B08_Solicitation_Atch_1__SOW_Analysis_and_Evaluation_of_Demands_for_Placements_and_Event_Locations.pdf

140L0123Q0036 Wild Horse & Burro Program Analysis and Evaluation Services

Attachment 1

Analysis and Evaluation of Demand for Off-Range Wild Horses and Burros and Event Locations

I. BACKGROUND:

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (the Act) charged the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service with the protection, management and control of wild horses and burros on public rangelands in the Western United States in a manner that achieves a thriving natural ecological balance. Because wild horses and burros are federally protected and have virtually no natural predators, populations can double nearly every four years. Today, the BLM manages more than 82,000 horses and burros across 31.6 million acres in 10 Western states. BLM’s target population level is 26,785 horses and burros. As part of its efforts to achieve the target population level, and as resource conditions and other factors warrant, BLM removes excess wild horses and burros for placement into private care through its adoption and sales programs. Animals that are not adopted or sold are cared for using public funds in off-range corrals and pastures.

In recent years, the number of animals gathered increased dramatically, resulting in more animals being sent to off-range corrals and pastures. This has increased the off-range population to over 60,000 animals. At the same time, the BLM requests updated data to evaluate current and future demand for wild horses and burros through the adoption and sales programs.

II. RATIONALE:

To effectively manage wild horse and burro placement activities, Eastern States needs to be informed about the demand for the animals and the ideal locations for placement events so that the animals removed from the range can be placed into good homes in the most cost-effective manner. The Eastern States region includes the 31 states east of and bordering the Mississippi River, plus the District of Columbia:

• Alabama

• Arkansas

• Connecticut

• Delaware

• Florida

• Georgia

• Illinois

• Indiana

• Iowa

• Kentucky

• Louisiana

• Maine

• Maryland

• Massachusetts

• Michigan

• Minnesota

• Mississippi

• Missouri

• New Hampshire

• New Jersey

• New York

• North Carolina

• Ohio

• Pennsylvania

• Rhode Island

• South Carolina

• Tennessee

• Vermont

• Virginia

• West Virginia

• Wisconsin

More than 270,000 excess wild horses and burros have been placed into private care through the BLM’s national adoption and sales programs since 1971. The challenges the BLM faces today relate to identifying ideal areas to host placement events, finding facilities to rent that are large enough for the satellite events, and identifying the best ways to reach potential adopters or buyers.

III. STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES:

The work covered under this contract is intended to meet the following objectives:

1. Develop robust estimates of future demand for animals through both the adoption and sales program. To the extent feasible, the work should quantify how the following factors are expected to affect future demand:

a. Characteristics of the animal (e.g., species, size, age, sex, color, disposition, origin, training, etc.)

b. Characteristics of the adoption and/or sales process (fees, time to ownership, online or in person)

c. County or sub-state regional location(s) for the events and the adopter/buyer(s) (demand estimates should be estimated separately for different regions)

d. External economic conditions

2. Identify key actions that are feasible for the BLM to either increase future demand for adopting or purchasing a wild horse or burro in both new and existing markets, or improve the efficiency of the adoption program.

a. Identify facilities located in the Eastern States region that may be interested in renting space to the BLM for satellite events (where the BLM brings their equipment and animals to offer wild horses and burros to the public).

To meet these objectives, the Contractor will complete these distinct but related tasks.

Task 1:

The Contractor shall review previous studies related to wild horse and burro adoptions and sales and domestic horse sales. This review should inform the plan for addressing the questions outlined above.

Attachment 1

Deliverable: Detailed research plan that shall include a summary of previous studies, description of methods to be used, and a timeline with proposed intermediate deliverables.

Timeline: 30 days after date of award. The Contractor shall provide status updates to the BLM on a regular basis, the schedule for which shall be determined upon award.

Task 2:

The Contractor shall assemble and analyze relevant data to estimate future demand for animals through BLM’s adoption and sales program. BLM will provide data on past adoptions, including characteristics of successfully adopted animals (size, color, age, etc.) and relevant demographic data. The Contractor may propose to gather additional information, including from adoption-related events. BLM will provide information on these events and help coordinate this activity.

Additional information that should be gathered and considered by the Contractor includes data on the U.S. market for horse ownership and related industries, private costs and benefits of adopting or purchasing wild horses and burros, and geographic distribution of demand for wild horses and burros.

Deliverable: A report describing the data, assumptions, methods, and results used to estimate future demand. This report should include:

1. Future demand estimates.

2. Quantitative and qualitative discussion of how the factors identified above in Objective 1 are expected to affect future demand.

3. Detailed discussion of the geographic variation in demand and any logistical challenges this creates in providing animals to areas where they are in demand.

4. Discussion of the incentives barriers and challenges facing prospective adopters and purchasers.

Timeline: 180 days after completion of Task 1. The Contractor shall provide status updates to the BLM on a regular basis, the schedule for which shall be determined upon award.

Task 3:

The Contractor shall review current practices of the BLM Eastern States Adoption and Sales Programs to understand the logistical, regulatory, and budget constraints facing this program.

This information will supplement the results of the demand analysis, allowing the Contractor to develop a market strategy for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Eastern States adoption and sales programs. The market strategy should include actions that are feasible given the constraints identified and are likely to have the greatest impacts on the programs’ success.

The Contractor shall give explicit attention to the following questions:

a. How can the BLM increase present and future demand for adopting or purchasing a wild horse or burro in the East (understanding that the strategy may vary depending on the region, state, or region of a state)?

b. Should BLM continue to emphasize adoption in the East or focus on the sales pathway?

c. How could the BLM, and/or the BLM-Eastern States specifically, change its record system and administrative processes to facilitate better data collection and analysis and more efficient animal placements?

Deliverable: A final report describing the methods, assumptions, data, and results from this task.

This should include a market strategy for improving the success rate of the adoption and sales programs in the East.

Timeline: 180 days after completion of Task 1. The Contractor shall provide status updates to the BLM on a regular basis, the schedule for which shall be determined upon award.

Task 4:

The Contractor shall identify locations suitable for hosting satellite events. The facilities would be required to have or provide:

a. Covered arenas at least 180 feet long and 80 feet wide.

b. Semi-truck and trucks and horse or stock trailer accessibility with no low overhead wires or tree limbs.

c. All weather, hard surface road/entrance.

d. 110-volt electrical plugs.

e. Onsite security or locking gates to physically secure the premises.

f. Water to fill troughs.

g. Restrooms.

h. Identify biosecurity measures on site (domestic animals on site required to possess current Coggins, health records and maintain a 300 yard buffer from wild horses and burros).

i. Parking spaces for trailers, equipment and personal vehicles; and

j. Ability to feed wild horses and burros hay on the arena floor.

Other items that would be beneficial include marquees to promote the event, seating, secure parking or storage for BLM equipment, and concessions.

Deliverable: A map showing locations, directory of facilities meeting the requirements, facility contact information, time frames to schedule events and estimated cost.

Timeline: 120 days after completion of Task 1. The Contractor shall provide status updates to the BLM on a regular basis, the schedule for which shall be determined upon award.

IV. TECHNICAL EVALUATION

Procedures & Evaluation Criteria

The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offer(s) or whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered.

The technical proposal shall be separate from the price proposal. The Contractor's proposal must include all data and information required and must be submitted in accordance with these instructions. Non-conformance with specific organization and content may be cause for proposal rejection. The proposal must be clear and concise. It must include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims.

The proposal shall not rephrase or restate the Government's requirements, but rather provide a convincing rationale to address how the Contractor intends to meet these requirements. The proposal that simply restates the Government requirements may be judged non-responsive.

Contractors must assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of its experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Contractor's proposals.

The proposal must be written to the greatest extent possible on a stand-alone basis so that its contents may be evaluated with a minimum of cross-referencing to other sections of the proposal. Cross referencing within the proposal is permitted where its use would conserve space without impairing clarity.

The proposal will comply with the following limitations:

(1) The pages are limited to a maximum of fifteen (15) pages for technical, excluding past performance.

(2) 12-point type shall be used. The font shall be Times Roman.

Do not include cost/pricing information in your technical submittal. The pricing information shall be separate for the technical/management submittal and shall contain all information relative to cost and pricing.

The government has provided an estimate of labor categories and hours to complete the project in attachment 2. It is on the contractor to determine the final numbers.

Your submittal will become the property of the Government and will not be returned. If your submittal contains information that you do not want disclosed to the public or used by the Government for any purpose other than government evaluation, such restriction shall be clearly indicated on each sheet containing such information.

Attachment 1

The following evaluation factors will be used to evaluate the Offeror's proposal. The evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance.

V. EVALUATION FACTORS

1. Technical Expertise

The offer will be evaluated as to whether the vendor understands the work requirements as embodied in the SOO and their proposed approach to meeting those requirements.

2. Project Management/Schedule

The offeror will be evaluated on their ability to meet the project management requirements as set forth in the SOO, including reporting.

3. Past Performance Information

Describe the experience and capability of your organization in conducting similar work.

Provide a summary of at least three (3) similar contracts/orders performed by your organization for the last three (3) years. Include a brief description of the project, contract number, period of performance, contract amount, client identification (including agency), point of contact information (e-mail and telephone number). The contract information must be current.

Rating/Description Table

The table below demonstrates the ratings, and corresponding descriptions, which will be used by the Department to rate each offeror's technical proposal according to the Technical Evaluation Factors for this contract.

4. Rating

Blue

The offeror exceeds the requirements of the solicitation, as explained in the statement of work and proposal evaluation criteria. The offeror has proposed a superior candidate(s) and there is no question as to the offeror's ability to perform successfully. There are no deficiencies or weaknesses.

Green It appears that the offeror meets the basic requirements of the solicitation. While the proposed approach does not exceed expectations, the offeror will most likely be able to perform successfully, though minor deficiencies or weaknesses may exist. While further dialogue with the offeror may be needed, a revised proposal may not be necessary.

Yellow

The offeror may meet the requirements of the solicitation, though there are doubts as to the offeror's ability to perform successfully. In order to make their proposal fully acceptable, they would need to correct their deficiencies or weaknesses through submission of a revised proposal.

Red

The offeror fails to meet the basic requirements of the solicitation. There are so many deficiencies and weaknesses that, should the offeror be allowed to correct them, it would be tantamount to submission of a new proposal. The proposal should not be considered for award.