Attachment 1 Fiscal Year 2020 Natural Resources Conservation Service Statement of Work.pdf

FY 2020 NRI STATEMENT OF WORK

FISCAL YEAR 2020

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE

STATEMENT OF WORK FOR NATIONAL RESOURCES INVENTORY

GRAZINGLAND FIELD STUDY DATA COLLECTION

A. GENERAL:

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of

Agriculture (USDA) 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 and Federal lands. Resources inventory legislative authorities, NRCS policy, and responsibilities for conducting the National Resources

Inventory (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 grazingland rangeland resources data on selected sample sites (points) for the 2020 NRI, Grazingland Field Study in Oregon.

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 contract-related 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, 2019 NRI Handbook of Instructions for Rangeland Field Study Data Collection https://grazingland.cssm.iastate.edu/site-data-collection-handbook-instructions

2. Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils Version 3.0; USDA NRCS https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/ref/?cid=nrcs142p2_054184

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

5. NRCS Field Office Technical Guide, Oregon; see https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/#/

6. NRCS National Range and Pasture Handbook, 2003; see https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1043055.pdf

7. Technical Reference 1734-6 2000, Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, Version 4; see https://www.blm.gov/documents/national-office/blm-library/technical-reference/interpreting-indicators-rangeland-health 8. USDA NRCS National Plants Database; see https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/

9. Ecological Site Descriptions https://edit.jornada.nmsu.edu/ https://grazingland.cssm.iastate.edu/site-data-collection-handbook-instructions https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/ref/?cid=nrcs142p2_054184 http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/techref.htm https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/#/ https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1043055.pdf https://www.blm.gov/documents/national-office/blm-library/technical-reference/interpreting-indicators-rangeland-health https://www.blm.gov/documents/national-office/blm-library/technical-reference/interpreting-indicators-rangeland-health https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/ https://edit.jornada.nmsu.edu/

10. Oregon Noxious Weeds; see https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/weeds/oregonnoxiousweeds/pages/aboutoregonweeds.aspx

12. Federal Noxious Weeds; see http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/ https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/weedlist.pdf

13. USDA NRCS Plants Invasive; see https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/plantsanimals/invasive/?cid=stelprdb1042978

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 owners, operators, or data collection sites are not to be released to the public. Attachment “Confidentiality Certification and Request for Access to National

Resources Inventory (NRI) Data” will be provided to the awardee for completion prior to contract award.

E. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Attend NRCS provided training Training and calibration must be successfully completed prior to commencing field data collection.

Field Data Collection Commence on or about April 1, 2020; Data collection complete no later than September 30, 2020 (unless otherwise

Negotiated)

Data transmission to ISU server Segments must be electronically transferred to the ISU server no later than 15 days after commencing field data collection for said segments. All segments, to include digital camera images, must be returned to the ISU server no later than midnight September 30, 2020 Pacific time.

Final Invoicing No later than November 15, 2020

F. DESCRIPTION OF WORK: Non-federal points and 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 – NRCS Oregon anticipates approximately 1,980 points (varying from between 1 and 2 per segment) will be inventoried over the five-year period contemplated by this procurement. The specific segments and points are announced annually by the National NRI program manager as a segment map during the second quarter of the Federal fiscal year. A task order will be issued once the annual list of segments and points is published. Note: No amount will be guaranteed on the contract beyond the minimum guarantee. The segment map identifies the coordinates of each point for the fiscal year 2020 season. In the segment map for fiscal year 2020, there are approximately 57 non-federal inventory segments in 11 counties in Eastern & Central Oregon and 15 non-federal pasture points in 9 Western

Oregon Counties (see Attachment 5 2020 NRI Grazing Lands Segments Map). Each segment is about 160 acres in size. Each segment has one to two sample points upon which data are to be collected. There are approximately 252 segments on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 10 counties in https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/weeds/oregonnoxiousweeds/pages/aboutoregonweeds.aspx http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/ https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/weedlist.pdf https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/plantsanimals/invasive/?cid=stelprdb1042978

Eastern and Central Oregon (see Attachment 5 2020 NRI Grazing Lands Segments Map). Each segment has one or two points that are eligible for data collection.

Data are to be collected by data collection teams consisting of two or more members. Minimum Data

Collector qualifications and requirements are as follows:

(i) Data collection teams proposed by offeror must, at a minimum, include at least one individual with a Bachelor’s Degree in Range Management;

(ii) Data collection teams proposed by offeror must, at a minimum, include an individual with at least six (6) semester hours of soils courses (including at least one course in Soil Morphology and in Soil Survey); and

(iii) Data collectors must have a minimum of two (2) years of formal undergraduate training in biological or earth sciences.

This data collection will be conducted on private & public land and access permission must be granted prior to land entry and data collection. The NRCS will contact landowners to request permission to conduct the inventory. Some landowners will refuse permission to access or cross their land. If the NRCS is unable to secure permission from a private landowner for the contractor to access the private land, 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 transmit 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. Grazingland Data Collection: The contractor shall collect data for the following elements in accordance with the standards outlined in the 2019 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 minimal number of trips to the field for data collection. To be considered complete, range and pasture data collection protocols will be collected for points and certified by NRCS. Work shall begin on or about April 1, 2020 and be completed in accordance with the table set forth at section E (“Period of Performance”) of this Statement of Work. Highlights in the

2019 protocol are covered below.

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.

d. Ownership – NRI ownership 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)

• Wildlife Watering Facility (648)

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

• Soil erosion (6 concerns)

• Soil condition (5 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, of the tallest rooted plant that is nearest to the three foot intervals along two 150 foot transects

r. Species Composition by Weight

• Collect actual field weight, in grams, of plants in production plots

• There are 5 production plots located along transect lines

• Each of the 5 production plots will have herbaceous material sampled

• Two of the 5 plots will also have woody material (if present) sampled

• Herbaceous (circular) plots will be either 4.8 or 9.6 square feet

• Woody plots will be 435.6 square feet or 0.01 acre (a circular plot with a radius of approximately 11.8 feet)

• Collect actual field weight by species

• Actual field weight by species may be determined by clipping the whole plot or by double sampling

s. Reconstruct field weight of plants to normal annual air dry weights

• For each species:

• Determine the percent air dry weight

• Determine the percent of current years growth that has not been removed by grazing or harvest

• Determine percent of current years growth that should normally have occurred at the time of sampling

• Determine the climate adjustment factor comparing current years growth to normal years growth

t. Determine similarity Index (SI) using Ecological Site Description information for each plant species

• The software in the CASI produces total unadjusted weight for all plants inventoried from all production plots as well as the reconstructed weight in pounds per acre

• Determine the percent of allowable production for each species using the Ecological Site

Description that best describes the site where the samples have been collected

• The software will then calculate the Similarity Index (SI).

2. Landowner Permission: Permission to access private land must be granted prior to land entry and data collection. The NRCS will contact landowners to request permission to conduct the inventory. Some landowners will refuse permission to access or cross their land. If the NRCS is unable to secure permission from a private landowner for the contractor to access the private land, the contractor will not enter or cross the private land and will not be paid for that point. Landowner permissions are not always available.

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

a. Segment Data Collection: Completed segments shall include:

1) 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 “2020 Handbook of Instructions for NRI Grazing Land On-Site 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 ensure 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 September 30, 2020, Pacific Time.

2) The required digital imagery associated with each site as per the NRI Handbook of Instructions for

Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection. All digital imagery must be labeled as per the NRI Handbook and uploaded via the ISU website no later than midnight September 30, 2020, Pacific Time.

b. Segment Data Deemed Inaccessible in Field Designation: Points deemed to be inaccessible after the contractor has attempted travel to them require certain conditions be met and the contractor to provide documentation of the attempt for payment to be made (see Section O for specific details).

Documentation may include but is not limited to:

a) coordinates of location where access was impeded

b) dated photographs of access situation (locked gate, washed out road, etc.)

c) hazardous conditions (steep slopes, washouts, etc.) impeding access to point

d) point is situated in an area containing observable cultural resource artifacts that are subject to disturbance during data collection

e) point is deemed other than rangeland (under water, washed out landscape, etc.) once contractor is on site

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 and prior to submission of an invoice for payment. 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 an additional 2 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: Personal Digital Assistant, GPS 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 GFF above. This is expected to include, but is not limited to: 50ft tape, 2 pair thinning shears, 2 pair grass clippers, digital camera (6 Mega-Pixel or higher), extra AA batteries, 9.6 sq ft sample frames, 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, and whiteboard markers. The contractor will provide their own transportation.

K. NRCS PROVIDED training for the 2020 NRI Rangeland Field Study:

The contractor(s) shall attend a NRCS training session on study protocols. Contractor shall attend a training session for data collection calibration (estimated duration: 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 should be included in the 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 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

Payment shall be made in accordance with the contract requirements at the price per unit (point) as outlined below. Payment will only be made for deliverables that meet contract quality standards and protocols of this Statement of Work and is successfully submitted to and subsequently accepted by the Government.

Note: Points where private landowners do not provide permission to access or cross their property will not be visited and will not be paid. Points where the land use type can be readily seen on the supplied aerial photos to be other than rangeland will not be visited and will not be paid.

1. Segment Data Collection: Segments are considered complete when 1) the segment has been transmitted with a “CO” status to the database located at the USDA NRCS Iowa State University Center for Survey

Statistics & Methodology located in Ames, Iowa, and 2) when the digital images associated with the segment have been uploaded to the ISU website. Once the Quality Assurance Review has been completed by the Government, the Government POC will authorize submission of invoice for payment.

The Contractor invoice will list the points completed since the last invoice. Payment will only be made for a completed segment (as defined above) that meets contract quality standards and is successfully transmitted to the ISU server and accepted by the Government.

Invoices for this deliverable shall be submitted against the CLIN titled “Federal Points” or “Non-Federal

Onsite Private Grazing Land (OPGL) Points”, whichever is applicable.

2. Segment Data Deemed Inaccessible in Field Designation: Points deemed to be inaccessible after the contractor has attempted travel to them will be paid provided the following conditions are met: 1) In the event permission from a private landowner is necessary to access the segment, permission was obtained from the private landowner, 2) Contractor notifies the Government POC regarding access problem within 5 working days of attempted access, and 3) Contractor provides documentation of attempt, which can include but is not limited to:

a) coordinates of location where access was impeded

b) dated photographs of access situation (locked gate, washed out road, etc.)

c) hazardous conditions (steep slopes, washouts, etc.) impeding access to point

d) point is situated in an area containing observable cultural resource artifacts that are subject to disturbance during data collection

e) point is deemed other than rangeland (under water, washed out landscape, etc.) once contractor is on site

For Segment Data Deemed Inaccessible in Field Designation events, payment will only be made after inspection of documentation and acceptance by the Government of the required deliverables.

Invoices for this deliverable shall be submitted against the CLIN titled “Federal Points” or “Non-Federal

Onsite Private Grazing Land (OPGL) Points”, whichever is applicable.

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