DRAFT_Statement_of_Work_Botany_1.pdf

SECTION C – STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION

C.1.1 Description of Work – The Contractor shall furnish all necessary management, labor, supervision, equipment, transportation, materials, and any other incidentals to search for, locate, map, and collect field data on Special Status vascular plants, lichens, and bryophytes and their habitats as listed in

Attachments A and B, and on noxious and invasive weeds as listed in Attachment K; with subsequent site reporting. The contract line item 000xAA for Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys is for survey and its respective site reporting (000xAB) of vascular plants (to include survey and mapping of noxious and invasive weeds). The contract line item 000xAC is for survey and its respective site reporting (000xAD) of lichens and bryophytes.

Special Status plant surveys are usually for the purposes of project clearance, in compliance with BLM

Manual 6840 Special Status Species Policy. Most clearance surveys occur in proposed timber sale units. Noxious and invasive weed surveys are used for NEPA compliance, monitoring and weed control, in compliance with Executive Order 13751.

C.1.2 Project Location – Units are located within the boundary of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Northwest Oregon District. Unit boundaries usually will not be physically identified on the ground.

Much of the terrain is steep, heavily forested, and can be difficult to walk through.

C.1.3 Access

C.1.3.1 Roads are usually passable with a 2-wheel drive vehicle although a 4-wheel drive may sometimes be required. Foot travel to the unit boundaries is generally less than 1/4 mile.

C.1.3.2 If an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is used, it shall meet with the approval of the Contracting Officer

Representative (COR). ATVs shall only travel on existing roads. No clearing of vegetation for the purpose of opening roads will be allowed.

C.1.4 Quality Control Plan – Contractor shall furnish a narrative outlining the process that will be undertaken to ensure field safety and work quality, firm’s safety and quality organization, including internal communication and self-inspection of contract compliance.

C.1.5 Pre-work Conference - A pre-work conference will be held after contract award to ensure a clear, mutual understanding of the scope of the contract, the sequence of work, documentation requirements, document submission, inspection and payment schedules.

C.2.0 DEFINITIONS

Intuitive Controlled Survey Method - surveys performed by traversing through and around survey units, with survey effort greatest in habitat most likely to contain special status species.

Special Habitats - unusual or uncommon habitats within a more common habitat, e.g., rock outcrops or old growth remnant areas within second growth coniferous forest.

Special Status Plant Site - all plants, lichens or bryophytes of the same species within 300' of one another are considered to be one site and should be included on one site report. Plants of the same species further than 300' apart require separate site reports.

Suitable Habitat - includes, but is not limited to, features such as meadows, rock gardens and outcrops, seeps and springs, etc., as well as any other habitat that has potential for Special Status plants (e.g., areas with north-facing slopes with bigleaf maple in the overstory and swordfern as dominant in the understory for Cimicifuga elata).

Voucher specimens - collections of specimens for each site for verification of accurate species identification (see Section 5.2).

C.3.0 CONTRACTOR-FURNISHED ITEMS

C.3.1 The Contractor shall furnish, but it not limited to:

a. Compass with correct declination setting.

b. Permanent marker to mark flags in the field, pencils, pens, clipboards.

c. Hand lens (minimum magnification 10X).

d. Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys and Reporting: Flora of the Pacific Northwest; The Jepson

Manual, Higher Plants of California; and other materials as needed to identify plant species in this area.

e. Special Status Lichen and Bryophyte Surveys and Reporting: Reference literature as necessary for identification of lichens and bryophytes, including Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest by

McCune & Geiser, and Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest by Elva Lawton. Microscopes and chemical test kits as needed to identify bryophytes and lichens.

f. GPS receiver unit, recreational grade (e.g. Garmin E-Trex) at a minimum or GPS enabled smart phone.

C.3.3 Surveyors shall meet the following technical requirements:

Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys and Noxious and Invasive Weed Mapping

a. College level classes in herbaceous plant taxonomy with a minimum of three field seasons (8 months) of botanical survey experience within northwestern

Oregon, or a college degree in botany from a college located in Oregon, Washington, or California, including classes in plant taxonomy and plant ecology.

b. Skill at using dichotomous botanical keys, including Flora of the Pacific

Northwest and The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California, and experience in identifying species in technical genera including Carex & Aster within northwestern Oregon.

c. Botanical knowledge and familiarity with plants of the West Cascades, Willamette Valley and Coast Range within or around the BLM Northwest

Oregon District Area.

d. Skills in aerial photo and map reading and ability to navigate in the field.

Special Status Lichen and Bryophyte Surveys

a. A college degree in botany or related degree, with a class in upper division plant taxonomy.

b. Training with lichen and bryophyte habitats and taxonomy, with particular knowledge and ability to locate special habitat features and distinguish closely related or similar-looking species that are growing together, ability to use dichotomous keys and other literature for the identification of listed species, knowledge of proper collection methods, and knowledge of micro-techniques used in identification.

c. Access to taxonomic and ecological information regarding the species for which surveys are performed.

d. Skills in aerial photo and map reading and ability to navigate in the field.

C.4.0 GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED ITEMS

C.4.1 The Government will furnish to the Contractor the following:

a. Maps (district road map and survey unit topographic map). GIS files of units will be available for download to GPS units and electronic maps compatible with Avenza PDF maps will be available.

b. Aerial photos covering the survey units in electronic format.

c. Flagging for marking populations of Special Status plants, routes to Special Status plant sites, and survey routes taken through units.

d. Gate keys for access. Some treatment sites may be behind locked gates. Locked gates shall remain locked at all times other than when the Contractor is passing through them. Keys for these gates will be available through the District Office or COR. A key for access to locked gates will be signed out on a DI-105 form, Receipt for Property, to the Contractor at the pre-work. The key shall be returned to the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in a usable condition before final payment is made. The Contractor shall be charged $100.00 for each key lost or returned in an unusable condition.

C.4.2 The Contractor shall be liable for all loss or damage of such Government-furnished items until completion and final acceptance of work required under this contract.

C.5.0 SPECIFIC TASKS

C.5.1 Field Work

C.5.1.1 Contractor shall not perform field work if adverse soil, vegetative, or climatological conditions exist.

Proposed unit locations, without on-the-ground identification, shall be surveyed by approximating the boundary location from Government-furnished maps and aerial photos. Surveys will be documented with survey forms (Attachment E, F). Unit descriptions may be typed up separately from the form as an additional page. Include a brief description of the route taken to access the unit. Prepare a map of survey routes used within the unit.

C.5.1.2 All units shall be surveyed using the Intuitive Controlled Survey Method. This method requires the surveyor to proceed through the unit until their efforts confirm that Special Status plants likely do not occur there. The survey shall traverse most of the unit, intensively search suitable habitat, pass through all differing plant associations, pass through significant changes in slope, aspect and other topographic features, and special features of each unit (e.g., riparian areas, seeps, meadows, rock outcrops, etc.). Suitable habitat includes, but is not limited to, features such as meadows, rock gardens and outcrops, seeps and springs, etc., as well as any other habitat that has potential for Special Status plants (e.g., areas with north-facing slopes with bigleaf maple in the overstory and swordfern as dominant in the understory for Cimicifuga elata). Species to be surveyed are listed in Attachments A, and B, Special Status Plant Lists. Prior to field reconnaissance, aerial photos and topographic maps shall be reviewed to identify any suitable habitat. When Special Status Species are located, site reports shall be completed (Attachment C or D).

C.5.1.3 Common species checklists shall be filled out concurrently with the survey (Attachments G, H, and I).

All species encountered during the survey shall be listed. Where species names are abbreviated, use codes from plants.usda.gov.

C.5.1.4 The Contractor shall relocate previously known Special Status Species sites within the survey area.

Known site locations will be shown on the maps provided. Relocations shall be treated like new sites for data collection purposes and shall be re-flagged, mapped, and site report forms completed.

Negative findings shall also be documented with a site report form, to report circumstances where the species was no longer present.

C.5.1.5 The Contractor shall locate and document the full extent of known Special Status Species sites, rather than only one or a few point locations within a site. A site requires a single site form (Attachments C or D). Locations or observations within a large site with sparsely scattered individuals may be recorded as “additional observation locations” on the second page of the site form; the data on the form should otherwise reflect the site as a whole. Where species names are abbreviated, use codes from plants.usda.gov.

C.5.1.6 Electronic Special Status Species Site Data. Where technologically feasible and at the direction of the

COR, site data (Attachments C or D) will be turned in using a GIS electronic format. Possible examples include the GeoBOB database with smartphone connection. The format would consist of polygons of each species site with associated data fields.

C.5.2 Special Status Plant Collection

C.5.2.1 Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys Reporting - If identification of a plant is questionable, collection shall only be made when the population can withstand the loss of an individual or part for the voucher specimen. No collection of an individual shall be made in a population of less than 20 plants. Only one of every 20 plants shall be collected. The specimen shall be pressed and accompanied by written labels bearing the following information:

Species

Location (Township, Range, Section, 1/4 Section)

UTM coordinates

Associated species, habitat

Collector

Date

C.5.2.2 Special Status Lichen and Bryophyte Surveys Reporting

a. Special Status Bryophytes and Lichens listed on the Special Status List shall be vouchered using the voucher collection packet (Attachment J). All information shall be completed on the voucher packet. Sites shall be vouchered, unless enough material is not available for collection. Only one of every 20 individuals shall be collected, or 1/20th or less of the total material. Only one voucher per species, per township, is required.

b. After voucher specimens have been properly prepared for identification, submit the voucher specimen to the COR for further verification.

C.5.3 Flagging

C.5.3.1 Flagging of sites - The periphery of each Special Status plant site shall be flagged with orange polka-dot flagging and green/white striped flagging tied in combination. Flags at the site center shall be labeled with site number, the appropriate four-letter code for the species found, surveyor’s initials, and the date. Multiple sites shall be clearly labeled on the flags as Site 1, 2, 3, etc. If Special Status lichens and bryophytes occur in litterfall within the unit, the closest tree to where they were found shall be flagged. The flagging shall be marked with approximate distance and azimuth to the source location where the lichen or bryophyte was found. Flagging shall be tied to branches, trunks, and/or shrubs.

For site flagging longevity, at least some of the flagging shall be tied directly around a tree trunk. All flags shall be spaced so that one flag can be seen from the position of the next.

C.5.3.2 Flagging to sites - Special Status sites may be flagged out to the nearest road, stream or ridgeline, to facilitate site relocation. The flag line shall consist of only orange polka-dot flags.

C.5.3.3 Flagging of survey routes - Flagging shall be hung along the survey routes to outline the path taken while conducting the surveys. Flagging shall be hung often enough to show that the unit was covered by the survey routes as described under intuitive controlled surveys. The following flag colors shall be used:

Special Status Vascular Plant survey routes: yellow and black striped flagging.

Special Status lichen and bryophyte survey routes: solid yellow flagging.

The contractor may opt to submit printed maps of electronic GPS tracks of survey routes, in lieu of hanging survey route flagging, if agreed to with the COR. Printed maps would need to be submitted along with other materials.

C.5.4 Global Positioning System (GPS)

C.5.4.1 The Contractor shall collect GPS Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates for each Special

Status plant site located, and record them on the appropriate Special Status plant form. The type of

GPS equipment used shall be indicated on the form (e.g. Garmin E-Trex). The GPS data should be accurate to within 30'; enough time should be spent collecting satellite data to ensure 30’ accuracy.

The accuracy level of the coordinates shall be recorded on the site form if provided on the GPS unit

(e.g. accurate within 27'). The sites shall also be marked on the topographic map and aerial photo.

C.5.4.2 The GPS coordinates will be recorded in the following settings:

Coordinates: UTM

Zone: 10 North

Datum: North American Datum 1983, Continental US (NAD83

CONUS)

C.5.5 Documentation

C.5.5.1 All field work shall be fully documented. The Contractor shall edit all forms and maps prior to submission to ensure that all required forms are properly filled out and all documentation submitted is legible. All paperwork for a survey unit shall be submitted concurrently, after Contractor’s Inspection, but no later than three weeks after unit has been completed (See Section F). Paperwork will be submitted in PDF electronic format, e.g. scans of handwritten forms or hand drawn maps, or Word documents saved as PDF.

C.5.5.2 Each survey unit will be documented as follows:

Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys and Reporting

a. Vascular Plant Survey Form (Attachment E) including general description of unit.

b. Common Plant Species Checklist Form (Attachment G).

c. Project map copy with survey route.

d. Map of noxious weeds and Invasive Plant Site Report (Attachment L).

Special Status Lichen and Bryophyte and Reporting

a. Bryophyte and Lichen Survey Form (Attachment F) including general description of unit.

b. Common Lichen and Bryophyte Species Checklists (Attachments H, I)

c. Project map copy with survey route.

C.5.5.3 Positive Sites - Those units where Special Status plants have been found shall additionally be documented as follows:

Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys and Reporting

a. Project map copy with Special Status plant sites and flag lines from sites clearly indicated.

b. Special Status plant site form (Attachment C) for each site found on the unit.

Special Status Lichen and Bryophyte and Reporting

a. Project map copy with Special Status lichen and bryophyte sites and flag lines from sites clearly indicated.

b. Special Status lichen or bryophyte site form (Attachment D) for each site found on the unit.

c. Voucher specimens in voucher collection packets (Attachment J).

C.5.5.4 Meetings will be held between the Contractor and the COR to discuss work completed, typically at three week intervals. The frequency of these meetings will be determined by the COR at the pre-work conference. Documentation may be submitted at this time, including documentation on any Special

Status plant species found. If surveys are conducted by a team, only one set of forms shall be completed for each unit.

C.5.6 Concurrent Noxious and Invasive Weed Mapping, Special Status Vascular Plant Surveys

Concurrently while performing the vascular plant survey, Contractor shall map and enumerate Oregon

Department of Agriculture (ODA) noxious and other invasive weeds listed in Attachment K. This list may change at the discretion of the COR; the Contractor may suggest changes. Species are designated

High Intensity Mapping Standard and Low Intensity Mapping Standard, and EDRR species. Mapping standards are different among these weed species designations. 1:12,000 scale maps will be used.

This contract line item includes both sides of roads within or on the edge of the survey unit. Use

Attachment L, Invasive Plant Site Report, to enumerate mapped weeds.

C.5.6.1 Low Intensity Mapping Standard species are generally widespread, scattered species that are often undergoing biological control, such as tansy ragwort or common St. Johnswort. No specific mapping of these species is required, but an estimation of the percent cover of each of any Low Intensity species in the survey unit is required. Separate the estimation as roadside and off-road (e.g., note 2% tansy ragwort roadside, 0.1% tansy ragwort off-road).

C.5.6.2 High Intensity Mapping Standard species are generally widespread, established species that are often the targets of weed control measures, such as Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom, meadow knapweed and false brome. Sites will be mapped as polygons with mapping standards to 300 feet, i.e., all plants of the same species within 300 feet of one another are considered one site and are to be included in one polygon. Plants of the same species further than 300 feet apart require separate polygons.

For each polygon record (using the Invasive Plant Site Report, Attachment L):

a. Field SCNTFC_CD. Species name; code from plants.usda.gov.

b. Field INFSTN_QY. Number of plants, where the plants are countable as individuals, or number of clonal units. Enumerate either the total in the polygon, or average per square meter.

c. Field QY_UOM_NM. Indicate which enumeration is used. Either the total in the polygon, or average per square meter.

c. Field CVRCLSS_CD. Percent cover of the plants within the polygon. Use cover classes:

<5%, 5-25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, 75-95%, 95-100%.

d. Field GENL_TX, surveyor name

e. Field BEGIN_DT, survey date.

C.5.6.3 EDRR (Early Detection Rapid Response) species are very sparse, localized, and often newly discovered or newly introduced species that may be subject to a rapid response and possible eradication, such as garlic mustard or giant hogweed. GPS coordinates shall be provided for small

(less than 1 acre) locations of high intensity species, in accordance with specifications for rare plant site GPS coordinates (5.4), to facilitate rapid relocation, unless they are mapped electronically

(C.5.6.5). Mapping of EDRR species is otherwise the same as High Intensity Mapping Standard species (C.5.6.2).

C.5.6.4 Total non-native vascular plant cover shall also be estimated over the unit. The total cover of non-native species includes all Low, Medium and High Intensity species, and other non-native species, in aggregate. Separate the estimation as roadside and off-road (e.g., note 25% non-native cover roadside, 1% non-native cover off-road).

C.5.6.5 Electronic Invasive Plant Site Data. Where technologically feasible and at the direction of the COR, site data (Attachment L) for sites of High Intensity Mapping Standard species will be turned in using a

ESRI compatible GIS electronic format, such as shape files or a geodatabase. Possible examples include the GIS files generated in Avenza Maps with a smartphone connection. The format would consist of polygons of each site for each species, with standards and data enumerated in C.5.6.2.

Attachment L, page 3, is for use along with electronic mapping, in lieu of using hand drawn maps and pages 1 and 2 of Attachment L.

(End of Section C)