SOLICITATION NOTICE
F -- 2010 Mexican Spotted Owl & Northern Goshawk Territory Monitoring
- Notice Date
- 4/7/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 924120
— Administration of Conservation Programs
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, R-3 SW Northern Zone, 2113 Osuna Road NE, Albuguerque, New Mexico, 87113, United States
- ZIP Code
- 87113
- Solicitation Number
- AG-83D5-S-10-0009
- Archive Date
- 4/27/2010
- Point of Contact
- Brian E Cooper, Phone: 505-346-3811
- E-Mail Address
-
becooper@fs.fed.us
(becooper@fs.fed.us)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- THIS SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSED ON APRIL 12, 2010 2010 Mexican Spotted Owl and Northern goshawk Territory Monitoring Mt. Taylor Ranger District Cibola National Forest, New Mexico SECTION C—DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK C.1 OBJECTIVE OF MONITORING CONTRACT The contractor shall furnish all labor, supervision, supplies, transportation, equipment and materials (except for Government furnished property) needed to conduct formal monitoring of known Mexican spotted owl (MSO) Protected Activity Centers (PACs), and northern goshawk nest sites on the Mt. Taylor Ranger District. All monitoring will be completed according to established protocol to determine presence/absence and reproductive success. The contractor shall submit completed forms, maps, digital images and a final report of all findings. C.3 WORK DESCRIPTION General A four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended, but not necessary. Conditions of track roads can be poor when wet. Some of the access roads can be rough. The 2008 weather is forecast for warm temperatures and continued dry conditions. The entire Cibola National Forest was under Fire Restrictions in 2006. Campfires, charcoal grills and stove fires were prohibited on national forest lands except in developed camp and picnic grounds where grills were provided. Smoking was allowed only within an enclosed vehicle or building; a developed recreation site; or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter and free of all flammable material. If dry conditions continue, the District may be under a total closure again during the 2008 MSO field monitoring season. In that case, the contractor may be given specific written permission to continue survey work during a potential closure. Mexican spotted owl - Mt. Taylor PAC Monitoring Regular field monitoring work can begin as soon as April 16, 2010 and will be completed by August 31, 2010. Upon completion of the field survey, the Contractor shall have 21 calendar days to deliver the Final Report to the COR. Informal monitoring and/or pre-calling daytime visits may be done to known nest sites within MSO PACs during dates established in the MSO protocol included in this package (Pre-calling Daytime Visits). If MSO are located during informal and/or pre-calling visits, only reproductive success visits would need to be done thereafter. If MSO are not located during daytime visits, formal MSO monitoring shall be performed according to the MSO protocol attached to this contract package. Only the actual PAC areas need formal monitoring. Any location marking method, such as flagging or Brite Eyes, may be used to mark calling routes or routes to nest/roost locations. All markers placed during this contract will remain at the conclusion of the contract. GPS locations will be taken for each route and placed on the standard topographic maps described above. If a MSO flies or appears to be located on private land, no attempts will be made to cross ownership boundaries. Contractor will show direction of flight on a map included in the final report, or estimate the location of the area a MSO appears to be located in. It is the contractor’s responsibility to assure all persons conducting the monitoring work meet training and certification requirements. Proof of training and required Region 3 certification shall be provided to the Contracting Officer prior to award, for crew leaders and preferably all crewmembers. (Crewmembers certified after award of contract must show certification prior to initiation of fieldwork). Monitoring information shall be documented on the MSO monitoring forms (attached). It is the responsibility of the Contractor to determine local conditions affecting road access to each site. Notify the COR within 2 working days if weather caused road inaccessibility (on an open road) is delaying work. Northern Goshawk-Mt. Taylor Ranger District Monitoring field work may be performed beginning as soon as April, 20. Daytime goshawk monitoring can be done while the Contractor is in the general area for MSO monitoring. The main objective of this work is to confirm absence/presence and determine reproductive success rather than follow protocol. The Contractor may simply walk to known nests to determine presence to begin with. If goshawks are not located, the Contractor will revert to the Kennedy-type protocol. A minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 complete monitoring visits will be made to each goshawk nest site. The minimum will be made if a nest is found active early in the monitoring. Subsequent visits will be made to confirm reproduction and survival of nestlings. If nesting activity is confirmed in May, visits for reproduction success and survival should be spread through May/June and possibly July. The maximum number of visits will be made if an active nest is not located. These visits will be evenly spaced from late May through mid-July. A complete visit is having called the last known active nest site, and each alternate and reserve nest sites until absence or presence is confirmed. Follow a goshawk outside of the post-fledging family area (PFA) boundary if necessary to a nest, but not onto private land. Concentrate all subsequent visits in this area to a maximum of 6. If a goshawk is responsive to calling or is sighted, but the Contractor in unable to locate the nest tree, map the response and return to the area as soon as possible. There is no need to maintain a break in calling when active follow-up visits are being conducted. Any motorized vehicles used to perform survey or monitoring work must remain on established, open roads. Bicycles or horses may be taken anywhere. Any temporary markers, such as flagging, used to locate travel routes or nest trees must be removed during the last monitoring visit to an area. The contractor will provide in the final report a written estimate of time required to monitor each MSO and goshawk territory including 1) average driving time in minutes from Grants, New Mexico to the start of monitoring route, 2) average hiking time in minutes to beginning of monitoring route, 3) average time spent calling each territory for a complete survey. C.4 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS All required forms (inventory, daytime follow-up, etc) shall be completed in accordance with the protocol/guideline requirements and shall be submitted in accordance with the specifications in C and as part of the Deliverables, as specified in C. Any spotted owl nest or roost trees located shall be photo-documented in daytime on digital format and labeled with Ranger District, UTM, content of photo (i.e. nest site, roost site, MSO chick, MSO female, etc) and date. Original digital image shall become property of the Government. At least one nest tree photo will be from enough distance to show the entire tree. Locations of active MSO nest sites other than those previously active shall be plotted on the topographic map and shall be cross-referenced in the report. Use UTM’s to describe the nest site on the topographic map. GPS coordinates shall be provided by the contractor. Active spotted owl PAC’s shall be reported to the COR within 2 working days. These shall be reported by PAC name, unless a new territory is discovered at which time a PAC name will be determined by the agency biologist. Active goshawk nest sites shall be photo-documented in daytime on digital format and labeled with Ranger District, UTM, content of photo (next site, goshawk, gender, etc), and date. Original digital images shall become property of the Government. At least one nest tree photo will be from enough distance to show the entire tree. Locations of active goshawk nest sites other than those previously active shall be plotted on the topographic map and shall be cross-referenced in the report. Use UTM’s to describe the nest site on the topographic map. GPS coordinates shall also be provided. The contractor will place GPS locations of calling routes on maps provided below. C.9 CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS All quotes to be considered are required to meet the qualifications listed below: Contractor shall have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree in the fields of natural resource management (i.e. wildlife biology, ecology, etc.) from an accredited college or university. Demonstrate prior or similar business experience in the same or similar work. Contractor shall demonstrate they have or will obtain all necessary equipment, as well as the personnel to successfully perform the inventory. C.10 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE SUBMITTAL With price quotation, include information regarding educational qualifications and related experience (i.e. raptor surveys, knowledge of vegetation types, etc.) of key personnel, including crew leaders. Crew leader minimum qualification: A Bachelor of Science degree in the fields of natural resource management (i.e. Wildlife Biology/Science, Ecology) from an accredited college or university AND/OR experience in spotted owl inventory or formal monitoring (according to protocol) in Regions 3, 4, 5, or 6. Key personnel shall be responsible for training and certifying that field personnel meet the minimum qualifications. Provide a list of proposed field personnel by name; briefly summarize educational qualifications and related experience (i.e. raptor survey, raptor identification, knowledge of vegetation types, orienteering abilities, etc.). If expecting to hire additional personnel to carry out the work, state the proposed source of qualified personnel or plans for training them. Note that area to be surveyed involves very rough terrain; all field personnel, including supervisors, should be in good physical condition. All observers that conduct surveys must be able to visually identify common raptors in the field and identify common raptors via vocalizations. With price quotation, include list of references (names, addresses, telephone numbers and contract number, if applicable) for similar work. Provide a short narrative outlining proposed work schedule to include resources, transportation, logistics and alternative plans for unforeseen problems (i.e., weather, fire restrictions etc) in order to complete the required work within the allowed contract time. Contractor shall describe how spotted owl inventory certifications were received, including numbers of years certified, or how contractor plans to provide for certification of all inventory personnel.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/d40476ea75ba2e6197666bd6224a8855)
- Place of Performance
- Address: CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST - MT. TAYLOR RANGER DISTRICT, GRANTS, New Mexico, 87020, United States
- Zip Code: 87020
- Zip Code: 87020
- Record
- SN02115220-W 20100409/100407235203-d40476ea75ba2e6197666bd6224a8855 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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