STATEMENT_OF_WORK_FOR_NATIONAL_RESOURCES_INVENTORY.docx

NRCS California National Resource Inventory Statement of Work

AG-9104-S-15-0001

STATEMENT OF WORK FOR NATIONAL RESOURCES INVENTORY

RANGELAND FIELD STUDY DATA COLLECTION

FISCAL YEAR 2015 NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE

A. GENERAL:

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture is mandated (through the Rural Development Act of 1972, the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, and other supporting legislation) to assess the status, condition, and trends of soil, water, and related resources on the Nation’s non-Federal lands. Resources inventory legislative authorities, NRCS policy, and responsibilities for conducting the NRI are contained in NRCS General Manual 290, Part 400. In order to accomplish this task, the NRCS will award one contract that requires the successful contractor to collect rangeland resources data on selected sample sites (points) for the 2015 National Resources Inventory (NRI), Rangeland Field Study in California.

B. DEFINITIONS:

1. Contracting Officer (CO). The duly appointed and warranted government agent authorized to enter into, administer or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. The contracting officer is the only person authorized to contractually obligate the government. The contracting officer is responsible for ensuring performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensuring that the requirements of all pertinent laws, regulations, etc. have been met, ensuring compliance with the terms of the contract, and safeguarding the interests of the United States in its contractual relationships. The contracting officer ensures that sufficient funds are available for government contractual obligation and ensures that all contractors receive impartial, fair and equitable treatment in the solicitation process.

2. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The Contracting Officer will appoint and delegate in writing limited authority for certain contractrelated decisions to an NRCS employee who will serve as the COR. The COR Appointment Letter details exactly what responsibilities lie within the scope of the COR's authority. The COR will notify the CO of recommendations for technical acceptance or rejection by the Government of all articles and services required to be furnished and/or performed under the contract; will receive, for the Government, all articles and services called for by the contract and will represent the Contracting Officer in the technical phases of the work. The COR monitors the Contractor's performance to ensure compliance with technical requirements of the contract, verifies and certifies that the items have been inspected and meet the requirements of the contract. The COR notifies the CO if performance is not meeting the requirements of the contract.

C. REFERENCE MATERIALS:

1. Instructions, 2015 NRI Handbook of Instructions for Rangeland Field Study Data Collection http://www.nrisurvey.org/nrcs/Grazingland/2015/index.html

2. Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils Version 3.0; USDA NRCS http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523.pdf

3. Technical Reference 1734-4, 1999, Sampling Vegetation Attributes; see http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/techref.html

5. NRCS Field Office Technical Guide, select California; see http://efotg.nrcs.usda.gov/efotg_locator.aspx?map=

6. NRCS National Range and Pasture Handbook, 1997; see http://agecon.uwyo.edu/wire/ResourcePages/NRPH.PDF

7. Technical Reference 1734-6 2000, Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, Version 3; see http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/1734-6.pdf

8. USDA NRCS National Plants Database; see http://plants.usda.gov/index.html

9. Ecological Site Descriptions https://esis.sc.egov.usda.gov/Welcome/pgReportLocation.aspx?type=ESD

10. California Noxious Weeds; see http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=State&statefips=06

12. Federal Noxious Weeds; see http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious

13. USDA NRCS Plants Invasive; see http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxiousDriver

14. Webinars describing new protocols:

http://www.nrisurvey.org/nrcs/Grazingland/2015/Power_point_files/Power_points.htm

D. CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT:

The NRI program is based upon rigorous scientific sample survey protocols. These protocols include maintaining and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of data gathering sites. USDA and NRCS policy states that: “The geographic locations of data gathering sites used for USDA’s NRI are not public information and are to be used only for purposes of official NRI data gathering activities or for such purposes approved by the Secretary”. All of the contractor’s data gatherers shall sign a Confidentiality Statement under United States Code (USC), Title 18, Section 1905; USC, Title7, Section 2276 and USC, Title 7, Section 2240 for non-disclosure of confidential information relative to data site locations and/or private/corporate non-use of composite data. The Confidentiality Statement shall be signed prior to starting data collection. The NRI data that identifies the sample sites are not to be released to the public. See Attachment 2.

E. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

F. DESCRIPTION OF WORK: Bureau of Land Management Federal points The contractor(s) shall furnish the necessary personnel, material, equipment, services and facilities, except as otherwise specified, to perform the effort described below. Documentation guidance for implementing this contract is outlined in Paragraph C. Reference Materials.

Overview - there are approximately 150 federal inventory sites in Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in southeast California selected for data collection for 2015 (see attachment 3). Each inventory site is called a segment and is about 160 acres in size. Each segment has 2 sample points upon which data are to be collected.

Data are to be collected by data collection teams consisting of two or more members. Data Collector qualifications and requirements are as outlined in Section (ix) of the Solicitation. This data collection will be conducted on public land owned by BLM. The NRCS will clear the points for data collection with BLM prior to data collection. The contractor can contact the local BLM office for directions or if private land is around the BLM land. In some cases private landowners will refuse permission to access or cross their land to reach the points on the BLM land. If this occurs, the contractor will not enter or cross the private land and will not be paid for that point. The contractor(s) shall enter the data collected into hand-held Computer Assisted Survey Instruments (CASI) using approved software provided by NRCS. The contractor shall work with the NRCS to achieve the transmittal of the data to the USDA NRCS Iowa State University Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology located in Ames, Iowa. The contractor at their option may use NRCS approved paper forms to collect the data in the field to enhance data collection efficiency as necessary prior to entry into the CASI by the contractor.

1. Rangeland Data Collection: The contractor shall collect data for the following elements in accordance with the standards outlined in the 2015 Handbook of Instructions for Rangeland Field Study Data Collection, reports, site locations maps and aerial photographs furnished by the COR. The data shall be free of errors and be collected in a logical order with a minimal number of trips to the field for data collection. To be considered complete, range data collection protocols will be collected for range points and certified by NRCS. Work shall begin on or about 01 April 2015 and be completed in accordance with the table set forth at section E (“Period of Performance”) of this Statement of Work. Highlights in the 2015 protocol are covered below and the standard of performance is the .

a. GPS Navigation and Point Coordinate Capture – navigate to and record data point position with a hand held GPS device.

b. Transect Layout; (2) 150 foot linear transects NE/SW-NW/SE intersecting as an “X” at the 75 foot mark.

c. (8) Digital photos per point with whiteboard locator.

d. Ownership – NRI Federal code

e. Land Cover/Use – NRI cover/use code

f. Soil Observation(s) to Verify the Ecological Site(s)

g. Landscapes and Soils

· Vertical Slope Shape

· Horizontal Slope Shape

· Slope Percent

· Soil Survey Area ID (SSAID) number

· NASIS Map Unit Symbol (MUSYM)

h. Ecological Site Information

· Rangeland Cover Type Name

· Historic Major Land Resource Area (MLRA)

· Ecological Site Number

· Ecological Site/Soil Correlation

· Gully Erosion; Active Cutting

· Apparent Rangeland Trend

i. Rangeland Health

· Indicators of Rangeland Health (17 attributes to achieve indicator summary of Soil/Site Stability, Biotic Integrity and Hydrologic Function )

j. Noxious Weeds and Invasive/Alien Plants (plant code)

k. Disturbance Indicators

l. Identification of Conservation Practices Applied; Yes/No (15) NRCS Technical Guide Section IV; Part C

· Brush management (314)

· Prescribed Burning (338)

· Pond (378)

· Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment (380)

· Fence (382)

· Pasture and Hayland Planting (512)

· Pipeline (516)

· Prescribed Grazing (528)

· Grazing Land Mechanical Treatment (548)

· Range Planting (550)

· Spring Development (574)

· Animal Trail and Walkways (580

· Watering Facility (614)

· Water Well (642)

m. Identification of Resource Concerns; Yes/No (NRCS Technical Guide Section V; Part A)

· Soil erosion (6 concerns)

· Soil condition (3 concerns)

· Water quantity (3 concerns)

· Water quality (2 concerns)

· Plant suitability

· Plant condition (4 concerns)

· Domestic Animals

n. Soil Stability Test – when insufficient root mat exists (9 samples)

o. Transect Vegetation Data

· Line Point Transects for Cover Composition

· Record plant canopy cover by species (up to six species) at three foot intervals along two 150 foot transects

· Record basal cover at the same points by plant species, or lichen cover, or moss, or rock fragments, or none (bare soil)

· There are 50 points on each transect

p. Line Intercept Transects: for Canopy Gaps

· Record the beginning and end of plant canopy gaps greater than 1.0 foot to the nearest 1/10th of a foot

· Plant material may be dead or alive

· Uses the same transects as the Line Point Transects

q. Plant Height

· Record the maximum height, in inches (0-72”) and feet (6-60’), of the tallest rooted plant that is nearest to the three foot intervals along two 150 foot transects

2. Landowner Permission: Permission to cross any private land to reach BLM sample points if necessary will be requested by the NRCS. Landowner permissions are not always available and the contractor will not be paid for points when permission is not granted.

3. Deliverables: The contractor(s) shall submit the following:

a. Segments shall be completed including all field data collection and data entry into the hand-held Computer Assisted Survey Instrument (CASI), any required follow-up calculations, and verification so that all data has fully passed all electronic completion checks on the CASI (designated as “completed/CO” status) and has been transmitted electronically to the Statistical Laboratory, Iowa State University (ISU), Ames Iowa as per specifications outlined in the “2015 Handbook of Instructions for Rangeland Field Study Data Collection.” All segment and point data elements must pass the completion check on the CASI to meet “completed/CO” status before being transmitted to the ISU server. In order to insure data safety and security, segments must be electronically transferred to the ISU server no later than 15 days after commencing field data collection for said segments. Only a maximum of 10 segments can be on the CASI at any time, so they must be completed before more can be downloaded. No partially completed segments in non-completed status (designated as uncompleted/”UC”) will be accepted. All segments must be returned to the ISU server no later than midnight October 15th 2015.

G. QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)/PERFORMANCE-BASED REQUIREMENTS:

The COR will coordinate the evaluation of Contractor performance. NRCS will provide Quality Assurance Reviews (QAR) for up to 10% of collected data for segments. QARs will consist of an in-field review or review of data submitted to the ISU server by the Contractor. Any issues relative to the quality or correctness of collected data will be corrected as soon as possible. The Contractor will transmit corrected segments, as needed, to the ISU server as described in Section F(3)(a). Contractor is required to participate in periodic calibration exercises. Such calibration exercises shall be required no more than 3 times during data collection after initial training and calibration. Calibration exercises are in addition to the training required by Section K of this Statement of Work.

I. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, MATERIALS, AND FACILITIES

1. Government Furnished Property (GFP): The NRCS will make available to the Contractor the following GFP. Property supplied by the NRCS shall only be used for direct performance of the work specified in this contract. Use for purposes other than this contract is prohibited. NRCS will maintain the GFP and will provide access to all equipment manuals for provided equipment.

Government furnished equipment includes the following items: Trimble Juno data collection unit and soil stability kit.

2. Government Furnished Materials (GFM): The NRCS will provide GFM in the form of NRI segment support materials including legal descriptions and aerial photographs of each segment with the segment boundary and data collection points located and labeled. Materials will be delivered by the performance start date. All NRI support materials must be returned to NRCS at the end of the performance period. Copies of site descriptions of the expected plant communities will also be provided.

3. Government Furnished Facilities (GFF):

NRCS will provide the Contractor the use of Government workspace within NRCS facilities as needed and available.

4. Contractor Responsibility for GFP and GFM: The contractor shall notify the COR in writing within two working days after the discovery of lost, damaged, or destroyed GFP or GFM. The notification shall include the specific Property Number or other identifying codes and property nomenclature; the circumstances surrounding the loss, damage, or destruction; estimated cost of alleviating the problem, if appropriate; and the expected impact on provision of Contractor services. The contractor may be held financially liable for any shortage, loss, damage, or destruction of GFP as determined by the CO. Deductions will be made to the contractor’s payment accordingly.

J. CONTRACTOR PROVIDED PROPERTY:

The contractor shall furnish all property, etc. to perform this contract that is not specifically identified as GFP, GFM or GFT above. This is expected to include, but is not limited to: 50ft tape, 2 pair thinning shears, 2 pair grass clippers, gram scales (0-060g, 0-100g, 0-300g), clinometers, compass, two 150 foot tapes with 0.1 foot graduations, 12 survey flags, 4 chaining pins, whiteboard, whiteboard markers, and a good camera (not a phone). The contractor will provide their own transportation.

K. NRCS PROVIDED training for the 2015 NRI Rangeland Field Study:

The contractor(s) shall attend a NRCS training session on study protocols and data collection calibration (estimated duration for entire session: 2 days) prior to data collection. To be authorized to collect data: one must attend training provided, participate in calibration and be within required limits, and pass the written test. There will be no charge for the NRCS provided training. Any associated travel and personnel costs to attend this training should be included in the base year per-unit price. In addition, each contractor will be required to complete no more than 2 additional data collection calibrations onsite with the NRCS officials during the data collection season. Interested contractors should include their cost to complete the calibrations in the base year per-unit price.

L. TELECONFERENCES

"As-needed" teleconferences with NRCS shall be scheduled whenever requested by the COR or the contractor to review items including progress, questions relating to the project, work revised, or decisions which need to be made with the intention of expediting the completion of the contract.

M. REVIEW PROCEDURES

Work completed by the contractor will be reviewed and approved by the COR.

N. CHANGES

Throughout the period of this contract the contractor can expect to receive government directed changes to the manner in which processes are being performed. Changes include minor changes in data collection instructions and data collection software. Directives may be received in the form of, but not limited to, memoranda, and other informal means of communication.

The contractor shall immediately implement changes to processes approved by the COR that result in a decrease to or no change in the contract price. A proposal documenting the decreased cost will be submitted within 10 working days. Any changes that result in increases in price can only be approved by the CO. A proposal showing the revised work and increased cost must be submitted to the CO and approved in a written modification before commencing the change in work.

O. PAYMENT

Monthly payment shall be made in accordance with the contract requirements at the price per unit (point) for this work for each completed segment. Segments are “completed” when approved by the COR and posted as a “CO” segment to the database located at the USDA NRCS Iowa State University Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology located in Ames, Iowa.

Point(s) deemed to be inaccessible after contractor has attempted to travel to them in the field will be paid at 50% of the contract rate if, in the judgment of the Contracting Officer, the contractor has undertaken all reasonable efforts (in cooperation with the cognizant NRCS field office) to access the point(s) without success.

Point(s) where the NRCS is unable to obtain permission from the landowners to cross their property for BLM access will not be visited and will not be paid.

Point(s) where the land use type is confirmed by the contractor in the field, after a visit to the point(s), to be other than rangeland, will be paid at 50% of the contract rate.

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