelled after existing groups that are cooperatively monitoring select wildlife species across the Arctic under the auspices of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). The FWS will also initiate community-based monitoring programs in villages within the boundaries of our Refuges where synoptic sampling will occur during IPY. These monitoring programs will focus on water quality, invertebrate sampling, and phenology (e.g., timing of bird arrival, date of bud burst, flowering, etc.). This program will be patterned after and expand upon the Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Co-op of which the Arctic NWR is a cooperator. Theme 3. Global Linkages: The FWS will spearhead production of a Circumpolar Boreal Vegetation Map (CBVM) that will accompany the recently completed Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM). The CAVM and the CBVM will provide an early 21st century view of the status of vegetation across the circumpolar Arctic and Subarctic. An education component of the monitoring of change in phenology and water characteristics will link participating schools in Alaska with schools in other regions of the country or world. Theme 6. Human Societies: Community-based sampling on our Refuges will include a traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) component that will provide a contemporary view or benchmark of the local uses of fish, wildlife and plants by the indigenous peoples inhabiting the refuge, their values towards wildlife and wildlands, and their perceptions and perspectives on contemporary conservation issues such as climate change. This qualitative information will be enhanced by household surveys that quantify the subsistence use of fish and game.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
a recent snapshot of the biota across a variety of ecosystem types in Alaska. - a series of permanent, geo-spatially referenced sampling plots located in protected areas that can be re-sampled at any time. - a recent circumpolar map of the boreal region of the world - a number of groups of internationally connected experts working together to monitor select arctic fish and wildlife species - an ongoing community-based monitoring system - a recent benchmark of use of refuge resources by indigenous people - an education component linking monitoring of key indicators on refuges in the Arctic to monitoring of the same indicators by communities in other regions.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Production of the CBVM will bring together botanists and ecologists from across the Arctic. Similarly, the creation of international working groups that will coordinate research and monitoring of Arctic fish and wildlife species across the Arctic will also occur. Other components of our proposal could easily be duplicated in other polar countries. q2_1_Location : Alaska and Northern Circumpolar region. A map of the National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska can be viewed at http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/map.htm

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Alaska and Northern Circumpolar region. A map of the National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska can be viewed at http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/map.htm

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 05/07 – 09/08            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Helicopter, fixed–wing, field camp support. Arctic logistics will be shared whenever possible or practical to do so.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Infrastructure legacies will be limited to the establishment of a number of permanent geo-spatially referenced sampling plots on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator
Own support
Other sources of support

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No. This expression of interest is also being sent to the U.S. National Committee for IPY for consideration.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
New

Both. The synoptic sampling and community-based programs represent new components for many NWRs in Alaska. The CBVM is a natural next step following publication of the CAVM.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Project work will be organized and managed through the existing program and regional management structures of the FWS in Alaska. If FWS is successful in obtaining new funds for this project, an IPY project manager will be hired as well as additional technical staff to complete the field work and analysis and reporting of data.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The FWS is well-suited to meet the IPY’s education, outreach and communication requirements through its network of field offices, visitor centers, and public affairs offices. The FWS uses a diverse communication strategy to reach its intended audiences such as lectures, open houses, press releases, media events, brochures and other written materials, web sites, digital products, and congressional briefings. Nearly 1 million people visit Alaskan NWRs annually, each refuge has outreach and education staff and many also employ Refuge Information Technicians who are local employees that function as liaisons between the FWS and local communities with large Alaska Native populations.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
We anticipate that data from this project will be collected in a consistent manner across the various NWRs and will be collectively stored and managed at the FWS’s Regional Office in Anchorage, Alaska. Hiring a data manager is a high priority new position. We also anticipate that the quantitative community-based monitoring programs will use a web-based data entry system. All spatial data will be consistent with standards established by the multi-Agency Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) at USGS. All data, data tools and data products will be available to all users and will conform to IPY standards.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
A portion of the proposed work will be funded within the current FWS appropriation. However, most of the proposal represents new work requiring new funds. The FWS will seek additional funding for IPY activities through its normal appropriations process in FY07 and through other partner and granting organizations.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal agency devoted to the conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitats. The FWS manages 544 national wildlife refuges across the U.S. totalling 95 million acres. The 16 Alaskan refuges are unique in that they are large and encompass entire ecosystems and therefore are exceptional natural laboratories for conducting research. More than 78 million acres of federal lands are included in Alaska refuges. We have just begun coordination with potential international cooperators.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr Anthony DeGange
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1011 East Tudor Road
Anchorage, Alaska
99503
USA

Tel: 907-786-3492
Mobile: no
Fax: 907-786-3306
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation