A04_Statement_of_Work.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES

Total Contract Value

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Wild Horses and Burros (WH&Bs) ranging on public lands are administered by the United States, Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS). WH&Bs are protected under Public Law 92-195, issued December 15, 1971, as amended (16 U.S. 1331-1340). WH&B populations on public lands shall be maintained to ensure a healthy rangeland and to promote healthy ecosystems. The BLM will perform periodic gathering and removal of animals to maintain healthy inventory levels of WH&B. The BLM places animals into holding facilities to allow for the adoption or sale of animals through the BLM WH&B Adoption and Purchase Programs.

The Rock Springs WH&B Facility is the primary holding facility in Wyoming for WH&Bs being placed with private owners through adoption or sale. The Rock Springs WH&B Facility also receives animals from other facilities and is a temporary resting place for wild horses being transferred from facilities in the western United States to off-range pastures in the Midwestern United States. The Rock Springs WH&B Facility maintains between 100-800 animals on a daily basis.

2. OBJECTIVE

As excess wild horses and burros are gathered in Wyoming they are transported to Rock Springs WH&B Facility. The objective of this contract is to procure services for the daily feeding of wild horses and burros awaiting preparation and disposition through the adoption program. This facility is a permanent facility that holds animals temporarily, with a varying number of animals held throughout the year.

Period of Performance:

Option Period Three October 1, 2026- September 30, 2027 Option Period Four October 1, 2027- September 30, 2028

3. GENERAL SERVICES

(a) The Contractor shall provide sufficient personnel to assure the daily feeding of up to 800 animals during the peak times (August through March) and as few as 50 animals during the slack times (April through June). The total facility is capable of holding up to 800 animals at one time. The Contractor shall arrive between 7 and 8 A.M. daily and provide feeding of wild horses and burros 365 days per year. On most days, work should be completed within 2 hours.

(b) The facility consists of three (3) large pens, six (6) medium pens, nine (9) small pens, and eight (8) adoption pens. The large pens can hold an average of 100 animals per pen. The medium pens can hold an average of 50 animals per pen. The small pens are used to segregate horses that have just been unloaded from gathers, for loads being shipped out, sick and/or injured animals as well as horses with special needs (i.e. to separate studs, mares, mares with foals and young horses). Attached is a facility map layout of pen locations and hay storage.

(c) It is anticipated that the feeding services for the wild horses and burros will require at least two contract personnel on a daily basis. Since this facility does not have an automated feeding system, one of the Contractor's employees shall drive the BLM furnished truck and the other would open gates and flake off the hay from a flatbed truck onto the ground in a manner that all horses and or burros can equally stand at the hay and eat.

(d) Responsibility of the Contractor. The behavior/conduct of the Contractor's personnel shall be the full responsibility of the Contractor. The safety and well-being of the Contractor's personnel performing these feeding services shall be the sole of the Contractor.

(1) The Contractor shall be held accountable for any employee's misconduct, negligence, and/or failure to perform. The Contractor's personnel shall have a working knowledge of feeding large numbers of animals in a feedlot environment.

(2) In the event that any one or more contractor personnel are observed performing the required duties in an unsafe manner to the animals, themselves, Government personnel, or endangering the Government Furnished equipment/supplies, the contractor shall be so notified by the COR or PI and the contractor shall provide an immediate replacement person at the facility within two hours of being notified.

(e) In as much as the facility is open to the public, the Contractor's employees will perform their duties in a manner that will not bring discredit on the BLM or the contractor. Further, operation of equipment will take into consideration that members of the public may be in the area and utmost caution will be taken.

(f) The Contractor and personnel are responsible for any malicious damage or accidental damage of the Government furnished equipment. On a daily basis, prior to operating any item of equipment, the contractor's personnel will perform an inspection of the vehicles/equipment. Vehicle defects identified by the contractor or operator during safety inspections shall be immediately reported to the COR or PI. Repairs for accidental or malicious damage from Contractor use shall be paid for by the contractor. The contractor shall maintain a daily log for each vehicle showing the inspection results and provide same to the COR upon request.

4. SPECIFIC TASKS

(a) The Contractor shall feed the animals the quantity of hay and supplemental feed necessary to satisfy the animal’s nutritional needs. The hay requirement for adult horses is 25 pounds daily and adult burros is 12 pounds daily.

(b) The objective is for all animals to attain and/or maintain a good fleshy condition. Fleshy condition is described as: back level; ribs, not visually distinguishable; wither, rounded; shoulders and neck, blending smoothly into body. If this objective is not being met, a change in feeding will be directed by the PI, and/or the COR.

(c) In order to assure that all animals are able to maintain a good fleshy condition, the Contractor shall space the feed so that all the animals are afforded equal access to the feed. After feeding pens, watch for hay falling outside the pen, along fence line and in alleys. It is the responsibility of the contractor to pick up this hay falling outside pens, along fence lines and in alley ways, hay will be placed back into pens. All gates shall be returned to position they were found in after traveling through the gate.

(d) In the event that the Contractor notices any animals in distress (i.e. sickly; injured; mares with foaling problems; or deceased animals; etc.), the contractor shall immediately notify a BLM representative of the problems so that appropriate action may be taken. The Contractor shall also notify a BLM representative of any water trough malfunction, contractor personnel shall not turn off any tanks due to malfunction.

(e) The Contractor shall feed all animals in accordance with the requirements set forth above, at least once per day, every day, to include Saturdays, Sundays, and all holidays. Feeding shall be conducted within the hours of 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. All duties are performed out-of-doors and subject to a wide variety of climatic conditions from below 0 degrees in the winter to over 100 degrees in the summer.

(f) The Contractor's personnel shall have the ability to drive/operate equipment such as CAT 930K Front End Loader and CAT 289 D Track Loader to perform such tasks as loading/transporting bales of hay through corral system to feed animals. The contractor shall provide the BLM a list of personnel that will be operating the equipment. The Contractor's personnel that will be operating the government furnished equipment shall have passed a proficiency test prior to being authorized to use such equipment.

(g) At the end of feeding each day or while feeding the contractor personnel is responsible for picking up twine and other debris in the pens. Example: twine, wire, garbage, etc. that may have come out of hay bales or blown into pens.

(h) contractor operators will inspect and remove twine from underneath of the vehicle that may have wrapped around the front or rear drive train (Wheels) everyday after use.

(i) Once per week the contractor needs to wash mud and debris from vehicles’ windshields, tires, undercarriage and inside of vehicle. The trucks flatbed shall be swept off at the completion of feeding for the day. Facility has a location on site for equipment cleaning.

(j) The Contractor's personnel will be required to exert extensive strenuous physical activity in an outdoor environment, such as lifting bales of hay weighing approximately 100 to 130 pounds; operating heavy equipment; standing and bending for long periods as well as walking/working in outdoor corrals.

(k) The Contractor shall furnish his personnel with the following equipment: hay chaps, protective clothing, gloves, pitch forks, hay hooks, pliers, wire and twine cutting devices.

5. Responsibilities of BLM

(a) The BLM will provide all the hay and supplemental feed which will be fed at the facility. The BLM will provide equipment necessary to perform these feeding services (see paragraph 7.0 for the complete Government Furnished Equipment list). The BLM will perform all maintenance and service to all vehicles and is responsible for repairing any equipment deemed defective through normal wear and tear. Any vehicles or equipment needing repair of safety items shall be removed from service until repaired.

(b) Every morning the Contractor shall check in with the BLM PI and/or the COR for the current count of animals at the facility. BLM representatives will also provide the following information to the Contractor:

(1) Type and amount of hay (grass hay, grass/alfalfa mix, and alfalfa hay) to go to each pen.

(2) The identity of pens that contain animals that day and the number of animals in each pen. Identify pens that horses will be moved into due to sorting and gathers.

(c) If necessary (e.g. when unexpected loads of animals arrive from gathers, when horses are sorted into different pens that were designated that morning, when animals require more feed than was fed, etc.) the Government reserves the right to feed the animals at the facility. Contractor shall check with the PI or COR before leaving to see if there are any changes.

(d) The BLM will provide for the maintenance and upkeep of the equipment used by the Contractor for use in feeding the horses and burros at the facility. The Contractor shall notify the PI or COR of any observed equipment problems that need attention. The Contractor shall provide an adequate number of employees to perform the feeding services on a daily basis.

6. OPERATING AND SAFETY PROCEDURES FOR USING GOVERNMENT EQUIPMENT

(a) It is the contractor employee’s responsibility to check all fluids on vehicles and equipment every morning before operating. (oil, hydraulic fluid, anti-freeze, etc.) If any equipment needs additional fluids, contractor employee must notify PI or COR.

(b) All diesel equipment shall be started and allowed to warm up at least 10 minutes before equipment is moved. This allows fluid in the hydraulic systems and transmission/torque converters to warm up.

(c) Because of the nature of the work requiring movement of heavy loads, equipment/vehicle not moving or unattended shall always set the parking brake or place the vehicle in park.

(d) While loading hay onto flatbed truck, it is the responsibility of the operators to make sure hay is secure and not hanging over edge of flatbed. If bales should fall off the flatbed truck or hay fall apart while loading, it is the responsibility of the contractor to restack and reload it. Also it is the contractor’s responsibility to restack the hay that fall out of barns during loading.

(e) Wire or twine shall not be cut until in pens. Never cut bales that anyone is standing on. Cut the wire or twine for only the pen that is being fed. Avoid traveling with cut bales, if possible retie bales as traveling to other pens may cause hay to fall off truck. All twine shall be disposed of daily in garbage ben.

(f) It is the driver's responsibility to be able to hear the person on the back of flatbed truck at all times. Speed shall be kept to a safe limit. Unsafe speeds can cause the person on the flatbed truck to slip or lose traction.

7. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT LIST

(a) CAT 289 D Track Loader

(b) CAT 930 K Loader

(c) Chevy 1 ton flatbed truck

(d) Ford 450 flatbed truck