1240LQ24Q0043 Attachment 1 Statement of Work _FY24RGNFCPRDNoxiousWeedSurveyInventory_685785_20240110.docx

RFQ 1240LQ24Q0043

Noxious Weed Survey Rio Grande National Forest Conejos Peak Ranger District

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Work Noxious Weed Survey Rio Grande National Forest Conejos Peak Ranger District 04/26/2024

Contents

Project FY24 RGNF CPRD Noxious Weed Survey & Inventory

General Information

1.1 Background

Provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform noxious weed surveys as defined herein, except for those items specified as government furnished property and services. The contractor shall perform to the standards in this contract. Specific survey areas on the Rio Grande National Forest – Conejos Peak Ranger District are identified in Appendix A and B. The successful offeror will perform the work following a pre-work meeting with the Contracting Officer, the Forest Noxious Weed Program Manager and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), clarifying the terms and conditions of the contract.

1.2 Scope of Work

The scope of work provides for approximately 2,600 acres of noxious weed survey work on the Conejos Peak Ranger District of the Rio Grande National Forest, and inventory of any infestations found, in compliance with terms, specifications, conditions and provisions contained herein. Summary of project areas, acreages, and maps are provided in Appendix A and B.

1.3 Period of Performance

This contract outlines work to be performed during the 2024 field season. The period of performance will be from date of award to October 1, 2024. Work shall occur when the target plants are actively growing, and most easily identifiable. In 2024, work may begin on or about June 15, 2024, and the Contractor shall complete all field work by September 15, 2024, and have all final data reviewed and submitted no later than September 30, 2024. Pre-work and close out meetings will be required.

1.4 Quality Control:

The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this contract. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which they assure themselves that their work complies with the requirement of the contract. The quality control program is to be delivered at the time of proposal. After acceptance of the quality control plan the contractor shall receive the contracting officer’s acceptance in writing of any proposed change to their QC system.

1.5 Place of Performance

Noxious weed survey and inventory will occur on National Forest Service (NFS) lands in areas of the Conejos Peak Ranger District of the Rio Grande National Forest. Survey areas consist of roadside surveys (plus 100 ft buffer on either side), recreation areas (e.g. campgrounds and trailheads), as well as some larger swaths of USFS lands containing few roads. Accomplishments will be reported in compliance with the terms, specifications, conditions, and provision contained herein.

The Contractor, in conjunction with the Forest Service, shall ensure all necessary permission has been obtained to gain access to locations. If the Contractor cannot obtain permission to access a location, the Contractor must notify the Government in writing.

Contractor shall be responsible for adhering to the USDA Forest Service travel management plan, including closures to motor vehicles, unless authorization is obtained. Maps and photos may indicate that a road goes to the location; however, vehicle access may be difficult or restricted. Locations may necessitate that Contractor walk the area or acquire other means of travel.

Survey area boundaries were designed to follow topographic features, when possible, and to ensure hiking/permissible off-road travel would be within approximately 1 mile of a system road. If the terrain becomes too steep or otherwise unsafe to survey an area, please communicate this information to the technical representative. Most roads are typically accessible between the months of May through October, though high clearance vehicles may be necessary on some roads. A four-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle is most suitable for some areas, while an ATV/UTV is recommended for others. The Government assumes no responsibility to maintain roads in passable conditions.

Contractor is expected to respond to sensitive resource conditions, i.e., walk areas when road conditions are poor/wet.

All persons in the area who are associated with this project shall be informed that any person who, without a permit, injures, destroys, excavates, appropriates or removes any historic or prehistoric ruin, artifact, object of antiquity, Native American remains, Native American cultural item, or archaeological resources on public lands is subject to arrest and penalty of law (16 USC 433, 16 USC 470, 18 USC 641, 18 USC 1170, and 18 USC 1361). Strict adherence to the confidentiality of information concerning the nature and location of archeological resources would be required of the proponent and all of their subcontractors (Archaeological Resource Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. 470hh).

If subsurface cultural values are uncovered during operations, all work in the vicinity of the resource will cease and the Authorized Officer with the Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF) notified immediately. The operator shall take any additional measures requested by the RGNF to protect discoveries until they can be adequately evaluated by the permitted archaeologist. Within 48 hours of the discovery, the SHPO and consulting parties will be notified of the discovery and consultation will begin to determine an appropriate mitigation measure. RGNF in cooperation with the operator will ensure that the discovery is protected from further disturbance until mitigation is completed. Operations may resume at the discovery site upon receipt of written instructions and authorization by the authorized officer (36 CFR 800.110 & 112, 43 CFR 10.4).

Inadvertent Discoveries: Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.4(g), the holder must notify the authorized officer, by telephone, with written confirmation, immediately upon the discovery of human remains, funerary items, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony on federal land. Further, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.4 (c) and (d), the holder must stop activities in the vicinity of the discovery that could adversely affect the discovery. The holder shall make a reasonable effort to protect the human remains, funerary items, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony for a period of thirty days after written notice is provided to the authorized officer, or until the authorized officer has issued a written notice to proceed, whichever occurs first.

1.6 Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings

The Contractor agrees to attend any post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. The contracting officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the contracting officer will apprise the contractor of how the government views the contractor's performance and the contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the government.

1.7 Contractor Representative

The contractor shall provide a contract representative for the performance of the work, if not themselves. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the contractor is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer. The contractor representative or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The contractor representative and alternate must be able to read, write, speak, and understand English.

Definitions

2.1 Technical Definitions – Noxious Weed Species

Species Known to Occur in or around the treatment areas:

Anthemis cotula/ Tripleurospermum inodorum Mayweed chamomile/ Scentless chamomile List B

All other species included on the Colorado State Noxious Weed A, B, C and watch lists.

Government Furnished Property, Material, Services

Contractor Furnished Items/Services

The contractor shall furnish everything, excluding items in Section 3, required to perform this contract.

Contractor Requirements

5.1 Technical Requirements / Tasks

Technical Requirements / Tasks:

1. Provide a Work Schedule documenting how and when work will be performed over the course of the contract. The Work Schedule shall cover at a minimum the following items:

a. Method of GPS (or electronic) verification of areas traveled.

b. Schedule of electronic data submissions.

c. Communications plan – both internal and with the Forest Service

d. Safety Plan (includes communications).

2. The Contractor will survey all areas outlined in Appendix A and B. Upon finding noxious weeds, the contractor will map the entire noxious weed infestation boundary, when encountered, even if the infestation extends beyond the defined project area. Roadside surveys shall encompass a 100 ft buffer on either side of the road. The infestation should be mapped and documented following the protocol and data dictionary provided by the USFS (Appendix C). Data should be reviewed by the contractor for accuracy and synced bi-weekly, at a minimum, to the USFS for review.

a. To meet National Forest Service reporting timelines, the contractor will be required to complete all surveys, sync any final data, complete data review/quality control no later than September 30th to the Contracting Officer.

3. The contractor will submit verification of areas traveled via a method agreed upon by the COR and the contractor.

4. Furnish all labor, equipment, supervision, transportation, materials and other line items necessary to inventory noxious weeds (except as may be expressly set forth in this contract as furnished by the government). Noxious weeds are defined as those on Colorado State Noxious Weed List, including State watch-list species. The following items are required to perform noxious weed inventories:

a. Wifi compatible mobile device (e.g. android/apple tablet or phone) with a camera for digital data collection using ESRI Survey123 data forms.

b. Computer with wifi capabilities for reviewing data and performing quality control.

c. Knowledge of the ESRI ArcGIS Online (AGOL) environment and Survey123 technology for digital data collection.

d. Ability to identify noxious weeds, follow established protocols and to organize and enter electronic data.

5. Comply with data standards described below:

a. At least 95% of the noxious weed infestations mapped must be correctly identified to the species level.

b. At least 95% of noxious weed infestations mapped must have accurate spatial boundaries.

c. Noxious weed infestations should be mapped with a horizontal accuracy of 3 meters.

d. Any infestations missed by the contractors, and later identified by the COR/technical representative during compliance checks will be mapped by the contractor. If more than 10 infestations are missed in any given Area (see Appendix B), the contractor will resurvey the entire Area.

Deliverables / Schedule

Contractor’s Key Personnel

The contractor and all employees performing field work under this contract shall be able to identify target weed species in all stages of development and to distinguish between weed species and non-target species. The contractor and all employees must have the equipment and skills necessary to utilize the ESRI Survey123 application to collect data in the field.

Appendix A: Survey Area Maps

Appendix B: Survey of Survey Areas & Acreages

Appendix C: Survey123 Form Protocol and Data Dictionary

Contractor Protocol & Data Dictionary for Survey123 Form:

“R2 RGNF – Invasive Species Inventory - Polygon”

· When a noxious weed listed by the State of Colorado is identified within a survey area, defined by the contract, it must be mapped using the Survey123 form “Invasive Species Inventory Form – RGNF polygon”

· The entire boundary of the infestation should be mapped, even if it extends beyond the designated survey boundary.

· Infestations separated by a distance of more than 500 feet shall be mapped separately.

· A data dictionary is provided at the end of this document.

· ***Please note that this form is used by different groups of observers. The questions required for this contract are the ones listed as “required = YES” in the data dictionary below. This may be different than what is required by the Survey123 form itself.

· While most of the questions are straightforward, please read the following notes regarding specific questions:

· The five phenology categories must add up to 100%

· Percent Infested – is the percentage of the polygon drawn that is infested with the noxious species of interest. (See example diagrams below)

· Percent cover – is an ocular estimate of percent foliar cover of the noxious species of interest within the polygon you drew. (See example diagrams below)

· Some photos below will help demonstrate the differences between % cover & % infested. Note that these are examples. In the field, please use your best judgement. We are looking for estimates not exact percentages.

% infested – 75% (Here the plants are surrounding a feature on the landscape, i.e. lake/pond. Because this feature cannot support the noxious weed of interest, the % infested cannot be 100%)

% cover - 70% (The infestation is dense and nearly covers the entire area outside of the pond/lake feature).

% infested – 100% (while the plants are sparsely scattered within the polygon, it closely encircles the extent of the individuals making up the infestation.)

% cover - 25% (It is hard to say from this drawing, but the plants certainly do not cover 100% of the polygon shown here.)

% infested – 50% (If the two clumps of plants are separated by more than 500 ft, it would be most prudent to map them separately. In that case, the polygons would likely each be 100% infested with nearly 100% cover)

% cover - 50% (but see note above if the infestation was separated into 2 separate records.)

DATA DICTIONARY:

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