OpportunityTitle: Developing a Standard of Care for Cruise Tourism in the United States Arctic Waterways
Description: This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities without competition. ABSTRACT Funding Announcement P16AC01399 Project Title Developing a Standard of Care for Cruise Tourism in the United States Arctic Waterways Recipient Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Total Anticipated Award Amount $86,446 Cost Share 0.00 Anticipated Length of Agreement 24 months Anticipated Period of Performance September 2016 &#226;&#191;&#191; September 2018 Award Instrument CESU Task Agreement Statutory Authority 54 USC &#194;&#167;101702a and 54 USC &#194;&#167;101702b CFDA # and Title 15.945, Cooperative Research and Training Program Single Source Justification Criteria Cited (4) Unique Qualifications &#226;&#191;&#191; The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications. Point of Contact Scott Gende; 907-364-2622; Scott_Gende@nps.gov OVERVIEW Arctic Alaska is undergoing fundamental biophysical change, with rapid and unprecedented reductions in sea ice extent and thickness . These changes are providing opportunities for increased human use of the Arctic including by commercial shipping and tourism vessels . While forecasts of the number and types of ships vary with different climate scenarios , we expect that shipping over the next century will be dominated by destination shipping&#226;&#191;&#191;those bringing goods to the region or taking materials out of it (e.g., mine spoils)&#226;&#191;&#191;rather than by vessels traversing the Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Routes . Large cruise ship traffic is one of the major types of shipping expected to increase in the coming decades, as the loss of sea ice is a catalyst for the growing demand of &#226;&#191;&#191;last-chance tourism,&#226;&#191;&#157; wherein people choose to visit destinations, such as the Arctic, that are likely to be lost or fundamentally different in the near future . For the NPS, increasing cruise ship tourism to the Arctic is of fundamental concern for both marine conservation and local waterways users because tourism vessel routes will run adjacent to shores, target wildlife aggregations, and potentially pursue shore-based wildlife or cultural opportunities. Importantly, unlike other forms of shipping, cruise ships tend to target, rather than avoid, areas with abundant ice, wildlife, and scenery in order to expose passengers to coveted experiences . The result is that routes, by design, significantly overlap with the habitat of sensitive resources, such as ice-dependent seals, walrus, polar bears, and large whales , which increases disturbance to these species and native subsistence users . Cruise ships also produce disproportionately high impacts relative to their frequency, globally contributing to nearly 25 percent of all waste from commercial shipping despite constituting only 1 percent of the global fleet . In part, this is because cruise ships are able to carry thousands of passengers and crew that can produce nearly 300,000 gallons of wastewater per day; hundreds of tons of oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, and particulate matter per cruise; and potentially introduce exotic and invasive species via exchange of ballast water. In 2016, Crystal Cruise Lines is planning the first of its Arctic-based cruises: The 1,100-passenger M/V Crystal Serenity will depart Anchorage in mid-August, and pass through the Bering Strait en route to New York representing the advent of cruise tourism through the Northwest Passage. The Crystal Serenity cruise is currently booked to capacity with a 900+ person waitlist, despite per-person berth space exceeding $46,000 for many berths. Consequently, Crystal recently announced another cruise through the NW passage, to occur in 2017. Reflecting this demand for Arctic tourism, a growing number of cruise vessels, varying in size, are scheduled to make multiple ports of call in Nome, and travel through the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Thus, a fundamental goal of this project is to be proactive, setting industry standards from the onset such that practices become operationally normalized and the need for expensive, time-consuming regulations is minimized. STATEMENT OF JOINT OBJECTIVES/PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN The primary objective of this Agreement is for NPS to work in partnership with WCS to bring together a suite of stakeholders with interests in the implementation of adaptable, sustainable, conservation-based, and culturally-sensitive Arctic cruise tourism that accounts for, and is guided by, input from multiple stakeholders, especially local communities10. Together this collaboration will result in the establishment of a voluntary Standard of Care (SOC) endorsed by the Arctic Waterways Safety Committee. The Standard of Care for cruise tourism will ensure that (a) NPS values and resources potentially affected by cruise tourism in Arctic Alaska are communicated and accounted for as the cruise industry practices develops in the region; and (b) the extensive expertise and experience in cruise tourism management by NPS staff are brought to the fore in developing standards throughout coastal Alaska. WCS is uniquely positioned to accomplish this objective because of their role in development of the Arctic Waterways Safety Committee (AWSC; http://www.arcticwaterways.org/) and efforts in other activities in Arctic Alaska, such as development of a Standard of Care for research cruises. RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT Cooperate with the Agreement Technical Representative to ensure that the conduct of the project complies with the &#226;&#191;&#191;NPS Interim Guidance Document Governing Code of Conduct, Peer Review, and Information Quality Correction for National Park Service Cultural and Natural Resource Disciplines,&#226;&#191;&#157; and any and all subsequent guidance issued by the NPS Director to replace this interim document. Provide the lead in contacting and working with the Alaska Native representatives and the Arctic Waterways Safety Committee in order to develop the project Scoping Document. Collaborate with the Agreement Technical Representative in the organization and facilitation of meetings between local stakeholders, agency representatives, and the maritime cruise industry. Collaborate with the Agreement Technical Representative in communicating with, and confirming participation by key attendees including the Alaska Cruise Association, representatives from Crystal Cruise Lines, and representative from the Arctic Waterways Safety Committee including the science and subsistence sub-committees, and other stakeholders. Share in writing and editing meeting summaries and reports to be distributed to all stakeholders and meeting participants. Attend Arctic Waterways Safety Committee meetings, and any sub-committee meetings that focus on the Cruise Tourism Standard of Care. Serve as the lead author on a final project document that summarizes results from the meetings and highlights the Cruise Tourism Standard of Care. Help coordinate distribution of the Standard of Care document to stakeholders, agencies, and the cruise tourism industry, and other entities. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT Provide the lead in contacting and working with the Arctic Cruise Industry and other federal agencies in order to develop the project Scoping Document. Provide the lead in summarizing existing concerns, conflicts, and mitigation measures/best practices for the Cruise Tourism industry in Alaska based on prior decades of experience and connections. Provide expert testimony and insight during Arctic Waterways Safety Committee meetings. Share in writing and editing meeting summaries and reports to be distributed to all stakeholders and meeting participants. Attend Arctic Waterways Safety Committee meetings, and any sub-committee meetings that focus on the Cruise Tourism Standard of Care. Serve as an author on a final project document that summarizes results from the meetings and highlights the Cruise Tourism Standard of Care. Help coordinate distribution of the Standard of Care document to stakeholders, agencies, and the cruise tourism industry, and other entities.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Work
GrantorContactText: Erica Cordeiro 907-644-3315&lt;br/&gt;Erica_Cordeiro@nps.gov&lt;br/&gt;
CloseDateExplanation: This is a notice of intent to award to the Wildlife Conservation Society.  Applications will not be accepted from vendors.