National Park Service, Columbia Cascades Support Office, 909 First Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104-1060

T -- VEGETATION MAPPING SOL 1443-RP9000-00-003 DUE 020700 POC Philip Pantoja, Contract Specialist (206)220-4045, or Beth A. Faudree, Contracting Officer (206)220-4041 WEB: National Park Service, http:www.nps.gov. E-MAIL: National Park Service, philip-pantoja@nps.gov. The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking a multidisciplinary team to provide services for projects involving vegetation mapping at the plant association level, as specified by the NPS vegetation mapping standards, and digital spatial database development for the lands under its jurisdiction, and adjacent environs, within the Pacific West Region. The Pacific West Region includes NPS areas in the states of Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Hawaii, as well as areas in Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and parts of NPS areas in Arizona and Montana. Contract work will be provided under an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantities (ID/IQ) contract and Task Orders will be issued defining the Scope of Services for each aspect or phase of the project as the work proceeds and funding becomes available. The term of this Contract shall be one year with four (4) additional one-year options. The work involves developing digital vegetation data and other spatial data setsfor more than seven million acres of NPS lands in the Pacific West Region. Final products must comply with standards and accepted practices established by the Pacific West Region, the National Park Service (see the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Website at www.nbs.gov/npsveg/ for details), the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), and the professional scientific community. Uses of these products will include long-term inventory and monitoring, research, natural and cultural resource management, fire management, planning, interpretation, and operations. We anticipate mapping at large scales approximately from 1:1,000 for the smallest parks to 1:24,000 for larger areas, with minimum mapping units ranging from approximately 0.1 hectares for very small parks, to 1.5 hectares for large parks. The anticipated work may include, but is not limited to, the following: acquisition of aerial photography and/or remotely-sensed imagery; pre-classification field work involving collection and compilation of new and existing field data related to vegetation, fire fuels, and other resources; stratification of landscapes based on existing spatial data; development of classification schemes for vegetation and other data layers (e.g., geology, soils), including classification descriptions and characteristics; interpretation of aerial photography; image processing; digitizing; description and documentation of vegetation and other data layers; use of GPS technology; field verification of spatial products; comprehensive accuracy assessments using conventional and/or "fuzzy logic" methods; and general digital data processing, including FGDC-compliant digital metadata preparation. Photography will usually be limited to color infrared (CIR) or natural color where appropriate, representing present leaf-on conditions, with scales typically ranging between 1:6,000 and 1:30,000 based on the minimum mapping unit required for the specific park, and other cost-benefit considerations. Field work will include pre-classification (initial scoping and collection of site specific information) which will focus upon locations of examples of the expected classes, and post-classification (accuracy assessment) which will focus on quantifying the accuracy of each mapping project. The field data will be entered by the contractor into a digital data base management system (DBMS) meeting NPS requirements. All data shall be geocoded and delivered in ArcInfo 8.x (or latest version) coverages, or per other instructions specified by the NPS or designated representative. All final products will be required to meet the spatial accuracy of the National Mapping Accuracy Standards (NMAS) for the appropriate scale products. For vegetation mapping, classification accuracy of the interpretation shall be >80% for each individual vegetation class using conventional methods of accuracy assessment. Accuracy assessment requirements using "fuzzy logic" methods shall be determined on a park-by-park basis. All parks must be mapped at least to the plant association/cover type level, and must be able to be re-aggregated to the FGDC vegetation classification scheme. Deliverable products may include: -- digital files of vegetation and other data layers in ArcInfo coverage format; -- FGDC-compliant digital metadata files for all digital data layers delivered; -- textual description of vegetation or other data layer classes; -- classification accuracy verification (contingency tables); -- spatial accuracy verification and calculated RMSE (root mean square error); -- field data entered into a DBMS; -- analog and digital field notes and site descriptions; -- location of field sites including labeling on aerial photographs used in the project; -- annotated field site photographs; -- interim interpretations; -- quarterly progress reports; -- documented final project report in digital format; -- all photography, maps, and supplies initially furnished by the NPS, or acquired under this contract. All work will be guided by NPS policies and directives. Projects will require coordination with other mapping efforts, park and other NPS personnel, and various review and planning entities, including the U. S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division. This solicitation is being issued as Full and Open Competition. The Evaluation Criteria will be listed in the solicitation. Award will be made to the offerer which in the Government's opinion offers the best value. All inquiries regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing. No telephone calls will be accepted. Please correspond in writing to be included on the bidders mailing list, and include company name, address, telephone number, point of contact, size of business (Large or Small), and whether or not your firm is disadvantaged owned. Posted 12/10/99 (D-SN407552). (0344)

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