Biological Surveys Mississippi National Forests 2017

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service R8-Southern Region awarded this Master IDIQ on January 25, 2017, to conduct biological surveys on National Forests in Mississippi, including non-native invasive species detection, threatened and endangered plant surveys, and sensitive habitat assessments. Ordering against the vehicle closed on December 31, 2019, and the vehicle is no longer active.

The IDIQ generated only five task orders between March 2017 and August 2018, with a combined potential value of $117 thousand, fully obligated. Activity concentrated in the first half of 2017 (four orders in June and April) followed by a single order in August 2018. All task orders were firm fixed price delivery orders to the same customer agency, executed on the De Soto Ranger District. Schotz Alfred R. received two orders totaling $51 thousand; Nutter & Associates Inc., Midwest Natural Resources Inc., and Copperhead Environmental Consulting Inc. each received one order. Four of five orders carried no set-aside designation; one order of $16.25 thousand was awarded to a small business contractor. Task order values ranged from $16.1 thousand to $35.2 thousand, with completion dates between May 2017 and April 2019.

The awarded work centered on botanical field surveys, including stream surveys for Louisiana quillwort spanning 31 miles, botanical and invasive-species surveys across named management units, and 128 miles of fireline and fuelbreak botanical assessments. All orders performed work within the De Soto Ranger District boundaries.

The vehicle's small order count, narrow geographic scope, and closure of the ordering period in 2019 indicate this is a closed, low-activity vehicle unlikely to generate new opportunities.

National Forests in Mississippi are soliciting for biological survey services on lands within its administrative boundaries in south Mississippi. For this requirement, the contractor shall provide all materials, labor, equipment, tools, transportation, permits, licenses, supervision, expertise, and other incidentals necessary to successfully conduct field surveys for Non-Native Invasive Species (NNIS), Threatened, Endangered, Locally Rare, and Sensitive plants, as well as unique habitats, gopher tortoise burrows, and Red Cockaded Woodpecker natural cavity trees within designated project areas.