Attach_3_-_SOW_Seabird__DARP_New_Carissa.pdf

Statement of Work Interpretive Panel Design, Fabrication and Installation

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New Carissa Seabird and Marine Mammal Education Project

USFWS Project Representative:

Dawn Harris, Visitor Services Manager Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex 2127 SE Marine Science Drive Newport OR 97365

(541) 867-4550 Dawn_harris@fws.gov

Overview of Project: The project includes the design, fabrication and installation of regulatory signs and/or interpretive panels at multiple locations along the coast of Oregon on lands managed by Oregon State Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Background: This project is made possible by the Natural Resource Trustee Council for the 1999 New Carissa Oil Spill. The New Carissa was a bulk freighter that ran aground near Coos Bay, Oregon, spilling 70,000-140,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil and diesel into the marine environment. Federal, State and Tribal natural resource agencies collected 1,085 bird carcasses over the course of the incident. Computer modeling estimated that a total of 2,465 seabirds and waterfowl were killed by the spill, primarily Cassin’s and rhinoceros auklets, common murres, Brandt’s cormorants, surf scoters and northern fulmars. This seabird application is one of several conservation projects aimed at benefitting seabird species impacted by the spill.

As a part of the New Carissa oil spill settlement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is charged with implementing a public education project aimed at the protection of seabirds and marine mammals along the Oregon coast. The objective of the program is to design, fabricate and install regulatory signs and, where appropriate, interpretive panels at public access points where people could potentially disturb seabird colonies or marine mammal haulouts and other marine resources managed by the USFWS.

The primary goal of this project is to inform visitors of the protected status of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and its resources. This project involves identifying key locations along the Oregon Coast that lead visitors to or near seabird colonies or marine mammal haulouts. Those sites will then be posted with signs/interpretive panels that inform visitors that the nearshore rocks and islands are part of the refuge system and are closed to public access. The signs will also educate the public about the need to protect nesting seabirds and marine mammals from human disturbance. Many of the sites are located within state parks and are immediately adjacent to major and minor seabird colonies. Other sites will be selected based on heavy (300k+ annual visitors) public use.

Signs and mounting structures will need to be designed, fabricated and installed.

Language included in the interpretive panels focusing on seabirds and marine mammals must incorporate how these wildlife species are sensitive to human disturbance, their protected status, and how people can avoid disturbing them.

The Natural Resource Trustee Council for the 1999 New Carissa Oil Spill believes the benefits of this project will include increased wildlife resource protection, a way to reach hundreds of thousands of visitors with interpretive messaging regarding the protected status of seabirds and marine mammals of the Oregon coast, and a reduction in incidents related to people climbing on coastal rocks and islands.

Overview of Site:

The scenic and rugged Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge includes 1,854 rocks, reefs, and islands, and two headland units, and spans 320 miles of the Oregon Coast, from Tillamook Head near Seaside south to the California border. With the exception of Tillamook Rock, all of the rocks, reefs, and islands within the Refuge are included in the Oregon Islands Wilderness. The two headlands are not designated wilderness areas.

Most of Oregon’s estimated 1.2 million nesting seabirds are found on this Refuge. A large percentage of Oregon’s pinniped population use the Refuge for haul-out and/or pupping, including more than 5,000 harbor seals, 4,000 California sea lions, 4,000 threatened Steller sea lions and 100 northern elephant seals.

General Design Requirements:

1. Because the majority of visitors will spend only a short amount of time at each panel, the panels must communicate the key message very clearly with a minimum amount of text. Headlines and descriptive subheads should be used to help visitors skim for items of interest. The panels must also have maximum visual impact.

2. All of the interpretive panels will be in an outdoor marine environment. Therefore panels must be designed to withstand heavy wind, 6-8 months of direct sunlight, and salt spray while still maintaining their integrity for a minimum of ten years. Materials and exhibits must be easy to clean and otherwise care for. Careful consideration must be given to structural materials, paints, adhesives, pedestals and laminates that they do not pose health or safety risks to visitors or employees. Stainless steel hardware is strongly recommended.

3. The elements of Universally Accessible Design should be applied when designing, fabricating and installing panels so that messages can reach the widest range of visitor regardless of physical or learning abilities.

Panel Objectives

Panels will be designed to meet the following objectives.

1. Introduce visitors to Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and make visitors aware of the seabirds and marine mammals found on the refuge. Provide clear and concise language about the sensitivity of nesting seabirds and resting marine mammals to human disturbance. Messaging on all panels must alert visitors that it is illegal for them to disturb the wildlife of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

2. Inspire visitors to explore, learn about, appreciate, and care for seabirds, marine mammals and natural resources (including rocky intertidal habitat and animals)- both on and beyond the refuge’s boundary.

3. Make visitors aware of the role of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and National Wildlife Refuge System in protecting wildlife and ecosystems.

4. Acknowledge that the panels were produced by the Natural Resource Trustees for the 1999 New Carissa oil spill (with room provided for up to seven agency logos).

Interpretive Topics Outline Topics and themes for each unique panel will be provided by the Service at the commencement of the contract and further refined during a field trip to the individual locations to receive panels or exhibits. However, panel content shall incorporate one of four topics as follows:

1. Seabirds and Oregon Islands NWR: while the illustration or photographs for unique panels will be different at different locations (ie. Parks) messaging will be similar on all panels that focus on nesting seabirds and Oregon Islands NWR. The general message will be the coastal rocks and islands are part of a larger chain of islands along the Oregon coast protected within the Oregon Islands NWR and designated as a National Wilderness Area. This wild and rocky Refuge provides 13 species of seabirds, numbering over 1 million individuals, with ideal nesting habitat. Seals and sea lions also use Refuge islands as breeding and haulout (resting) areas. These animals are sensitive to human disturbance; to protect them from it Oregon Islands NWR is closed to all public use and climbing on the rocks and islands is illegal.

2. Seabirds and tidepools: while the illustration or photographs for unique panels will be different at different locations messaging will be similar on all panels that focus on seabirds and tidepools. The general message will be: at the base of the lofty rocks and islands of Oregon Islands NWR are rich and diverse rocky intertidal habitats that are nourished by the guano of thousands of seabirds and in turn nurture the seabirds with food including mussels, crabs and small fish. These tidepools produce food used by surf scoters, black oystercatchers, western gulls, pigeon guillemots, harlequin ducks and common murre. Some or all of these seabirds will be features on individual panels depending on the specific park and the general presence/absence of the individual seabird at that location. Tidepool organisms are well adapted to meet great challenges at the sea’s edge—but they can also be very sensitive to the kinds of impact people have.

Communities that may appear everlasting may take many years to recover from a single damaging event. This remarkable and valuable resource is well worth protecting—and can be safeguarded by keeping a few points in mind: respect closed areas designated to protect nesting seabirds or resting marine mammals; observe seabirds feeding in tidepools and give them space; leave creatures in their marine home; share your discoveries and delights with others while modeling and encouraging good birdwatching and tidepool etiquette.

3. Seabirds and Geology - while the illustration or photographs for unique panels will be different at different parks messaging will be similar on all panels that focus on seabirds and geology. Messaging will be: The rocks and islands that dot the Oregon coastline were created by their exposure to millennia of wind, rain, and pounding waves. The islands are habitat for nesting seabirds that need to be isolated from land predators, but close to fishing grounds. Each of the 1,854 Refuge islands that make up the refuge can be categorized as a reef, rock, or island. Reefs are defined as low-elevation, essentially bare rocks that are awash during storms at higher tides. Rocks are taller bare rocks that may or may not be inundated. These usually have rather precipitous sides and are used by wildlife in the same way as reefs. Grassy islands are generally the highest islands. They have precipitous sides and are extensively used for nesting by seabirds. These reefs, rocks, and islands are used as breeding habitat for 13 species of seabirds and as haul-out and pupping sites by four species of pinnipeds. The coastal rocks and islands are closed at all times to all public access and use to protect wildlife.

4. Marine Mammals – Four different species of marine mammals (seals and sea lions) are found along the coast of Oregon and all use Oregon Islands NWR to rest or give birth to their young. They are sensitive to human disturbance so please observe them from a safe distance; do not feed, touch or harass them; keep pets away and on a leash; report live and dead stranded marine mammals and violations to the Oregon State Police Hotline: 1-800-452-7888. Some of the panels will contain life history information about the seals and sea lions to help visitors identify the different species, learn about their diet, and other biological fun facts that help facilitate understanding and acceptance of the rules protecting the animals.

TASKS

The Contractor shall provide all materials, equipment, supplies, and labor required to accomplish the following tasks. The contractor is responsible to complete all tasks to fit within a fixed budget.

Task 1- Site Visits At a minimum the lead writer and illustrator shall conduct a site visit to all 34 locations where interpretive panels will be placed to attain familiarity with the sites, its marine habitat and wildlife and the requirements of this statement of work to be used in establishing conceptual designs for this project. Site visit must be arranged to visit as many sites as possible in the shortest time frame to conserve limited travel funds. A USFWS and OPRD representative must attend the site visit. Expect the initial site visit to Not Exceed Four days.

Task 2 - Conduct Briefings Conduct monthly briefings with agency staff to present conceptual designs and to obtain approval of the USFWS and Oregon State Parks. Approval of designs must be in writing from USFWS staff.

Task 3 - Product Deliverables:

1. Contractor to submit a line-item budget detailing cost estimates to write, design and illustrate 62 unique interpretive panel designs. Budget will include cost to produce/fabricate 2 copies each of 60 unique panels and 20 copies each of 2 unique panels (for a total of 160 panels).

Budget will include all costs associated with installation of 85 panels at 34 locations using stainless steel mounting brackets, rust proof pedestals and concrete pads. Project to include 40 panel stands with 32” pedestal mounted on concrete slabs; 17 panel stands with 56” pedestal anchored directly into the ground and 28 panels with mounts suitable for railings/kiosk.

2. Contractor to submit rough sketch of illustrations and draft text to be included on each unique panel for review and approval by USFWS. This includes samples of typefaces and sizes to be used on the panels including headlines, subheads, body text, and captions.

Contractor provides refuge staff two full reviews of rough drafts before contractor goes to final. Sizes of interpretive panels will range from a minimum standard of 24” x 36” (80% of panels will be this size) to a maximum of 60” x 48” (only 20% at this size).

Approximately 30% of the interpretive panels will have special cutouts or shapes and will not be a perfect rectangle. Extra costs associated with special cuts should be included in the original budget submitted by the contractor.

3. Contractor to write and edit text with topic research including interviewing of subject matter specialists. Consultation with USFWS staff and other agency staff (OPRD) on themes and topics for each panel should precede in-depth research.

4. Contractor to conduct photo research and purchase photos (include cost estimate for purchase of photographs within the budget) as needed. USFWS can provide some images of Refuge-specific wildlife and scenic high resolution digital photographs, but contractor should anticipate supplementing the majority of images and should budget accordingly.

In these cases contractor seeks out and secures purchase of use rights for all photographs used in panels. It is anticipated that approximately 40% of the interpretive panels will have photographs and 60% will have illustrations and/or a combination of both.

5. Contractor is responsible for creating any maps used on interpretive panels.

6. Contractor ensures all artwork/illustrations will be both aesthetically pleasing and biologically accurate. Contractor must submit for approval, samples of illustrations (black and white sketches acceptable) created by the illustrator that will be used to complete this work. At least two of the state park locations have existing and unique thematic artwork that contractor must match either in style or by engaging the original artist to maintain consistency. All illustrators must have demonstrated experience illustrating biologically accurate marine wildlife especially seabirds.

USFWS role and responsibility:

1. Serve as the lead facilitator in ensuring this project is conducted in a timely manner and in accordance with the seabird and marine mammal education directive.

2. Ensure funds from the New Carissa Oil Spill Settlement cover all approved costs associated with design, fabrication and in most cases installation of these panels.

3. Work with contractor and other agency staff to ensure selected project sites include a high level of public use and are in proximity to Oregon Islands NWR seabird colonies and/or marine mammal haulouts.

4. Ensure interpretive signs and exhibits make visitors aware of the role of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in protecting the seabirds and marine mammals of Oregon Islands

NWR.

5. USFWS can provide some images of Refuge-specific wildlife and scenic high resolution digital photographs.

OPRD will:

1. Coordinate installation of interpretive panels and on-site archaeological surveys and monitoring, where required.

2. Provide timely review and comment on interpretive panels and other products developed by USFWS contractor.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

1. Once the contract is awarded contractor must provide first draft for all interpretive panels within 120 days.

2. Agencies have 45 days to review first draft and provide feedback to contractor.

3. At the end of the 45 day review period contractor will have 90 days to provide a second draft of all interpretive panels.

4. Agencies will have 30 days to review and comment on second draft

5. Contractor will have 120 days to produce final artwork for fabricator.

6. Fabricator will have 90 days to produce product including shipping.

7. All panels must be installed on public lands by November 1, 2017.