SOLICITATION_QUESTIONS_WITH_RESPONSES_11_7_2022_0003.pdf

QUESTION 1: Page 5, i, Does “Contractor game cameras” refer to CTHR contractors, or other contractors?

RESPONSE 1: This refers to CTHR contractors (including any sub-contractors of the contractor) only.

QUESTION 2: Are CTHR contractors required to furnish game cameras or video equipment?

RESPONSE 2: If the contractor wishes to utilize game cameras or video equipment, the contractor is responsible for furnishing this equipment.

QUESTION 3: “No game cameras will be place on the Contractors motorized drive trapping equipment.” Does this reference to “Contractors” refer to CTHR contractors?

RESPONSE 3: This refers to CTHR contractors (including any sub-contractors of the contractor) only.

QUESTION 4: “All pictures or videos obtained by the Contractor using game cameras or other video equipment during gather operations shall not be shared with public without BLM permission.” Does this refer to CTHR Contractors or other Contractors?

RESPONSE 4: This refers to CTHR contractors (including any sub-contractors of the contractor) only.

QUESTION 5: Are cell phones considered video equipment?

RESPONSE 5: Any device (cell phone, tablet, etc.) that has the ability to record images shall be considered video equipment.

QUESTION 6: How does this reference to pictures and videos not being released to the public fit in with page 18, i. 7) where “information and images can’t be released during the gather operations”?

RESPONSE 6: Contractors shall not share to the public or any public domain (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.,) any still photos, video or live streaming during the gather period of performance.

QUESTION 7: Can CTHR Contractors and their crew release pictures or videos after the gather has ended?

RESPONSE 7: During gather operations, release of any photos or video should not be released by the contractor or their crew. After the contractor has been released from task order performance, the contractor and/or their crew members may post pictures or videos.

QUESTION 8: Page 6, 2. e. Site Clearances: How long will resource site clearances take normally or on average? If site clearances cannot be done on the same day as trapsite/holding facility selection, is the BLM willing to specify that in the task order Statement of Work?

RESPONSE 8: BLM strives to coordinate with contractors on proposed sites for traps and holding facilities. Timeframes for this to be accomplished can and does vary. If it is anticipated that clearances may be difficult to obtain, BLM will provide that information in the specific TO SOW.

QUESTION 9: Page 11, b. 1) What methods of capture are allowed by US law, BLM regulation, or policy?

RESPONSE 9: Contractor shall propose a method of capture for BLM to consider in capturing wild horses and burros. Please refer to 43 CFR 4700: Subpart 4740—Motor Vehicles and Aircraft § 4740.1.

QUESTION 10: What methods of capture are prohibited?

RESPONSE 10: Refer to response 9.

QUESTION 11: What mechanical methods of capture are authorized by US law, BLM regulation, or policy?

RESPONSE 11: Refer to response 9.

QUESTION 12: Are other methods of mechanical drive trapping such as ATV/dirt bikes or drones authorized or prohibited?

RESPONSE 12: Refer to response 9.

QUESTION 13: Is there any BLM policy/guidance on the use of drones in capturing WH&B?

RESPONSE 13: Refer to response 9.

QUESTION 14: Can we use other mechanical methods besides helicopters if the Task Order is for the capture of trespass or feral livestock?

RESPONSE 14: Refer to response 9.

QUESTION 15: Page 11, b. 8) Will the COR be using the Contractor constructed Temporary Holding Facilities when Contractor staff is not present?

RESPONSE 15: The contractor shall have personnel at the gather site, to include temporary holding facilities throughout the gather period of performance.

QUESTION 16: If staff is required to be present, will a DHR pay item generally cover these instances?

RESPONSE 16: Having adequate staff at the gather site is considered to be part of the day-to-day operations and should be figured into the capture cost. The Handling Daily Rate will only be utilized in accordance with specific task order statement of work.

QUESTION 17: If Contractor staff is not present, will the BLM be responsible for any injuries to animals or people, or damages to equipment?

RESPONSE 17: The contractor shall have personnel at the gather site, to include temporary holding facilities throughout the gather period of performance.

QUESTION 18: Page 20, Gathering Daily Rate, What is the BDR?

RESPONSE 18: The SOW has been corrected under 4.c. to remove BDR and replaced with GDR.

QUESTION 19: Page 21, Will the HDR apply in “mandatory suspension of gather activities due to litigation”, or will GDR apply if the “BLM asks the Contractor to stop gather operations for a day or more due to circumstances that were of no fault of the Contractor”? How do these two instances differ and what is the distinction that determines which rate is paid?

RESPONSE 19: Refer to HDR definition in the SOW.

QUESTION 20: Page 42, Ordering 52.216-18 Ordering: b) “All delivery orders or task orders are subject to the terms and conditions of this Contract. In the event of a conflict the contract shall control.” Page 4, states “Task order takes precedent over the IDIQ SOW” (the contract). These two sections seem to be in conflict with each other. Do the terms and conditions of the Contract IDIQ SOW or the terms and conditions of the Task Order SOW take precedent? Please explain and clarify.

RESPONSE 20: Page 4 of the SOW has been revised to clarify the order of precedence.

QUESTION 21: Page 74, Evaluation Criteria a) “The primary helicopter pilot and back-up helicopter pilot resumes should describe their experience in animal capture, survey and herding.”

As you are requesting resumes for our pilots, what are the specific minimum qualification standards that a pilot must meet to serve in the Key Personnel position of “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment”?

RESPONSE 21: The “Key Personnel section on page 27 provides the qualifications required for the “Operator of drive trapping equipment”.

QUESTION 22: Key Personnel, “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment”: You have specified that the position of “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment” must be identified as one of our company’s Key Personnel positions. The qualification you describe is: “This person shall be licensed and/or certified for the equipment that will be utilized.” If we propose to use Helicopter Drive Trapping as one of our methods to drive-trap animals (as it is the currently accepted industry norm for mechanically drive-trapping animals), what are the licenses that the helicopter pilot must hold?

RESPONSE 22: The Contractor is responsible for verifying that the selected operator has the necessary credentials and/or licensing to operate drive trapping equipment in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations.

QUESTION 23: What are the certifications that must be held to meet the BLM’s standard as they are evaluating the position of “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment”?

RESPONSE 23: See response 22.

QUESTION 24: What are the minimum qualifications that the “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment” must hold in order to be deemed Acceptable?

RESPONSE 24: See response 22.

QUESTION 25: The other Key Personnel positions list a desired time frame (one year, 6 months, one season) of experience in trapping WH&B or in handling large animals. What is the qualification that this Key Personnel will be judged against?

RESPONSE 25: BLM will evaluate the Key Personnel according to section 5.e.2) Duties and Qualifications of Key Personnel of the solicitation, and according to the CAWP training and protocol.

QUESTION 26: “The CO will notify the Contractor within 15 calendar days after receipt of all required information of the decision on substitutions and/or additions. If the proposed key personnel substitution and/or addition does not have any gather operations experience the BLM may allow for the proposed substitution and/or addition to support a specific task order, but reserves the right to revoke acceptance of this substitution if their performance is deemed unacceptable by the onsite TO COR with coordination the IDIQ COR and CO.”

• For the Key Personnel position of “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment”, and for the proposed method of Helicopter Drive Trapping, what standards of performance would the Contractor’s employee have to meet to be deemed acceptable or unacceptable?

• For the Key Personnel position of “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment” for other Drive-trapping methods, what standards of performance must the Key Personnel meet in order to be deemed acceptable or unacceptable?

• What standards will the onsite TO COR/IDIQ COR/CO use to evaluate performance for the position of Ground foreman/Trap supervisor when considering whether to accept or revoke acceptance of a substitute employee on a trial task order?

position of Holding Facility Supervisor when considering whether to accept or revoke acceptance of a substitute employee on a trial task order?

position of Transportation Director when considering whether to accept or revoke acceptance of a substitute employee on a trial task order?

position of Wranglers/Drivers when considering whether to accept or revoke acceptance of a substitute employee on a trial task order?

position of Certified PGS Applicator when considering whether to accept or revoke acceptance of a substitute employee on a trial task order?

RESPONSE 26: BLM will evaluate the Key Personnel according to section 5.e.2) Duties and Qualifications of Key Personnel of the solicitation, and according to the CAWP training and protocol.

QUESTION 27: There are two different solicitations for the contract in SAM's. There are some big differences in the two solicitations. The one says final however it does not contain Standard Form 1449. Which one is the correct final solicitation for this contract?

RESPONSE 27: See amendment 0001 to this solicitation

QUESTION 28: Page 11 asks that the contractor shall propose a method of capture (i.e. mechanical, horseback, foot, etc.). But page on page 12 for bait trapping says hazing/driving of animals for the purpose of trapping the animals will not be allowed. Why are they different? Saddle horses or herding on foot is sometimes necessary when bait trapping to move animals off of one water or bait source to encourage them to go to a source where they can be trapped.

b. Drive Trapping, Roping, Animal Care, and Handling Page 11 - During Task Order Request for Quote (RFQ) the Contractor shall propose a method of capture (i.e. mechanical, horseback, foot, etc.). The Contractor shall ensure that all operators of mechanical drive trap equipment are proficient and licensed to do so. The Contractor is responsible for the adherence to all rules and regulations associated with drive trap equipment.

Page 12 -2) c. Bait Trapping, Roping, Animal Care, and Handling -2) Hazing/Driving of animals for the purpose of trapping the animals (when it is specified as a bait trap in the Task Order) will not be allowed for the purposes of fulfilling individual bait trap task orders.

RESPONSE 28: The contractor needs to propose methods that proposed gather operation method. Only under drive trap gather proposals are animals able to be actively driven into a trapping location.

QUESTION 29: Page 28 - Under Task Order Procedures Number 9) it states "Contractor shall ensure that they have an adequate number of qualified key personnel available during gather operations to promote the safe and humane capture, handling, and fertility treatment of animals in order to meet the objectives of the gather." Can BLM please give us a number of qualified key personnel that are necessary to meet the objectives of the gather?

RESPONSE 29: The contractor shall determine the number of personnel and positions that they will require to meet the objectives of the gather.

QUESTION 30: 4. Page 29 - e. Key Personnel: Ground foreman Duties: This individual is knowledgeable about aspect of the operations of the gathering, treatment of animals, holding and release of animals. This person works and takes direction from the Contractor but may represent the field operations side of the operation for the Contractor. The position is responsible for communication with the BLM COR and to assure that the contract is being followed.

Qualifications: This person should have more than one season of previous experience in trapping, holding and care of wild horses and burros. Experience in all aspects of the contract and adheres to the contract requirements to successfully fulfil the terms and conditions of said contract.

Previous animal handling skills are required. Training in BLMs Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program is required; training in low stress or resistance free animal handling is not required but recommended. Can BLM please give us how many more than one season of previous experience the ground foremen should have? Also exactly what is a gather season? Some contractors may only do one task order and gather only a few hundred head of animals a year while another contractor may do several task orders a year and gather thousands of animals. That second contractor's key personnel will have a lot more experience than the first one. Isn't there a better way to describe experience?

RESPONSE 30: The SOW has been updated to clarify this requirement as “one or more seasons”.

QUESTION 31: 5. Page 33 - g. Task Order Performance: 1. The COR and CO may determine to cease bait trapping activities if successful trapping has declined. Why is there not this same statement for drive trapping activities?

RESPONSE 31: The SOW has been updated to remove “bait” from the above reference.

QUESTION 32: 6. On the price schedule - attachment 6 the drive trap quantity goes from 25 to 1001+ but the bait trap quantity just goes to 101+. The majority of bait trapping task orders are for more that 101 head and we as a contractor need to be able to break down our prices for numbers over 100. Can BLM change this price schedule so it includes more categories for bait trapping?

RESPONSE 32: The BLM will not be changing the pricing schedule for this solicitation.

QUESTION 33: 7. The final solicitation does not include any past performance. Is past performance of the contractor not going to be considered in comparing bids of the contractors submitting bids?

RESPONSE 33: Proposals will be evaluated as indicated in the solicitation package. Offerors shall follow the solicitation for submission requirements.

QUESTION 34: 8. Solicitation Point of Contact The only authorized points of contact for this acquisition are the Contracting Officer, Kirsten Quiñones and the Contract Specialist, David Slade. Any questions or concerns shall be addressed to the below point of contact via email with the following text within the subject line: “Solicitation 140L0123R0001 – Wild Horse and Burro Capture, Treat, Hold, and Release”.

Questions must be received no later than 10 calendar days after the issuance date of the solicitation. If day 10 falls on a weekend or federal holiday the due date will be the next business day. This paragraph lists Kirsten Quinones as the Contracting Officer and David Slade as the Contract Specialist. If Kirsten Quinones is the Contracting Officer what role will David Slade as the Contract Specialist play in administering this contract?

RESPONSE 34: David Slade will be the Contract Specialist for any IDIQ contracts issued against this solicitation. David Slade’s role will be to assist the Contracting Officer in the day-to-day administration of the IDIQ contracts, the CO will be the only person authorized to change the terms and conditions of the contracts.

QUESTION 35: 9. This solicitation contains two "mock" task orders. But they have 2023 dates for doing the gathers. Does this mean these same task orders may be issued in 2023?

RESPONSE 35: The BLM does not anticipate issuing the mock task orders as actual task orders, all dates and scenarios in the mock task orders are fictional.

QUESTION 36: 10. Both of these "mock" task orders contain the statement "The Task Order Awardee may not depart the gather until the Contracting Office releases them from the gather operations." Can BLM explain exactly what "depart the gather means and why this statement is in these task orders?"

RESPONSE 36: The SOW for these mock task orders were created using a SOW template that will be used for all task orders issued against the CTHR IDIQ Contracts, no release is needed for these mock task orders.

Under task orders issued against the CTHR IDIQ Contracts, Task order performance shall not be considered complete until the Contractor is given an email from the Task Order Contracting Officer or another warranted BLM Headquarters Contracting Officer (in the absence of the TO Contracting Officer).

“Depart” refers to the contractor removing all personnel and equipment from the gather site prior to release from the TO CO.

QUESTION 37: 11.Page 74 of the final solicitation Evaluation Criteria a) mentions primary helicopter pilot and back-up helicopter and states resumes should describe their experience in animal capture,survey, and herding. Elsewhere in neither of these solicitations when key personnel is discussed does it mention pilots. Is this an error in this solicitation?

a) The offeror shall provide a resume for each of the individuals listed as key personnel. These resumes shall include their previous experience with emphasis on animal capture, feeding and care, loading, and transportation.The primary helicopter pilot and back-up helicopter pilot resumes should describe their experience in animal capture, survey and herding.

RESPONSE 37: The SOW has been updated to remove the term “primary helicopter pilot and backup helicopter pilot” and replaced with “operator of drive trapping equipment”.

QUESTION 38: Page 32, per head payments, says the Contractor will get paid for the number of PGS treatments applied, and the number of microchips inserted into each animal. There is not a microchip line item on the Unit Price Schedule, please clarify.

RESPONSE 38: All animals that receive PGS treatments will also have a microchip inserted by the contractor. Offerors shall include this work in the line-item pricing for PGS treatments.

QUESTION 39: “43 CFR 4700: Subpart 4740—Motor Vehicles and Aircraft § 4740.1 Use of motor vehicles or aircraft. (a) Motor vehicles and aircraft may be used by the authorized officer in all phases of the administration of the Act, except that no motor vehicle or aircraft, other than helicopters, shall be used for the purpose of herding or chasing wild horses or burros for capture or destruction. All such use shall be conducted in a humane manner. (b) Before using helicopters or motor vehicles in the management of wild horses or burros, the authorized officer shall conduct a public hearing in the area where such use is to be made.”

Since 43 CFR 4700 prohibits using motor vehicles for the purpose of herding or chasing wild horses or burros for capture, other than helicopters, and your solicitation is requiring us to list key personnel for the position of “Operator of Drive Trapping Equipment” and “this person shall be licensed and/or certified for the equipment that will be utilized,” the only logical interpretation for this Key Personnel position is “Helicopter Pilot”. If the BLM requires us to have Pilots identified as Key Personnel (even if you use more words to describe it), and reserves the right to review their resumes, accept/revoke acceptance of substitutions, and accept/revoke acceptance of their performance, the BLM is taking operational control of the aircraft. If the BLM takes operational control of the aircraft, you must operate this contract as an aviation services contract. Please explain why the BLM feels they can evaluate Pilot resumes and accept/revoke acceptance of an individual employee’s performance, without being in control of the helicopter.

RESPONSE 39: The contractor is responsible for ensuring that the operator of drive trapping equipment is qualified and licensed to operate equipment in accordance with local, state and federal regulations.

BLM will only review resumes to ensure that the operator has experience in the gathering of wild horses and burros. The contractor is responsible for operational control over the drive trapping equipment and the operator of the equipment.