Fiscal Year 2016 Respect and Protect Project Funding Information

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Utah State Office
440 West 200 South
STE. 500
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

March 22, 2016
In Reply Refer To: 8100 (UT-934)P

EMS TRANSMISSION 03/22/2016
Information Bulletin No. UT 2016-017

To: District Managers, Field Managers, Assistant Field Managers, Archaeologists, Paleontologists, Outdoor Recreation Planners, and Budget Staff

From: Utah Deputy State Director for Natural Resources

Subject: Fiscal Year 2016 Respect and Protect Project Funding Information

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-Utah’s Executive Leadership Team has approved the Respect and Protect projects identified in Attachment 1 that the Cultural Resources and Paleontological Resources Program Area Teams recommended for funding in Fiscal Year 2016. All of these one-time project funds must be spent or obligated in accordance with the below requirements.

Timeframes: All one-time Fiscal Year 2016 Respect and Protect funding MUST be spent in accordance with all relevant end-of-year procurement deadlines for micro-purchases, contracting, and/or Assistance Agreements. The deadline to initiate new Assistance Agreements is May 31, 2016. After each relevant procurement deadline has passed, the BLM Utah State Office will either reallocate any unspent funds to projects that can still spend the funding, or obligate any unspent funds to statewide cultural and/or paleontological partnerships. At any point throughout the fiscal year, field offices should immediately contact the BLM Utah State Office in the event that any funding identified in Attachment 1 will not be completely obligated.

Budget Coding: ALL project expenditures must use the EXACT budget codes identified for each project in Attachment 1, including the use of the WBS code being used for all Respect and Protect projects and the use of the correct fiscal year budget code.

Seasonal Hiring: Hiring officials in field offices that have been provided with funding for seasonal employees should immediately contact Lori Malan, BLM-Utah Human Resources Specialist, at (801) 539-4229 or lkmalan@blm.gov to ensure the timely employment of seasonal staff.

Assistance Agreements: Field offices receiving funding for new or existing Assistance Agreements should immediately contact Melanie Beckstead, BLM-Utah Grants Management Specialist, at (801) 539-4169 or mbeckstead@blm.gov to ensure that these funds can be obligated in a timely manner. No new Assistance Agreements will be initiated after May 31, 2016.

Reporting Workload Measures: The targeted workload measures the BLM Utah State Office and field offices have negotiated for each funded Respect and Protect project are identified in Attachment 1. BLM-Utah field offices shall NOT report any of the workload measures accomplished with the Respect and Protect funding in the Bureau’s standard Annual Work Planning process in the Performance Management Data System (PMDS). Instead, BLM-Utah field offices shall report all workload measures completed with this funding as a “Respect and Protect Accomplishment” component of the BLM Washington Office’s standard Fiscal Year Heritage Program Annual Report Data Calls. While all Respect and Protect funding must be obligated in Fiscal Year 2016, accomplishments should be identified in the annual report for the fiscal year that they were implemented.

Public Outreach: Regardless of the fiscal year the Respect and Protect project is implemented, BLM-Utah field offices must incorporate a public outreach component highlighting each completed project’s benefits. Allowable public outreach efforts include, but are not limited to, social media posts, press releases, website updates, and/or BLM Daily articles. All project public outreach efforts should include photos and recognize all partners who contributed to the project’s completion.

For further information regarding this bulletin, please contact Nathan Thomas, BLM-Utah’s Deputy Preservation Officer, at nthomas@blm.gov or (801) 539-4276, or Greg McDonald, BLM-Utah’s Regional Paleontologist at hmcdonald@blm.gov or (801) 539-4032.

Signed by:                                                  Authenticated by:
Aaron Curtis                                               Doug York
Acting DSD, Natural Resources                 State Records Manager

Attachment (1)
1- Fiscal Year 2016 “Respect and Protect” Project Funding Information (6 pp)