B08 140L6320Q0043 - Attachment 01 - SOW.pdf

140L6320Q0043 – Attachment 01

Statement of Work Dalton Wildlife (Dall sheep) Range Project Support

Overview

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Field Office (CYFO) ecology program has implemented a study designed to identify the unique geophysical characteristics of areas near the Dalton Highway. Additional related efforts have been made to relate habitat use in the region to soil properties and sound environment with a focus on investigating utilization of naturally occurring mineral sources (“licks”) soils by wildlife, including sheep and snowshoe hares. Results from this work will provide baseline data on two previously under-explored environmental variables in the region, soil properties and sound levels. Additionally, the work will provide insight on the relationship of both variables to habitat utilization and potentially vegetation distribution.

Since project inception in 2016 the BLM has collected a substantial amount of data related to project goals. Forward progress (esp. in regard to data processing, management and analyses) is however limited by BLM staffing constraints and in-house expertise. Additional support and expertise is necessary for the project to progress and the information to be made available to managers and the public. This Statement of Work delineates the work required of a supporting entity (e.g. environmental consulting firm or equivalent). All of the below described work will require that the recipient of the work has the capacity to enter into full collaboration with the lead agency, the BLM, as well as other federal partners including the USGS and the NPS. Final decisions on the work to be conducted will be made by the BLM.

This work will require that the selected consultant be capable of providing highly pertinent input and advice specific to the soil, flora, and fauna resources of the Brooks Range. It follows that the only qualified recipient of this work would be a highly-regarded, established consulting company (or equivalent) currently staffed with personnel able to achieve all of the below-listed work components and provide the region-specific wildlife expertise necessary to positively contribute to the forward progress of this project. The selected recipient of this work would meet the following guidelines:

1. Current multiple-person staffing with the capacity to meet all of the below described Work Components. The work described ranges broadly in labor needs; from long hours of data processing (sound and photo) to be conducted by an entry-level technician to highly-technical statistical analyses (including but not limited to PCA analysis and occupancy modelling) as well as intricate database management skills.

2. The achievement of project goals is largely dependent on the capacity of the selected recipient of this work’s capacity to provide region- as well as genera- and/or species-specific expertise. The expertise needed would include but not necessarily be limited to an intimate geographic, ecological, and geophysical knowledge of the study topic and area.

The selected recipient should be able to thoroughly demonstrate their knowledge of and/or previous work done in the Brooks Range of Alaska and related to Dall’s and/or other species of thinhorn sheep.

Tasks

I. Task 1: Soil and Water Data Analysis and Reporting To characterize the unique soil characteristics and nutrient content of soils in the Dalton region of the Brooks Range soils have collected and analyzed in the laboratory. Final tests are being completed and the compiled database will be available for analysis by the end of August 2020.

Task #1 – Deliverables

i. Database Organization:

Obtain working BLM MS Excel or Access database containing soils data from 2017 and 2019.

Although efforts will have been made to ensure that some if not all the following tasks have been achieved, issues with the spreadsheet/database may exist and some work remains. Prior to commencement of anticipated statistical analyses ensure that data is navigable and error-free.

ii. Analyses:

Collaborative analysis of 2017 and 2019 soil and water analyses results with input from the BLM and USGS. The results from the trace mineral and soil characterization laboratory analysis will be available in summer of 2020. Preliminary statistical analyses of the trace mineral analyses would be possible and would be part of this work as guided by the BLM and other partners.

iii. Products:

The entity selected would be responsible for providing publication-quality description of the selected statistical analyses conducted (i.e. language that would be included in a report and/or publication of the results).

II. Task 2: Habitat Use Analysis and Reporting To quantify range extent and special habitat utilization by sheep and other wildlife, cameratraps have been established from the southern to northern foothills of the Brooks Range. All sites are in general proximity to the Dalton Corridor and on, or near, BLM managed lands.

Task #2 – Deliverables

i. Photograph processing:

Visitation to mineral licks utilized by Dall’s sheep has historically and is currently being photo documented. Photos not yet collected from the field may be transferred to the recipient of the award for processing into the existing database. Also, winter photos from previous years may be re-processed.

ii. Reference and/summary products:

Work collaboratively with the BLM and partners to create data-derived reference products which could include but would not be limited to:

i. Descriptive metadata describing parameters not captured in database.

ii. Archive database as appropriate

iii. Descriptive and/or Statistical Analyses:

The primary goal would be to address the some or all the below-listed topics in a manner that can be presented as summary descriptive information (i.e. analysis results, graphical depictions of data, and written summaries of work for formal reporting). Where feasible, statistically defensible analyses will be conducted per the direction of the BLM and other partners. Pending data availability and limitations the following descriptive and/or statistical analysis may be conducted:

a) Investigation of inter- and intra-annual visitation of mineral sources by all sheep and for specific age and gender classes with attention to spatial variation in site location including latitudinal and elevational gradient as well varying localized site characteristics *Note: attention will be paid to annual patterns of visitation of mineral licks by Dall’s sheep. Some observations of multi-season visitation (especially during snow-on periods) observed thus far are of high interest and will be prioritized for data processing and analyses to be performed by the selected consultant.

b) Investigation of diurnal patterns in visitation of mineral sources by all sheep and for specific age and gender classes with attention to spatial variation in site location including latitudinal and elevational gradients as well as varying local site characteristics.

c) Investigation of the relationship between recorded weather parameters and mineral lick visitation by all sheep and for specific age and gender classes with attention to spatial variation in site location including latitudinal and elevational gradients as well as varying local site characteristics. This work may include preliminary investigation of the utility of relating snow depth (as measured in the field) with mineral source visitation.

d) Work collaboratively with the BLM to identify datagaps as well as to determine which available data is appropriate for analysis and reporting. Some desired analyses may not be feasible given data and/or time limitations. Pending the results of preliminary data analysis exercises, additional analyses not identified in the above list may be conducted.

III. Task 3 -Sound and visitation data processing, analysis, and reporting Sound meter data has been collected at 6 mineral lick sites (including the subset where trace mineral samples were collected). The purpose of this work is to gain a baseline of sound levels at mineral licks that are actively utilized by Dall’s sheep. Motion-detecting cameras are paired with the sound meters and a substantial amount of data processing, both sound and photo data, is required prior to data analyses. Sound data is currently being continuously recorded at all 6 sites. The BLM collected 2 months of continuous sound data in 2019 and it is available for processing and analyses.

Task #3- Deliverables:

a. Data processing from output of sound meters.

b. Data processing from cameras at sound meter sites.

c. Collaborative analysis of 2019 paired cameratrap and sound meter results

d. Descriptive and/or statistical analyses of results from above per the collaborative direction provided by the consultant, BLM, the NPS and USGS.

e. Written summaries of work conducted for inclusion in formal reports.

Deliverables:

Deliverable due dates may be set by the BLM within the timeframe between the award of this contract and September 15, 2021.

Task selection and progress on each task will be fluid; depending strongly on available relevant data as well datagaps as identified during preliminary analysis. It is possible that deliverables and/or components of deliverables would not be accomplished but decisions on which deliverables are accomplished would be at the discretion of the BLM. Other work directly related to this project but not specified herein may be conducted during the course of this work as is emergently relevant and authorized by BLM.

The tangible products associated with all tasks will depend on the nature of a given task. The selected contractor will be responsible for providing reports detailing work done and hours allocated as needed and/or requested by the BLM. For all analyses conducted the selected contractor will provide a written summary of the analyses methods to meet the standards specified by BLM per the given analysis. The BLM may request that the results from some analyses are presented as graphical depictions. Written summaries of work for inclusion in formal reports and/or publications are expected as per BLM guidance indicates. The selected contractor will respond to these requests and provide these items a manner that meets the specifications provided by BLM.