B08_Solicitation_SOW_Elk_Packing_Services.pdf

Scope of Work

Meat Recovery Team (Packer)

Background

To enhance the efficiency of Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s elk management operations, teams of NPS employees tasked with shooting elk will be supplemented by an experienced meat recovery team (packer) familiar with pack horses/mules, as well as preparing and packing game in rough terrain, who will remove meat from the field and transport it to the park cooler facility.

Objective

To find a dependable and qualified Packer to recover elk from the SU of THRO during October

22 – December 16, 2023. As elk are shot in the field, the packer would be called to come to the park to recover meat. A base number of up to 30 elk would be packed, with options to add animals in increments of 5, up to a total of 50 elk for the project.

Qualifications

The packer will provide their own stock, trailer, tow vehicle(s), and GPS device. To ensure that experienced packers are contracted, the following list of qualifications should be considered:

• Experience using pack animals in the North Dakota badlands or similar areas.

• Experience preparing big game carcasses for packing and transport.

• Experience using maps and GPS technology to navigate to a pre-determined point.

• Ability to arrive in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Medora, North

Dakota) within three hours of being notified.

• Must possess a GPS unit and a working cellular or satellite phone while in the field.

Tasks

1. After confirming availability for the recovery of one or more elk, the packer must be able to travel to the South Unit of the park within three hours of being notified. Temperature will dictate urgency of meat recovery, and the park representative will work with the contractor to identify opportunities enabling coordinated recovery of meat from multiple locations on subsequent days where weather allows.

2. The Packer will be provided a verbal location and coordinates (lat/long) of each elk to be removed. Locations will vary from one half mile to six miles distant from trailheads.

3. Once in the park the Packer will use their own GPS unit to navigate to each carcass.

4. The Packer will pick up the game bags and secure them to the pack animal(s) and transport the elk meat to the cold storage facility located in the park. Note: The Packer will not be responsible for processing elk carcasses; the meat will already have been processed and bagged (by park staff or volunteers) prior to their arrival. The packer’s obligation is completed once the bags are checked in to the storage facility.

5. The Packer will submit a bill for animals packed once per month.

Period of Operation

Elk management activities requiring the use of a Packer typically occur during Monday through

Friday, though packing operations may be negotiated to occur on any day of the week during

October 22 – December 16th. The Packer could be called between the hours of 6am and 7pm

Monday through Friday.

Base Ordering Period: 10/22/2023 – 12/16/2023

Ordering Period One: 10/22/2024 – 12/16/2024

Ordering Period Two: 10/22/2025 – 12/16/2025

Other Considerations

The Packer can use vehicles to transport meat bags once pack animals reach park-maintained roads.

Access to park (fence) gates will be provided to facilitate access and minimize riding distance to the elk.

The Packer should plan to trailer their pack animals into the park each day. Access to park corrals is not guaranteed, as park wildlife or hoof stock confinement needs will be prioritized, and operational constraints may otherwise preclude any use of park facilities.

Certified weed-free hay must be used to feed pack animals used in the park.

The cold storage facility will be located at the South Unit’s mix pit location, five miles interior to the park from Medora, North Dakota.

Park staff and volunteers will work to cull multiple elk at each location where animals are encountered. However, the park cannot guarantee specific numbers of animals culled per day or per week during the period of performance.

Government reserves the right to pack meat on foot or with park pack stock concurrent to contracted work. Base contract will ensure contractor packing of 30 elk. Options for packing additional elk (in increments of 5, up to 50 for the project total) will be added based on need.