NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture (OPJV), intention to fund the following project activities.

Project Title: OPJV Conservation Delivery Specialist

Program Recipient: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)

Principle Investigator: Jeff Raasch

Total Anticipated Award Amount: $160,000

Cost Share: N/A

New Award Or Continuation: New

Anticipated Length of Agreement: 24 Months

Anticipated Period of Performance: September 1, 2011 through August 31, 2013

BACKGROUND:

The Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture (OPJV) is a self-directed partnership of agencies and organizations interested in strategic conservation efforts benefiting priority bird species.  Historically, the majority of the OPJV was covered grassland and savannah providing habitat for many bird species.  Much of the grassland and savannah habitats have been converted either through changes in land use (e.g., agricultural or urban conversion) or land management (e.g, fire suppression).  This landscape-scale conversion of habitats has been implicated in the severe declines of many grassland birds and other wildlife populations dependent upon native grassland and savannah habitats.  The OPJV has and continues to strategically identify priority grassland bird populations and their associated conservation needs.  The Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture partners are moving to strategically address conservation needs of priority grassland birds by establishing a Conservation Delivery Specialist (CDS) staff position.   

The OPJV covers over 60 million acres in Oklahoma and Texas, with 80% of the land area occurring within the state of Texas.  Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is the agency in Texas with the responsibility for managing the state’s wildlife resources, and has been, and continues to be, a major partner in the OPJV.  TPWD has the resources and abilities to address major conservation needs within the OPJV area, to provide leadership and examples for other partners to follow to strategically address the most important conservation needs in grassland and savannah habitats for priority grassland bird populations.  Although their work is conducted in Texas, the management prescriptions and conservation actions can be generic in nature to cover this management context for similar habitats in Oklahoma.   Under the direction of the State Wetland and Joint Venture Program Leader and the OPJV Coordinator, the CDS will facilitate the overall planning, implementation, and evaluation activities of a coordinated bird conservation partnership in the Texas portion of the OPJV region with emphasis in Hill Country, the northern half of the Oak Prairie and the southern half of the Post Oak wildlife districts.  Activities of the CDS contribute to the goals and objectives of the Texas Wildlife Action Plan and major national and international bird conservation plans.

Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture Point of Contact: jgiocomo@abcbirds.org