B08_-_BRMBR_Phrag_management_SOW.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK (2020 06 15)

Service

Phragmites Treatment (Habitat/Invasive) at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

PR Number: _______________

1. General:

1.1 Describes the project in general terms.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Jennifer Wright, Biologist Physcial Address: 2155 W. Forest Street, Brigham City UT 84302 Phragmites Management; time-critical invasive plant control via ground herbicide application for habitat management. Habitat to be treated: Emergent marshes and wetlands within the refuge.

1.2 Purpose/End Application: The expanding stands of Phragmites australis (non-native) are reducing nesting/foraging habitat for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds as well as choking out biological diversity within the native plant community. The thick monoculture stands do not promote the appropriate plant and invertebrate communities required by waterbirds to meet critical life cycle events. Over the last 10 years, the refuge has been applying a treatment train of methods with some success but the area to be treated is too large to be effective. The refuge is limited by personnel and specialized marsh equipment to control this invasive plant without more support.

The overarching objective of Phragmites control at the refuge is not to completely eradicate the species, as this would require intense resources and expense. Rather, the objective is to reduce the extent of monotypic stands that have invaded Refuge wetland habitats. Therefore, common reed will be considered a management problem if the stand(s) occupy >20 % of the total wet acres in a unit. In the future, this threshold may be changed based on the rate of success after several years of treatment strategies.

1.3 Contractor Qualifications: The contractor must be experienced in using track vehicles to apply herbicide on stands of this invasive plant within approximately 300 acres of marsh;

specialized equipment is required. Due to the need for specialized marsh equipment, and the need for experience to perform said duties within a specific time-frame (late August-30 Sep), one vendor is available to do the job. This vendor has also performed the same duties for adjacent State of Utah properties within the Great Salt Lake area. Therefore, a sole source request is being made and documentation will be provided. Sole source vendor is:

PMG Vegetation PO Box 10

Richmond, UT 84333 SAMs# FNRSHVYZKMH3, Cage 99PK2 (active registration)

1.4 Other: N/A

2. Place of Performance and Period of Performance (Where and When) the project is being completed.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Time Critical: Spraying of plant must occur from late August-early October before plant goes dormant, so Aug 15-Sep 30; must be complete before hunt season begins on Oct 15.

Physcial Address of refuge office: 2155 W. Forest Street, Brigham City UT 84302 but wetlands to be treated will be in various management units including, but not limited to 2D, 4C, 5B, 6 and 7.

2.2 Annotate the Performance start and end date.

Start date – Aug 15 End date – September 30, 2022

2.3 Normal duty hours Monday thru Friday 6:30a.m. – 5:00 p.m. In the event of emergencies, Contractor shall provide contact information.

2.4 Non-duty hours include Fridays, week nights, weekends, and Government holidays (New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King JR.s’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day).

3. Scope

3.1 This project is part of a multi-year invasive species plan to control and manage the extent of Phragmites australis (non-native) within the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

The refuge has had some success using cattle grazing, herbicide application and prescribed burning as a treatment train. To enhance the success of neighboring UT Waterfowl Management Areas, the refuge would like to hire a company with track machines to control approximately 300 acres post migratory bird nesting season, targeting both hunt areas and rest areas.

4. Deliverables and/or Delivery Schedule: (for extended list a bid schedule and/or use of line item detail on the PR is recommended)

4.1 Clearly state the deliverables required, the schedule for delivery, the quantities, schedule (for multiple items).

Deliverable is to spray approximately 300 acres with the appropriate herbicide using specialized ground equipment, after waterbird nesting season and before the invasive plant phragmites goes dormant for the 2022 growing season at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

If not enough herbicide mixture is available by either the refuge or vendor, then contractor can do mechanical treatment (i.e. mowing) of dead phragmites stands.

4.2 Identify the type of documentation (printed and electronic-such as manuals) to be provided, as well as those quality indicators desired by the Government. N/A

5. Data Management Plan (DMP) for Science Data Agency Reference. The general criteria is if the contract has a data collection component. Ideally, these requirements are flagged by the different program data stewards. Use the following link to establish if a DMP exists and for template for developing a DMP. https://sites.google.com/a/fws.gov/rims3 Before submitting the SOW delete the link. N/A

5.1 Annotate if a DMP is being used for data collection, when data is collected for a decision document, when new data is collected in the field, or with continued data collection such as in annual surveys. If a DMP is not relevant for ADHOC or when downloading existing data from the internet so state. NOTE: The Project Lead or technical cognizant has used discretion as to whether or not a DMP is relevant or not relevant and has determined it to be ___relevant or __X_ not relevant .

5.2 If the Plan is to be a deliverable as a prerequisite to data collection, so state and note as a deliverable in the Deliverable Element (above). OR

5.3 If the Plan exists and will be available as Government Furnished Information, so state and note as GFI in the GFI Element (below) and attach or reference the Plan.

6. Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE) / Government-Furnished Information

(GFI)

6.1 Identify any Government-furnished equipment (GPE) and Government- furnished information (GFI) or note N/ If enough quantity is available, refuge can provide herbicide mixture to be applied on the invasive plant for some or all of the 300 acres. Otherwise, the contractor is to provide the appropriate herbicide mixture to treat the as many acres that can be done within the contracted budget (may be less than 300 acres).

6.2 Identify any limitations. Might be limited by the amount of herbicide available due to product shortage. If not enough herbicide is available, contractor can do mechanical treatment instead; use specialized track equipment to mow the stands of phragmites, especially dead stands (no current growing season growth).

7. Evaluation and Acceptance https://sites.google.com/a/fws.gov/rims3

7.1 The contractor will be evaluated as detailed herein. Government acceptance is contingent upon: [Either state generally or reference the table in 8.2 if used].

Contractor shall be trained specifically in herbicide use as well as specialized track machines to complete the spraying/treatment within marsh or wetland habitats.

8. Quality Control/Quality Assurance:

8.1 For commercial supplies reference clauses for inspection and acceptance. Where appropriate, QC will be maintained according to industry standards and made available to the agency with the contractor’s proposal.N/A

8.2 Identify and detail measures for assessing quality control and acceptance; each requirement is unique and a table format is visually friendly and may be desirable. N/A

9. Technical Coordinator:

9.1 Identify the primary individual responsible for the final product or service. This individual is ordinarily the author of this document, the Program Manager, or other. Include the Name, title, address, phone number and email for each individual.

Jennifer Wright Biologist Bear River MBR Complex 2155 Forrest Street Brigham, City Utah 84302 435-303-0450

9.2 Identify the secondary or co-individual responsible with same pertinent information. N/A