AG-0325-S-15-0003 _Statement_of_Work _Sage_Grouse_Habitat_Mapping_and_Characterization.pdf

AG-0325-S-15-0003

Statement of Work

SAGE GROUSE HABITAT MAPPING

AND CHARACTERIZATION

USDA/NRCS MONTANA

2015-2016

A. GENERAL:

The NRCS and BLM are working as Federal partners to conserve the Greater Sage Grouse by implementing land management practices that maintain the habitat it requires to survive. These Federal agencies also recognize that land management practices favorable to the sage grouse, in population numbers that ensure its long-term survival, must accommodate private and public land use activities such as agriculture and livestock grazing. In Montana, agriculture and livestock grazing are the predominant land uses within the environments sage grouse depend upon for survival and population stability. In these environments many, if not most private livestock operations also depend upon BLM grazing leases on adjacent public lands for the viability of their operations.

To promote and implement sage grouse compatible land use practices Federal partners must first identify specific locations within core sage grouse habitat where the greatest opportunities for economically viable and sage grouse ‘friendly’ land use conservation practices have the potential to occur and succeed. A temporally current, spatially accurate baseline of landscape level and site specific land cover conditions is not available for the proposed sage grouse core habitat project area. Access to consistent landcover mapping and habitat assessment products across the mix of public and private land ownership within core sage grouse habitat is necessary for designing complimentary conservation plans on public and private lands. Over the past four years the BLM and NRCS have sponsored landscape level and site specific land cover mapping on over three million acres within other core sage grouse habitat areas in Montana. This project would make comparable mapping available in the proposed area. See Attachment A.

The purpose of this project is to collect, analyze, and summarize baseline land cover information across all ownerships in the project area at both a landscape scale, and at a level of detail that corresponds with site specific sage grouse habitat needs. It is also designed to provide the data in a format that can be readily incorporated into land management and conservation plans. The intended result is to increase collaboration between the NRCS and BLM regarding prioritization of areas to focus their conservation efforts. Under this contract both the NRCS and BLM will be provided with the deliverables from the contractor. The resulting deliverables will help NRCS planners develop conservation plans with producers in priority sage grouse habitats that are complimentary to those produced by the BLM.

B. PROJECT AREAS:

The NRCS and BLM have selected the North Valley sage grouse habitat core area and the Powder River Basin core area as the priority areas for the work to be done under this contract. The North Valley priority area encompasses 610,216 acres in Valley County, Montana. The Powder River Basin priority area encompasses 110,800 acres in Big Horn, Rosebud and Powder River Counties in Montana. See Attachment A.

C. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

The objective of this contract is to identify and characterize sage grouse habitat using technology that provides geospatially accurate data at both landscape level and site specific scales. The data developed are intended to be of adequate detail and resolution to provide a reliable assessment of existing (baseline) landcover classes and cover percentages for key classes that can be used to prepare conservation plans, develop long term strategies for habitat improvement, and monitor the results of management activities on sage grouse habitat and populations with repeatable methodology. The contractor will develop:

1. Geospatial data, classified aerial photography and satellite imagery, and mapping products that accurately represent landscape level (30 meter resolution) upland cover types for:

agricultural/cultivated cropland, non-agricultural herbaceous grassland, sagebrush, shrubland (not dominated by sagebrush), riparian areas, and bare ground.

2. Geospatial data, classified aerial photography and satellite imagery, and mapping products that represent continuous, site specific upland cover of the percentages of herbaceous vegetation, sagebrush, shrubland (not dominated by sagebrush), and bare ground conditions in 5 percent increments throughout the project area at 1 meter and 30 meter resolutions.

3. An overview assessment of riparian conditions and trend on all perennial streams within the project areas.

4. A summary report for each of the project areas describing the mapping methods and procedures and summarizing the landcover classifications and riparian assessments.

D. PROJECT SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS:

1. SPATIAL DATA ACQUISTION AND ASSEMBLY:

The NRCS will acquire and assemble current background geospatial data for the priority core areas.

These data will include: SSURGO soils data, MSDI landcover (30 meter resolution), USGS Landfire existing vegetation type and existing vegetation cover (30 meter resolution), MTNHP riparian and wetlands, National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) for waterbodies, intermittent and perennial streams, 10 meter digital elevation models (DEMS), land ownership, BLM allotments, private land boundaries, and the MSDI transportation framework data for the project area. The NRCS will provide this data to the contractor.

The contractor will acquire and mosaic the appropriate 2013 NAIP tiles for the project areas. The NRCS will provide the 2013 NAIP flight dates reference metadata for the project area.

Prior to field data collection the contractor will prepare preliminary field maps and summary data tables displaying the extent and distribution of soil map units, ecological sites, currently mapped 30 meter resolution landcover, currently mapped riparian areas and wetlands, perennial and intermittent streams, roads, property boundaries, BLM grazing allotments, 2013 NAIP aerial photography and other supporting locational information.

2. COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION:

The contractor will coordinate with the NRCS technical contacts, local NRCS District Conservationists, NRCS area range specialists, BLM range specialists, and Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) coordinators to organize and conduct two informational meetings with rangeland managers and producers in each of the project areas. The first meetings will be held prior to the field data collection and will focus on introducing the sage grouse habitat mapping and monitoring data collection methods, identifying potential representative sites for field data collection, and informing land managers and producers of the project activities and schedule.

Acquisition of access permission for data collection on private lands and public lands must be obtained prior to land access by the contractor. Initial contacts with private landowners will be made by the contractor in coordination with the Government.

The second meeting will be held after the field data has been collected and final mapping products and data summaries have been developed. The focus of the second meeting will be to present the results of the habitat mapping to participating managers and producers and provide a forum for their evaluation and review of the mapping products.

3. FIELD INVENTORY DESIGN:

Land managers, conservationists and biologists with working knowledge of the project areas will coordinate with the contractor to review the preliminary maps and associated summary data and classify the project area into general functional landcover types. These types will be selected by their importance, responsiveness and suitability to and for livestock, wildlife and land developments.

Field data sampling will be designed to represent acreages of dominant ecological sites where the soil and site characteristics can be reliably associated with dominant vegetation types and landcover cover classes in environments with known sage grouse habitat. Sample site locations will be selected to ensure that a representative number of samples are collected in each of the dominant ecological sites and functional landcover types and classes in each project area. The field sampling will be designed to represent the geographic distribution and proportionate areal extent of the ecological sites and land cover types, and the inherent variability within each type within each of the project areas.

A minimum of 285 sites will be selected for field data collection in Priority Area 1. A minimum of 50 sites will be selected for field data collection in Priority Area 2. Field data collection of the high resolution digital photographs will be conducted between June 15, 2015 and August 31st 2016.

Field sample sites will also be selected to represent the relative proportions of private and public lands within the project area, and the sampling design will account for the proximity to roads and ATV accessible terrain within the land ownership, land use and land cover categories and classes to be sampled.

In coordination with state and local NRCS and BLM personnel the contractor will conduct preliminary reconnaissance to identify representative sage grouse habitat sites where field data for the landcover functional groups and group classes will be collected. A field sampling schedule will be developed that will coordinate the dates of the field data collection with the seasonal growing conditions in each project area.

Where possible, field data sampling locations will include sites where SGI cooperating private landowners and/or Federal and State Partner agencies have previously collected rangeland characterization data for: land cover/land use classification; plant community classification; plant species composition, estimates of ground cover; measurements of herbaceous and woody species production; or soil and site parameters.

4. FIELD DATA COLLECTION:

Prior to the start of field data collection the contractor and field data collection assistants will conduct field training using the line intercept and line point intercept methods to calibrate field crews for the identification of land cover class and relative class cover amounts.

At the selected representative field sites the contractor will record the site location with a high precision GPS with real-time accuracy of 10 cm. or less. The contractor will use a high resolution digital camera (18-megapixel, 10mm focal length minimum) mounted to a boom attached to an All-Terrain Vehicle to collect vertically oriented digital photos of an area on the ground surface 15 to 50 meters2 in size. The spatial resolution of each image pixel will not exceed 10 mm2. All images will be collected with the top of the image oriented to the north. In a randomly selected subset of 5% of the high resolution photos a minimum of 3 stakes color coded to represent field calibrated percentages of sagebrush, herbaceous vegetation, and bare ground will be placed within the 15 to 50 meter2 photo ‘footprint’ to be used as reference information during the image classification and accuracy assessment processes.

Panoramic view digital landscape photos oriented in each of the four directions will also be taken from the point corresponding with the photo GPS location. A field data form with site information will be completed at each location to record general information about the site location. The NRCS will provide the template for the field data forms. At a minimum the general site observation field form will include:

Observer(s) names, date observed, UTM easting and northing, USGS quad name, elevation (feet), ecological site, slope, aspect, land cover type, estimated land cover type percentages.

The GPS locations and vertical digital photos from each site will be downloaded and backed up on a secure external data storage device after each field session. The site GPS locations and digital photos will be consistently named using a coding convention established in advance by the contractor and the

NRCS.

5. IMAGE PRE-PROCESSING:

The NRCS will acquire cloud-free Landsat 8 satellite imagery available for the project areas within the field data collection time period. The NRCS will perform radiometric corrections to pre-process the high resolution and Landsat satellite imagery to top-of-atmosphere reflectance values. This pre-processed satellite imagery will be subset to the project areas and made available to the contractor for the 30 meter image classification process.

The contractor will acquire and mosaic the appropriate 2013 NAIP tiles for the project areas. The NRCS will provide the 2013 NAIP flight dates reference metadata for the project areas.

Prior to beginning the image classification process the previously developed geospatial data will be used to ‘mask out’ developed land, known structures, perennial water bodies, rock outcrop, and badlands.

6. IMAGE CLASSIFICATION PROCEDURES AND PRODUCTS:

The high resolution digital field photos will be examined individually and photo interpreted into the basic land cover types and type class estimates corresponding with the field identification of each class.

Within each image a minimum of fifteen samples for each of the ground cover type percentages represented in the image will be manually digitized and coded to the appropriate cover type and type percentage. These polygons will be used as training data to classify the remaining image pixels on each high resolution digital photograph. A database table will be created for storing the unique identifier for each of the high resolution photos and its associated cover percentage attributes.

The training data will be applied to create a classification of each high resolution photo using software with feature recognition algorithms that assess the pixel color values and associated background features. The results of the classified high resolution digital photographs will be used as training data to classify the 1 meter resolution 2013 NAIP aerial photography. The resulting classified 1 meter NAIP will be used as training data to classify the 30 meter Landsat imagery into derived continuous image rasters of land cover classes and cover class percentages.

7. ASSESSMENT OF RIPARIAN CONDITIONS AND TREND:

All perennial streams in the project areas will be evaluated using the 1 meter 2013 NAIP Color Infrared (CIR) aerial photography, 10 meter digital elevation models (DEMS) and SSURGO soils data to determine locations having a seasonally high water table and/or significantly deeper soils than adjacent uplands, and having the potential to support vegetation types that require additional moisture during the growing season. These potential riparian areas will then be partitioned into stream reaches using measured differences in geomorphological conditions such as valley shape, gradient, and parent material or stream channel substrate. The prior classification of the 1 meter 2013 NAIP will be applied within these potential riparian areas to determine the ground cover percentages of riparian vegetation, upland vegetation and bare ground within each of the stream segments.

8. MAPS AND INTERPRETIVE PRODUCTS:

From the classified 1 meter resolution 2013 NAIP aerial photography, and the 30 meter Landsat imagery raster data sets for the project areas the contractor will produce maps and tabular reports summarizing the distribution and areal extent (in acres) of each land cover type and land cover type class percentages within the project area. For each of the project areas the contractor will prepare a written report of the habitat assessment methods and results.

Deliverables: The contractor shall submit the following:

a. Digital geospatial data for the 1 meter and 30 meter resolution mapping products of the dominant land cover types: agricultural grassland, native grassland, sagebrush, shrub cover, bare ground, and riparian vegetation for the project areas.

b. High resolution digital photographs associated with high precision GPS point locations and geo-spatially registered to ground sample locations representing the land cover functional groups of bare ground, herbaceous, and shrub cover within priority sage grouse habitats.

c. Panoramic landscape photos of the environment surrounding the sites where the high precision digital photos were taken.

d. Completed field data sheets for each of the high resolution photo data collection sites.

e. Continuous cover geospatial data and mapping products of the functional ground cover groups for the project area at 30 meter resolution

f. Continuous cover geospatial data and mapping products of the functional ground cover groups and group classes in 5% increments for the herbaceous, shrub/sagebrush, and bare ground cover types at 1 meter resolution.

g. Digital geospatial data of the classified training data polygons within each high resolution photo.

h. An assessment of riparian condition and trend on all perennial streams within the project areas.

i. Geographic information databases that contain all of the above information in a GIS format that is compatible with NRCS and BLM GIS systems.

E. QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)/PERFORMANCE BASED REQUIREMENTS/ACCURACY ASSESSMENT:

The contractor will conduct a regression based correlation coefficient statistical assessment of the classification results by withholding 10% of the high resolution photos from the 1 meter NAIP continuous cover model and using these samples to evaluate the classified landcover types and type classes of the 1 meter continuous cover data.

The contractor will prepare maps and summary reports and conduct meetings in each project areas with the local NRCS resource conservationists, range specialists, SGI coordinators, BLM range specialists, and private landowners to review the results of the image classification and accuracy assessment. The contractor will incorporate the review comments and where necessary make adjustment to the continuous cover models prior to delivery of the final products.

The Government will provide Quality Assurance (QA) for at least 5% of the classified data. The Contracting Officer Representative will coordinate the evaluation of Contractor performance. Any issues relative to the quality or correctness of the data collection or the image classification will be reviewed with the contractor following the delivery of the initial classification results. As needed, the Government will also advise/assist the contractor with details regarding the final delivery of the data to the NRCS and

BLM.

F. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTIES AND MATERIALS:

1. Government Furnished Property (GFP): The Government will make available to the Contractor the following GFP. Property supplied by the Government shall only be used for direct performance of the work specified in this contract. Uses for purposes other than this contract is prohibited.

NRCS Conservation District office for public meetings

NRCS plotter, printer and supplies

Internet connection

2. Government Furnished Materials (GFM): The Government will provide GFM in the form of access to SGI cooperators names and contact information.

The Government will also provide current background geospatial data for the priority core area. These data will include: SSURGO soils data, MSDI landcover (30 meter resolution), USGS Landfire existing vegetation type and existing vegetation cover (30 meter resolution), MTNHP riparian and wetlands, National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) for waterbodies, intermittent and perennial streams, 10 meter digital elevation models (DEMS), land ownership, BLM allotments, private land boundaries, and the MSDI transportation framework data for the project area.

G. CONTRACTOR PROVIDED PROPERTY/FACILITIES:

The Contractor shall furnish all property, etc. to perform this contract that is not specifically identified as GFP or GFM above. Such property must include, but is not limited to the following:

All-Terrain Vehicle and towing vehicle.

High resolution digital camera (18-megapixel minimum, 10mm focal length minimum) and applicable download software High precision GPS equipment with real-time accuracy of 10 cm or less.

Computers, GIS software, remote sensing and image processing software.

H. REQUIRED EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/CONTRACTOR PROFICIENCY TRAINING:

1. The field data collection Leader(s) must meet the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Qualification Standard for a GS-454-9 Rangeland Management Specialist. Qualifications for this position are described below and are published in the "OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions". See: http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/index.htm

Basic Requirement:

A. Degree: in range management; or a related discipline that included at least 42 semester hours in a combination of the plant, animal, and soil sciences, and natural resources management, as follows: Range Management-At least 18 semester hours of course work in range management, including courses in such areas as basic principles of range management, range plants, range ecology, range inventories and studies, range improvements, and ranch or rangeland planning. Directly Related Plant, Animal, and Soil Sciences-At least 15 semester hours of directly related courses in the plant, animal, and soil sciences, including at least one course in each of these three scientific areas, i.e.; plant, animal, and soil sciences. Courses in such areas as plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant ecology, animal nutrition, livestock production, and soil morphology or soil classification are acceptable. Related Resource Management Studies-At least 9 semester hours of course work in related resource management subjects, including courses in such areas as wildlife management, watershed management, natural resource or agricultural economics, forestry, agronomy, forages, and outdoor recreation management http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/index.htm

-OR-

B. Combination of education and experience-at least 42 semester hours of course work in the combination of plant, animal, and soil sciences and natural resources management shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-AND-

One year of Specialized Experience in rangeland plant identification and rangeland site inventory methods equivalent to at least the GS-454-7 level or 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master’s degree or master’s or equivalent graduate degree.

Note: Education and experience may be combined for all grade levels for which both education and experience are acceptable.

2. The field data collection Leader, in addition to meeting the OPM Qualification Standard for a GS-454-9 Rangeland Management Specialist, shall have experience in the following:

• Working in Western states in the field of rangeland management

• NRCS Ecological Site Descriptions (ESD) (Technical Guide Sec II; Part F) and Forage Suitability

Groups (Technical Guide Sec II; Part E)

• Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to navigate to and record sample site locations

• Sampling vegetation attributes,

• Native plant identification,

• Rangeland vegetation cover density and height measurement,

• Noxious weeds and alien/invasive plant identification,

• Rangeland conservation practices,

• Rangeland resource concerns,

• Rangeland line point transects,

• Rangeland line intercept transects

3. The GIS, Remote Sensing and Image Data Processing Specialist(s) shall have training and experience in the following:

• Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to navigate to and record sample site locations

• Sampling vegetation attributes

• Rangeland vegetation inventory methods

• Rangeland ecology

• GIS software

• Spatial statistics

• Acquisition and processing of aerial photography and satellite imagery

• Relational databases and database software

• Image classification methods and software

• Feature analysis classification methods and software

4. The field data collection assistant(s) shall have training and experience in the following:

• Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to navigate to and record sample site locations

• Basic rangeland ecology

• Operation of ATV equipment

• Operation of digital camera equipment and digital data storage software

I. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION:

1. Communications with Government shall be scheduled whenever requested by the Government or the Contractor in which questions relating to the project need to be discussed, work revised, or decisions need to be made with the intention of expediting the completion of the contract.

2. Work shall commence May or June 2015 and continue through the end of one additional field season if needed.

Full payment: Payment shall be made in accordance with the contract requirements at the price per unit of this work for each completed deliverable task.

J. SCHEDULE OF ITEMS – PRICES

Offeror Information:

OFFEROR __________________________________________________

TAX ID # __________________________________________________

DUNS # __________________________________________________

Item No.

Description Qty Unit Unit Price Amount

Priority Area 1:

GIS and NAIP data assembly, preparation of preliminary maps and tabular reports for field sampling design

1 Ea

Priority Area 2:

GIS and NAIP data assembly, preparation of preliminary maps and tabular reports for field sampling design

1 Ea

Priority Area 1: Public Meeting First public meeting to present project objectives and methods and second public meeting to present and review results with local specialists (Include meeting setup, travel, and associated expenses)

2 Ea

Priority Area 2: Public Meeting First public meeting to present project objectives and methods and second public meeting to present and review results with local specialists (Include meeting setup, travel, and associated expenses)

2 Ea

Priority Area 1:

Field data collection of a minimum of 285 high resolution digital photos,(include preliminary field reconnaissance, travel and associated expenses)

1 Ea

Priority Area 2:

Field data collection of a minimum of 50 high resolution digital photos,(include preliminary field reconnaissance, travel and associated expenses)

1 Ea

Priority Area 1:

Analysis of high resolution digital photos, classification training data preparation, and model development

1 Ea

Priority Area 2:

Analysis of high resolution digital photos, classification training data preparation, and model development

1 Ea

Priority Area 1:

Process models and develop 1 meter continuous cover raster, and 30 meter land cover mapping.

1 Ea

Priority Area 2:

Process models and develop 1 meter continuous cover raster, and 30 meter land cover mapping.

1 Ea

Priority Area 1:

Revise models and analysis products as determined necessary from meeting responses. Write and deliver final reports, compile and deliver final geospatial data.

1 Ea

Priority Area 2:

Revise models and analysis products as determined necessary from meeting responses. Write and deliver final reports, compile and deliver final geospatial data.

1 Ea

Priority Area 1:

Evaluate the potential riparian areas (PRAS) and percent riparian vegetation within PRAS

1 Ea

Priority Area 2:

Evaluate the potential riparian areas (PRAS) and percent riparian vegetation within PRAS

1 Ea

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for this contract is May 01, 2015 - October 31, 2016.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE