Statement_of_Work_FY22_Snail_Survey_revised_4_11_2022_0002.docx

FY 2022 LAS CRUCES DISTRICT SNAIL SURVEYS

STATEMENT OF WORK

1. GENERAL

a. Objectives Snail surveys and monitoring in the Dona Ana Mountains for the Dona Ana Talussnail (Sonorella todseni), and Sugarloaf for the Organ Mountain Woodland Snail (Ashmunella organensis) within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. There has been an increase in casual use for rock climbing and expressed interest in commercial climbing within these areas. The goal is to find out if snails exist within these areas and monitor them should they exist to determine if climbing is affecting these species. This would help in management planning and decisions.

b. Project Dates Base:

Proposed project would begin on May 11th, 2022 with a project initiation meeting. The survey work would start June 1st, 2022 to September 30, 2022. Report to be due on or before December 15, 2022 for year one.

Option Year One:

Year two surveys would begin May 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023. Report to be due on or before December 15, 2023.

This would allow for survey work to be conducted during the summer rainy season. We will also meet before any survey work begins in June 2023 to ensure everyone is on the same page. The exact date and time will be provided later.

c. Project Locations and Descriptions** Locations for snail surveys in the Dona Ana Mountains and Sugarloaf are as follows:

Dona Ana Mountains: 32° 26.828' N, 106° 46.858' W

Sugarloaf: 32° 20.789' N, 106° 32.553' W

*See attached maps of the project survey areas. General locations are provided for the Dona Ana Mountains and Sugarloaf.

**Additional maps can be provided upon request

2. RESPONSIBILITY OF SURVEYOR

1) Conduct adequate surveys within the 2 areas described above.

2) Habitat assessments will be completed for all sighting locations.

3) UTM locations (NAD 1983) of all snail sightings will be collected.

4) Construct field datasheets that will capture necessary survey information. The BLM will not provide field datasheets for the work. Guidance on the design of the datasheets is provided further in this document.

5) Required equipment for the survey includes: A small gardening rake to move substrate (leaf litter or talus). Small containers to collect voucher specimens. Appropriate equipment to document weather conditions such as wind speed, temperature, and possibly humidity. The BLM will not furnish equipment.

6) Hold appropriate permits with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for the collection of voucher specimens. If the contractor does not currently hold an appropriate permit and/or will not be able to obtain a permit prior to the start of the survey, no collection will occur during survey. Quality georeferenced photos of specimens with identifying features will be required in place of collection.

7) Any relevant experience identifying terrestrial snails and in preparing invertebrate voucher specimens should be identified in the response to this solicitation.

8) Notify the BLM of any reconnaissance that is performed and when the survey work is performed. Notification may be sent via email to BLM-LCDO Contracting Officer Representative (COR).

9) Provide the BLM Las Cruces District with a completion report summarizing snail surveys and monitoring by December 15, 2022 for year one and December 15, 2023 for year two. The survey report will be compiled in a word document (doc), including map(s), sighting location(s) (as appropriate) coordinate summary, habitat assessment summary for snail sighting locations, and summary observations from each survey date.

10) All spatial information collected and included within the summary report must meet the following specifications:

· Projection - NAD83/UTM/Units Meters.

· Vertical Datum – GSC North American 1983.

· Format – ESRI file (geodatabase)

3. SURVEY GUIDELINES

Surveys should be completed using a combination of two sampling methods. 1) Opportunistic “point searches” should constitute one-third of the total search time in the project area. This method briefly samples many representative key habitat features along a survey route throughout the survey area. 2) Two thirds of the search time should be spent in a more intensive, time constrained search of a few small, well defined sample areas.

Tentative survey routes should be planned to safely traverse through the defined survey areas using the maps and photos. However, since aerial photos may not reveal the best habitat, field reconnaissance of the survey area may be necessary in order to identify the best survey route. Actual survey routes should be located to pass through a representative sample of habitat types within the survey area, focusing on any areas within it that have concentrations of the key habitat features identified for the target species. Survey routes should meander through most of the survey area, and proceed from one “sample area” to the next.

Survey routes should concentrate on areas where existing trails or disturbed areas from recreationists exist but should also include adjacent undisturbed, suitable habitat in order to maximize potential of detection and provide insight to how current use may be affecting populations.

Identify sample areas in the field along or near the survey route, approximately 5 m. (16.5 ft) radius or 78.5 sq.m. (854.9 sq.ft.) in size, which encompass areas with a number of key habitat features for the target species. In some cases, the best sample areas may be around only one feature, such as a large tree or down log. These areas do not need to be circular, but should be defined areas of the required size encompassing concentrations of the key habitat features. These are areas in which an intensive time-constrained search will be conducted. Sample areas do not need to be evenly spaced within the survey area, but they should be distributed throughout a variety of the best suitable habitat within it.

Single surveyors should search for 20 minutes in each sample area and utilizing an opportunistic point search method outside of sample areas. Opportunistically search around key habitat features within approximately 10 meters (33ft.) of the route. These short point searches may include rolling over small logs, looking under bits of bark, rocks, vegetation, and debris, picking through hardwood leaf litter and searching the needle and leaf litter at the bases of logs and shrubs. In other words, a surveyor checks a representative sample of points where snails might be expected to be found. These point searches may consist of quick, continuous sampling, with less than a minute for each feature, or may be more scattered, localized sampling of several key habitat features along the route. Each of these key features should be searched for approximately one minute or less; many short searches are more efficient than a few longer ones. No single point should be searched for longer than 5 minutes, however, the surveyor may choose to extend a point search beyond 5 minutes and treat the point as a full 20-minute sample area if – 15 – Survey Protocol for Survey and Manage Terrestrial Mollusk Species numerous specimens are found. If a survey point is converted to a sample area, the remaining time needed to satisfy the requirement of 20 minutes of point search time per ten acres must be fulfilled elsewhere.

Opportunistic point searches have been found to increase opportunities to discover species of mollusks in less-than-ideal situations and to locate species that were not expected in the search area. It also serves to distribute the search effort over the survey area and to help delineate the extent of known sites.

Each sample area should be searched for a total of 20 minutes, or until all target species have been located. Searching may include searching through talus, rolling over small logs, looking under bits of bark, rocks, vegetation, and debris, picking through hardwood leaf litter and searching the needle and leaf litter at the bases of logs and shrubs. Surveyors should endeavor to minimize trampling, replace habitat components to their original positions immediately, and to replace litter back over areas from which it was removed.

Each survey route should be surveyed at least twice, with at least one of those occurring shortly after a precipitation event, during monsoons when snail activity may be higher. Spacing survey efforts apart by two-three weeks ensures that a wider range of environmental conditions are sampled. Ideally, sampling would occur on cloudy, overcast days when soil moisture is high and a morning dew is present to maximize snail activity and increase detection.

Quality pictures with identifying features or voucher collections should be made to verify the species identification.

Outside of documenting snail occurrence, impacts by recreational users, invasive plant species, excessive erosion, or any other disturbance should also be documented and photos included.

A general description of habitat should also be included describing abiotic factors as well as biotic factors such as litter, rock type and distribution, grass and forb cover, shrub cover, and canopy cover. Predominant plant species in each area should be included.

4. DATA TO BE COLLECTED

Field data sheets developed by the contractor should include:

· Survey date, start and end time, UTMs for start and end locations of the survey route

· Description of weather on the day of the survey (Temperature, cloud cover, approximate wind speeds, humidity if possible)

· Locations of any snail species found and any relevant info about behavior or location of discovery

· A general description of habitat, describing abiotic factors as well as biotic factors such as litter, rock type and distribution, grass and forb cover, shrub cover, and canopy cover. Predominant plant species in each area should be included

· Quick notes on any other vertebrate or invertebrate fauna encountered

· Notes about disturbance due to human activity including, but not limited to, the items below:

1. Increases in soil compaction, or disturbance of soil, rocks or vegetation which function as refugia or substrates for food

1. Reduction or disturbance of litter and duff, or reduction in the recruitment potential for these components

1. Introduction of exotic plant or wildlife species

1. Trail construction that has the potential to destabilize talus slopes, scree or rocky areas, or other areas that may be used by target species. Survey areas should include all upslope areas and adjacent vegetated habitat that may be affected

5. STIPULATIONS OF WORK

a. The contractor will be expected to follow the rules and regulations for each of the BLM management areas where the survey is being conducted. For this survey, the BLM management areas are the OMDPNM, Dona Ana Mountains Area of Critical Environmental Concern, the Organ Mountains Wilderness Area, and Organ/Franklin Mountain Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).

b. Wilderness: These areas are found to have characteristics of wilderness enumerated by Congress in Section 2 (c) of the Wilderness Act of 1964. The BLM is required to manage all wilderness "so as not to impair the suitability of such areas for preservation as wilderness.” Therefore, all proposed uses must meet the non-impairment standard, in that they are both temporary and do not create surface disturbance. Surface disturbance is defined as “no new disruption of the rock, soil, or vegetation, including vegetative trampling, that would necessitate reclamation, rehabilitation, or restoration in order for the site to appear and function as it did prior to the disturbance.” Most primitive forms of recreation are allowed within wilderness. Wilderness is present in the Organ Mountains unit of the survey area.

c. Vehicle Use: Motorized and mechanized vehicles are not allowed within wilderness. Within National Monuments, motorized vehicles use is restricted to designated roads. The BLM can provide information and maps as to routes open to motorized use.

d. Heritage Resources: All persons associated with operations under this contract must be informed that that any objects or sites of cultural, paleontological, and scientific interest, shall not be excavated, removed, damaged, or otherwise altered or defaced. Cultural resources include historic or prehistoric resources, graves or grave markers, human remains, ruins, cabins, rock art, and/or artifacts. Paleontological resources include vertebrate body and trace fossils, as well as body and trace fossils of uncommon/rare plants and invertebrates.

e. Land Ownership: This survey applies only to public lands (i.e., lands administered by the BLM) within the Las Cruces District of New Mexico. This contract does not authorize work on private, state, and other federal lands, including National Forests, National Parks or Preserves, National Wildlife Refuges, or lands managed by the military.

f. Survey Data: The BLM may use information obtained through this contract work as needed help improve the management of the natural resources on public lands. The deliverables should be sent to the BLM Las Cruces District Office, 1800 Marquess St., Las Cruces, NM 88005. Electronic versions of the deliverables should be sent to the COR.

6. TRANSPORTATION CHARGES

All costs associated with transportation shall be paid by the contractor and included in the unit price quoted for the survey.

Map 1: Doña Ana Mountains

Map 2: Sugarloaf (Organ Mountains) image1.jpeg image2.jpeg