NATURAL RESOURCES & CONSERVATION, MONTANA DEPT OF

This project will provide forest restoration and wildfire fuels hazard reduction treatments to forested state (DNRC, Montana Correctional Enterprises, Fish Wildlife and Parks, etc.) and non-industrial private lands (NIPF) primarily within the identified Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas. Numerous key drainages have been identified that have significant and long-standing wildland forest fuels issues and/or extensive insect and disease outbreaks that have significantly compounded the problem. These areas have a high percentage of state and NIPF lands in need of treatment. Identified areas eligible under this RFQ are located in the following counties: Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Granite, Jefferson, Lake, Lewis & Clark, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli, and Sanders. Projects must be within at least one of these counties. DNRC is offering a total of $3,286,430 in forest fuel hazard reduction and forest restoration grant funds. No individual grant will exceed $500,000. Grants may be awarded in amounts less than applied for. DNRC expects to identify projects through competitive application and award grants by July 31. Contractors will begin work immediately, with project completion expected by 9/30/12. Additional federal funding of $56,430 was awarded to two projects in the Fall of 2010. An estimated 6,100 acres will be treated. The projects are expected to generate employment for a minimum of 76 full-time workers for the next 12-18 months. Project Goals: ? Create and/or retain jobs within Montana’s forest industry. This is a factor in scoring of submitted proposals. ? Facilitate forest restoration and wildfire hazardous fuels reduction within the WUI. ? Maximize the number of acres successfully treated. Applicants’ responses to the solicitation will indicate how many acres they propose to treat and the total grant amount requested. Cost per acre treated will be a primary criteria in awarding the grants. ? Utilization of forest products, including biomass. Projects that limit slash burning and create additional forest products are encouraged. Partnerships, with agencies, individuals, industry, NGO’s and other organizations are important. The goal is to treat as many acres as possible and to avoid creating fragments of treated land surrounded by untreated land. Proposals that work in concert with ongoing projects will be scored higher than those that do not. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will retain no more than 10% of project funds for the purpose of administration and management of the program. The majority of these funds will be “direct costs”, enabling DNRC Forestry and Trust Lands Divisions to meet increased staff and operations needs associated with grant development, administration, and reporting. A portion of these administrative funds must be used to pay the “indirect costs” as defined in OMB Circular A-87. For (state) FY10, this negotiated rate is 5.0%, assessed on all Personnel and Operations expenditures of federal funds, and payable to DNRC’s Centralized Services Division. The actual amount of “indirect cost” budgeted for this project is shown on form 424A , #(6)(j). Any administrative funds allocated as “direct costs” which are not utilized for administration will be made available as grants for additional projects.

Clarification of Codes