The Lake Champlain Basin Program's Technical Advisory Committee is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals for the development of Lake Champlain Ecological Indicators. The indicators will facilitate tracking and reporting of progress toward the goals in the lakewide management plan for Lake Champlain, Opportunities for Action.

The Basin Program is seeking to sponsor a two-stage project. The contractor will first conduct a comprehensive review of available indicators information and make recommendations to the Basin Program about how indicators might be applied in the Lake Champlain basin. Next, the contractor will develop and test an initial suite of indicators for the Lake Champlain basin, as chosen by the Basin Program, and recommend a long term monitoring to support a complete set of indicators for the basin.

The RFP is available from Basin Program website http://www.lcbp.org/ecoind.htm or you can call the Basin Program office at 802/372-3213 (800/468-LCBP toll free in New York and Vermont), to receive a copy via US Postal Service.

To facilitate the review process, applicants must submit proposals in both paper and electronic format. Please see the RFP and the attached proposal format information for complete details.

I. Background

The Lake Champlain Basin Program is a partnership between state, provincial, and federal government agencies, as well as many local groups, all working together to protect and enhance the environmental integrity and the social and economic benefits of the Lake Champlain basin. In 1996, the Basin Program completed Opportunities for Action: An Evolving Plan for the Future of Lake Champlain, a comprehensive management plan for Lake Champlain, addressing a range of issues from water quality to recreation. The highest priorities in the plan are reducing phosphorus pollution, reducing pollution from toxic substances, and developing a management program for nuisance non-native aquatic species.

Opportunities for Action stresses the importance of documenting socially and ecologically significant changes in environmental conditions in the basin over time. To that end, it recommends continuation of long-term water quality and biological monitoring programs. It also calls for the development of "indicators" that will allow the Basin Program to track the health of the basin ecosystem and gage the success of management actions. The indicators will also be used to inform citizens, scientists, and managers as they make future management decisions.

II. Ecological Indicators for the Lake Champlain Basin

The Basin Program is seeking proposals to develop a suite of ecological indicators for the Lake Champlain basin. The successful proposal will incorporate input from a project review committee and the Basin Program's Technical Advisory Committee through a two stage design described further below. The proposal should be as specific as possible in describing the activities in the second stage of the project. However, since these activities are dependent upon the outcome of the first stage, a negotiated refinement to the project workplan may be necessary before starting the second stage.

1) Within the first six months of the project, the contractor will conduct comprehensive reviews of the indicators literature, major indicators programs around the country (particularly in the Great Lakes region), and the relevant literature on Lake Champlain. The contractor will present a summary of the review to the Basin Program and make recommendations on an approach to developing indicators specific to the Lake Champlain basin, including a list of candidate indicators. Based on this information and further consultation with the contractor, the Basin Program will decide on a final approach to indicator development and a list of indicators requiring further analysis in the second stage of the project.

2) During stage two, the contractor will further develop and test the performance of the selected indicators using available data. To the extent possible, the contractor will also develop those indicators that are lacking sufficient site-specific data using information from the literature and, where needed, additional data collection and field testing. Lastly, the contractor will recommend appropriate monitoring and assessment programs to generate data needed to refine the indicators.

The following specific elements should be incorporated into the two stages above:

• In recommending indicators, the contractors should consider data related to a range of ecosystem parameters, including information on target species (reproductive, behavioral, or survival measures), the status of ecological communities, relevant ecosystem functions, habitat condition, and/or physical and chemical measures. Measures of ecologically relevant management activities, such as acres of habitat restored, should also be considered secondarily, although the primary focus of the work should be ecosystem parameters such as those listed above.
• The data and the resulting indicators should be relevant to appropriate management benchmarks, existing and proposed.
• To the extent possible, recommended species, communities and other parameters should be those that are known to the general public and the focus of some concern.
• When appropriate management benchmarks do not exist for indicators, the contractor should plan to recommend benchmarks that are both ecologically valid and in keeping with existing management programs in the basin.
• The recommended indicators should be selected based on a demonstrated ability to show ecologically significant changes in the basin's ecosystem over time.
• The final indicators should be presented in a relatively simple graphical format that can be used with supporting text to answer questions about the lake from the general public. Deliverables should be designed so that they can easily be incorporated into Lake Champlain Basin Program documents and updated when new data become available.
• The proposal should include a description how input from key agencies and organizations in the basin will be gathered and incorporated into the project (e.g. through the project review committee and the Basin Program's Technical Advisory Committee).
• For the selected proposal, an approved workplan will be required before a contract can be completed and the work begun.
• Projects involving environmental data collection must also submit a Quality Assurance Project Plan to EPA for approval before data collection begins.
• The contractor will be required to prepare brief quarterly reports documenting progress on each objective and task in the project (see Proposal Format Requirements below). A final report describing all data, methods, results, and QA/QC procedures, and fully documenting the indicators that are developed will be required at project completion.
• When approved, the final report will be edited for content and style in consultation with the contractor and published as part of the Basin Program's Technical Report Series. The author(s) is also encouraged to submit one or more articles resulting from the project for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
• The contractor will be required to present the project results to the project review committee, Technical Advisory Committee and/or the Lake Champlain Steering Committee.

III. Eligibility

Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and government agencies.

IV. Proposal Evaluation and Selection Criteria

Proposals will be judged according to how well they address the following:

1. Demonstrated understanding of the principles and purposes of ecological indicators and their potential application within the Lake Champlain basin.

2. Demonstrated knowledge of lake monitoring data and research results in the Lake Champlain basin, and their application to environmental management by the Basin Program partners.

3. Technical merit of the proposal.

4. Technical credentials of the investigators.

5. Extent to which the proposal addresses the design and elements described in Section II.

6. Potential to enhance the technical infrastructure and abilities within the basin.

7. Institutional support of the investigators, including the ability to provide the required non-federal 25% match.

8. Provision of a public education element (at minimum, a project summary intended for lay audiences is required).

9. Clarity, conciseness and adherence to the attached proposal guidelines.

10. Demonstrated ability to create documents and products that are accessible to and can be used by local natural resource managers.

Budget and Match Requirements

A total of $100,000 is available for this project. A 25% match ($33,333) of total project cost (award amount plus match) is required, either as funds or in-kind services. Budget proposals should clearly document the intended use(s) and source(s) of matching contributions. Federal funds may not be used as a source of matching funds.

Period of Performance

Work is to be completed within two years of the execution of a contract.

Schedule and Requirements for Proposal Submission

• Please follow the format requested in the attached proposal guidelines.
• Eight (8) paper copies of each proposal must be RECEIVED by the LCBP office by close of business on Friday, November 5, 1999.
• In addition, please submit an ELECTRONIC VERSION of your proposal, either on diskette or via e-mail. Electronic versions must also be RECEIVED by close of business on Friday, November 5, 1999.

Send proposals and direct all questions to:

Barry Gruessner
Technical Coordinator
Lake Champlain Basin Program
802/372-3213
bgruessner@anr.state.vt.us

Please note the different addresses for US Postal Service and other delivery options:

Via US Postal Service:

54 West Shore
Burlington, VT 05401

Via other delivery methods (e.g., FedEx, UPS, drop off):

29 Ethan Allen Avenue - 2nd Floor
Colchester, VT 05446

Proposals should adhere to following format and an 8 page maximum length (font size 12), not including budget information, references cited and investigator resumes.

TITLE - concise and descriptive.

POINT OF CONTACT: Name, organization, address, and electronic mail address.

ABSTRACT: Brief description of proposed work.

INTRODUCTION: Brief overview of what the project is, how it relates to past projects (in the basin and elsewhere), and what it will accomplish in relation to the RFP.

OBJECTIVES AND TASKS: List the project's objectives and describe in detail the tasks that will be performed relative to each objective, including methods and approaches.

Note: Projects involving environmental data collection must submit a Quality Assurance Project Plan to EPA for approval prior to the start of any data collection work.

DELIVERABLES: Detailed description of the planned products from each task of the project. Required deliverables: quarterly progress reports and a final report.

SCHEDULE: Timeline showing anticipated dates for completion of the major tasks and deliverables. Quarterly progress reports are due on the last day of December, March, June, and September. Work is to be completed within two years of the execution of a contract.

DETAILED BUDGET JUSTIFICATION: Cost breakdown by major budget categories (i.e. personnel, equipment), linking costs to specific tasks/deliverables wherever possible. Breakdown should show both LCBP costs, costs covered by partner organizations (if applicable), required match amounts, and totals. A non-federal match equal to 25% of total project costs is required, either in funds or in-kind services (e.g. for $90,000 the match equals $30,000 which is 25% of $120,000). (1 page, not included in the 8 page maximum total for the proposal)

TECHNICAL REFERENCES CITED: List all references used for the proposal (not included in the 8 page maximum total for the proposal).

CURRICULUM VITAE/RESUME OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Include up to 5 references for publications pertinent to proposed project. Please limit to one page per investigator, not included in the 8 page maximum total for the proposal.

Send questions or comments on this website to Nicole L. Ballinger at the LCBP.
Last Updated: September 20, 1999