FieldLab DES Posting.pdf

Purchasing Services Department

4300 Roosevelt Way NE Box 354967

Seattle, WA 98105

September 24, 2024

Intent to Sole Source

The University of Washington intends to contract with FieldLab to purchase dog detection teams to find large carnivore scat.

The sole source is based on the following:

The CWA program encompasses a unique scope of work. Specially trained detection dog teams traverse roughly 6,000 km2 highly remote area that encompasses public, private, and Native American land, in search of scat from the medium to large carnivores that inhabit the area.

Hence, specialized fieldwork teams familiar with our program possess dogs who have already been trained to locate wolf, cougar, coyote, bobcat, bear, wolverine, fisher, marten and fox scat.

These specialized teams locate scat in the designated field, collect samples, and log the GPS location of each sample scat collected utilizing sophisticated equipment and tools for logging essential data in the field.

The projected value of this work is $59.802.30 (excluding taxes) for a two-month period.

The estimated start date of the contract is October 4, 2024. The contract term is for an initial two (02) month period, no renewal options.

The contract will be issued ten (10) calendar days from September 24, 2024.

Inquiries should be sent to to: Lynn Magill, Senior Contracts Specialist, lmagill@uw.edu no later than 11:59pm PST on October 4, 2022 along with a capability statement if a vendor/supplier believes that they can provide the goods and services under this sole source contract.

mailto:lmagill@uw.edu

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 1 of 7 June 2024

Sole Source CONTRACT Filing Justification Template

Use the following justification template for preparing to file sole source contracts in the Sole Source Contracts Database (SSCD). Once completed, copy and paste the answers into the corresponding SSCD question and answer fields. You will also need to include a copy of this completed form in the documents you post to your agency website and in WEBS.

What is a sole source contract?

"Sole source" means a contractor providing goods or services of such a unique nature or sole availability that the contractor is clearly and justifiably the only practicable source to provide the goods or services. (RCW 39.26.010)

Unique qualifications or services are those which are highly specialized or one-of-a-kind.

Other factors which may be considered include past performance, cost-effectiveness (learning curve), and/or follow-up nature of the required goods and/or services. Past performance alone does not provide adequate justification for a sole source contract. Time constraints may be considered as a contributing factor in a sole source justification, however will not be on its own a sufficient justification.

Why is a sole source justification required?

The State of Washington, by policy and law, believes competition is the best strategy to obtain the best value for the goods and services it purchases, and to ensure that all interested vendors have a fair and transparent opportunity to sell goods and services to the state.

A sole source contract does not benefit from competition. Thus the state, through RCW 39.26.010, has determined it is important to evaluate whether the conditions, costs and risks related to the proposal of a sole source contract truly outweigh forgoing the benefits of a competitive contract.

Providing compelling answers to the following questions will facilitate DES’ evaluation.

https://sscd.des.wa.gov/Logon/Logon.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f https://sscd.des.wa.gov/Logon/Logon.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f https://pr-webs-customer.des.wa.gov/

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 2 of 7

Specific Problem or Need

• What is the business need or problem that requires this contract?

Our Central Washington (CWA) carnivore monitoring program examines the impact of wolf recovery on the predator-prey community in Central Washington, south of I-90.

The program has been operating over the last six (6) consecutive years with support from the Washington State Legislature and is part of a long-term study to monitor how wolf recovery in Central Washington is impacting the predator-pry community, as well as the extent of human-wildlife conflict, south of I-90. We have now acquired six years of baseline data on predator distributions and the prey they consume, providing an unprecedented data set from which to gauge how wolf recolonization impacts the predator-prey community in Central Washington.

Sole Source Criteria

• Describe the unique features, qualifications, abilities or expertise of the contractor proposed for this sole source contract.

The CWA program encompasses a unique scope of work. Specially trained detection dog teams traverse roughly 6,000 km2 highly remote area that encompasses public, private, and Native American land, in search of scat from the medium to large carnivores that inhabit the area. Hence, specialized fieldwork teams familiar with our program possess dogs who have already been trained to locate wolf, cougar, coyote, bobcat, bear, wolverine, fisher, marten and fox scat. These specialized teams locate scat in the designated field, collect samples, and log the GPS location of each sample scat collected utilizing sophisticated equipment and tools for logging essential data in the field.

• What kind of market research did the agency conduct to conclude that alternative sources were inappropriate or unavailable? Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due diligence in determining the basis for the sole source contract, including methods used by the agency to conduct a review of available sources. Use DES’ Market Research Template if assistance is needed.

The UW Center for Environmental Forensics (CEFS) contacted Environmental & Statistical Consultants (WEST) to inquire if they would like to submit another estimate for this year’s CWA work. Ultimately, they were not able to provide an estimate due to the company’s resource constraints. WESTs organization performs the same type of fieldwork as Field Lab and their dog teams already trained for CWAs scope of work. Hence, the uniqueness

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 3 of 7 of the type of fieldwork to be performed is highly specialized for the dog handlers and their canine team to meet this time sensitive field work.

• As part of the market research requirements, include a list of statewide contracts reviewed and/or businesses contacted, date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

As already stated in the answers above, the scope of work is highly specialized and time sensitive due to the nature of when the field work is to occur. We contacted WEST via email to gauge interest since they performed the work last year (2023); and Field Lab reached out to CEFS to express their interest in doing the work for 2024.

We could not locate any additional vendors beyond WEST and Field Lab to contract.

We invited both WEST and Field Lab to submit estimates for the scope of work. WEST informed us that they were not able to fulfill the scope of work due to resource constraints and WEST internal issues. Field Lab submitted an estimate for the scope of work needed for the field work portion of the CWA program.

• Per the Supplier Diversity Policy, DES-090-06: was this purchase included in the agency’s forecasted needs report?

Unsure.

• Describe what targeted industry outreach was completed to locate small and/or veteran-owned businesses to meet the agency’s need?

None. Since the scope of work is specialized and identifying other appropriate vendors were not successful.

• What considerations were given to unbundling the goods and/or services in this contract, which would provide opportunities for Washington small, diverse, and/or veteran-owned businesses. Provide a summary of your agency’s unbundling analysis for this contract.

Work cannot or already have “unbundled” this project since it is a portion of a larger scope of work to be performed between administrative coordination for pre-field work

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 4 of 7 activities done by CEFS, fieldwork that would be performed by an outside vendor, and lab analysis which is to be performed by our lab at the UW.

• Provide a detailed and compelling description that includes quantification of the costs and risks mitigated by contracting with this contractor (i.e. learning curve, follow-up nature).

This entire study area is politically sensitive because many landowners have considerable unfounded fears about wolf recovery and are sensitive to dog teams operating on their land. Some of the survey areas also require access to sacred land on the Yakama Reservation. Thus, the dog handler teams we employ to conduct this work require considerable familiarity with the study area, dogs already trained on the species they are detecting, and an earned trust among the landowners, including the Native American community, who need to be compelled to provide us access to their land. For the following reasons, we believe that the consulting group, Field Lab, is the only group that can meet all the above requirements.

Field Lab (and WEST) have dog teams already trained and ready for the field work portion of this project. If we another vendor were to be interested that we are not aware of, the learning curve to train the dogs on the type of scent detection required, understand the scope of the fieldwork, and coordination of access to land to be surveyed will run counter to our field work season timeline and CEFS would more than likely not be able to finish the project for the State on time.

• Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of special circumstances such as confidential investigations, copyright restrictions, etc.? If so, please describe.

No

• Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of unavoidable, critical time delays or issues that prevented the agency from completing this acquisition using a competitive process? If so, please describe. For example, if time constraints are applicable, identify when the agency was on notice of the need for the goods and/or service, the entity that imposed the constraints, explain the authority of that entity to impose them, and provide the timelines within which work must be accomplished.

Procuring Field Lab’s services and staff assures that CEFS will be able to meet important deliverables and deadlines constrained by our narrow September/November 2024 sampling window. The September start date falls after the wolf cub/litter season is over

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 5 of 7 and thus, safely avoids human-wolf altercations. Sampling beyond November creates access problems due to heavy snowfall. Field Lab’s staff are ready to perform the work without delay. By contrast, contracting with a new vendor will entail training new dogs on the target species, training unfamiliar staff on our research and data collection methods, and building new relations with landowners, putting us at risk of missing this restricted sampling window.

• What are the consequences of not having this sole source filing approved? Describe in detail the impact to the agency and to services it provides if this sole source filing is not approved.

CEFS would not be able to complete our State CWA Program deliverables since we are obligated to the state to complete all elements of the scope of work by June 30, 2025 including conducting field work during the critical months of September through October. This will affect CEFS CWA program and research lab operations involved in the project including staff time and effort involved.

Sole Source Posting

• Sole Source Posting on Agency Website - Provide the date in which the sole source posting, the draft contract, and a copy of the Sole Source Contract Justification Template were published on your agency’s website.

- If failed to post, please explain why.

Since there was no other identifiable vendor, and Field Lab was the only one that submitted an estimate we provided a sole source justification and triggered the procurement process.

• Provide the date in which the sole source posting, the draft contract, and a copy of the Sole Source Contract Justification Template were published in WEBS.

- If failed to post, please explain why.

CEFS was not aware that DES additional form was needed in addition to what we already submitted to procurement.

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 6 of 7

• Were responses received to the sole source posting in WEBS?

- If one or more responses are received, list name of entities responding and explain how the agency concluded the contract is appropriate for sole source award.

N/A

Reasonableness of Cost

• Since competition was not used as the means for procurement, how did the agency conclude that the costs, fees, or rates negotiated are fair and reasonable? Please make a comparison with comparable contracts, use the results of a market survey, or employ some other appropriate means calculated to make such a determination.

Due to WESTs decision to not submit an estimate for the 2024 field work season, we do not have another comparison. We therefore used last year’s final expense billing (2023) to baseline guide for the 2024 field work. Field Lab’s estimate is within our budget constraints for the 2024 fieldwork season. As mentioned, there are very few organizations that can conduct this type of work, and we utilized WESTs cost from 2023 against our 2024 expenses and scope of work.

State funds to conduct the wolf study program for 2024 are underfunded to keep pace with increased costs. The amount awarded each year has not increased since conducting this program six (6) years ago. CEFS has set aside no more than $60,000 to meet our field work portion of the program. The remaining funds will cover lab expenses and salaries.

To meet the increasing costs associated with this program, CEFS has scaled back the number of surveys conducted in the field to stay within the overall budget for this program. For example, the area of land normally covered previously in our first three years of this program was 11,000 km2 area across the Eastern Cascade Region of Central Washington, including 3,000 km2 of Yakama Nation land and areas within Mount Rainier National Park. Compared to 2023, 5,000 km2 extending from just south of I-90 through the USFS forests, Yakama, state and private lands in the south cascades (between Highway 12 and the Columbia River). In sum, the complexity and scope of this program cannot easily be employed by any group but rather the group that we contact with for this program is highly specialized in being able to successfully train canines to detect specific “scents” over the remote terrain, and capable dog handlers to effectively traverse and are familiar with large areas of land while being able to coordinate and partner with

Department of Enterprise Services – C&P Page 7 of 7 our external stakeholders who manage the vast areas of land in the Eastern Cascade, Yakama nation, and withing Mount Rainier National Park.

UoW 1489 (Rev.06-12-2023)

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Date Purchase Order Number

PURCHASE ORDER

Make all arrangements and scheduling with:

Sara O’Hara

3747 West Stevens Way

Seattle, WA 98195

206.616.7022

Sazma529@uw.edu

VENDOR COMPANY NAME : FieldLab LLC ATTN: Julianne julianne@fieldlabdetection.com

Shipping Terms: NA

Payment Terms: Net 30 unless prompt payment available

Item No. Description Quantity Unit Price Each Extended

This order is an acceptance of your estimate dated August 8, 2024 (attached) to provide carnivore scat surveys in the southern Cascades.

$59,802.30

SUBTOTAL

University will pay appropriate taxes

EMAIL INVOICES TO:

hfsap@uw.edu

BILLIING ADDRESS:

UNIVERSITY OF

WASHINGTON

PROCUREMENT SERVICES

PO BOX 354967

SEATTLE WA 98195

PAYMENT QUESTIONS:

Call ACCOUNTS PAYABLE at (206) 543-4500

All other correspondence to:

PURCHASING DEPARTMENT

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

BOX 354967

SEATTLE, WA 98195-1110

Note: Refer to our Purchase Order Number Purchasing Agent on ALL Correspondence

This purchase order is subject to University of Washington Supplier General Terms and Conditions located here:

https://finance.uw.edu/ps/suppliers/terms-conditions mailto:hfsap@uw.edu

Date: AUGUST 8, 2024

To: CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSIC SCIENCE

From: Julianne Ubigau, FIELDLAB, LLC, 8262 4th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98115

Subject: Detection Dog Scope of Work - Carnivore Scat Surveys for the UW Central WA Wolf Recolonization Project

WORK TO BE PERFORMED

Carnivore scat surveys in the southern Cascades FieldLab Detection LLC will provide up to 3 experienced scat detection dog teams to assist the Center for Environmental Forensic Science (CEFS) in obtaining comprehensive data on the diet, genetics, and population densities of carnivores within the Central Washington (CWA) study area this fall.

Survey Area. The 2024 season will mark the seventh year of scat collection in the south Cascades. Full-scale sampling from 2018 to 2020 covered an area of 11,000 km2 across the Eastern Cascade Region of Central Washington, including 3,000 km2 of Yakama Nation land and areas within Mount Rainier National Park.

From 2022-2023, surveys were concentrated in the Southern Cascades where new wolf activity had been suspected in early 2022. The 2022 scat surveys confirmed the presence of two wolves (WA 109M and an uncollared female), establishing the first documented wolf pack in the Southern Cascade and West Coast wolf recovery region. This pair resided on Yakama Indian Reservation land and was named the “Big Muddy Pack” by the tribe.

In 2023, surveys continued to focus in this area in hopes of confirming growth within the Big Muddy Pack. That fall, scat surveys confirmed presence of three wolves in the area (109M, the uncollared female, and a transient collared male called 106M). Unfortunately, only one individual (109M) is believed to have survived to the winter of 2023.

In response to these changes, 2024 survey goals have been revised to include:

1) continued monitoring of wolf activity in the former territory of the Big Muddy pack, and 2) expanded monitoring in areas south of I-90 and east of Mount Rainier, where new wolf dispersal activity can be detected. (See Map A.)

Scat Surveys. FieldLab detection teams will conduct surveys in 50 (10-km x 10-km) cells within four priority survey areas within the 11,000km2 study area: 1) the former Muddy Pack territory, 2) Yakama Tribal Land, 3) the cascades south of I- 90, and 4) the area east of Mt Rainier. Specific cells will be determined using informational guidance from Washington State Fish and Wildlife and other public wolf sighting information.

Scat Sampling. The scat sampling protocol will be more conservative than in prior years. For each cell surveyed, FieldLab teams will select 10-12 scats for DNA analyses, prioritizing all “high confidence” wolf scat. Other carnivore scat (coyote, bobcat, cougar, fisher, marten, and fox) will be subsampled according to a predetermined sampling protocol based on attributes such as species, freshness, and linear frequency. FieldLab will consult with CEFS to determine the optimum protocol for scat collection before the start of the field collection activities.

Project Coordinator Roles. The FieldLab project manager (PM) will be responsible for all consulting, contracting, scheduling, mapping, and field team coordinating activities. The PM will handle all communication and coordination with local agencies, companies, and landowners in the study area and obtain necessary permits for accessing survey areas. FieldLab will also continue the friendly tradition of collaborating with Yakama Nations by organizing and scheduling 6-8 cooperative surveys in Yakama’s protected tribal land.

Materials and Equipment. FieldLab will generate the required field maps and data collection forms and provide all training and care for detection dogs). CEFS will be responsible for providing scat storage materials (bags, labels, and portable freezers) and field equipment (satellite communication devices, track logging devices, data phones, car safety gear). FieldLab will coordinate, pick up, and return all CEFS owned field equipment to either the Pack Forest facilities or the University of Washington main campus lab offices.

Deliverables. FieldLab will be responsible for safe storage and delivery of scat data. The PM will conduct QAQC of data collected and provide CEFS with a final report, along with digital files of all project data (dog handler tracklogs, dog tracklogs, and scat data) at the conclusion of the field season or no later than November 15, 2024 (subject to contract approval date).

Dates of Service Coordinator activities will begin at the contract’s start. Pending contract approval by September 6, 2024- all field work will be completed by November 9, 2024 and FieldLab will deliver to CEFS lab at the University of Washington main campus location all scat, scat data, GPS tracklogs and narrative report on or before COB - November 15, 2024. FieldLab project manager will coordinate an appropriate delivery time with Wasser lab manager and will be available to answer follow-up questions regarding data collection after the fieldwork concludes on November 9, 2024.

Compensation FieldLab proposes conducting fieldwork coordination, scat surveys, and data QAQC of fifty (50) cells at a total cost of $59,802.30 (Table A). FieldLab will communicate and get approval prior to any additional work outside the original scope and cost of the agreed upon activities.

Scat detection services are charged at a flat rate per cell of $800. This fee covers all scat team services which include scat survey time, travel time, and office time (tracklog and scat data offloading and organization). Project manager services are charged at an hourly rate of $80. This fee covers pre-season consultation, coordination, and scheduling activities, field team management, as well as post-season QAQC and reporting tasks. Travel expenses are calculated based on the number of cells surveyed. These fees cover per diem, lodging and approximate mileage. The FieldLab project manager is responsible for the coordination lodging and travel logistics. An Indirect Cost Rate (IDC) of 3.5 percent covers all other costs such as insurance, detection dog care supplies, OnX mapping/data collection software, necessary passes and/or permits to access private or state land area, Garmin In-reach services, and other incidental costs.

Table A. Cost at 50 cells

Detection Dog Services unit unit # unit rate total Canine Team Surveys cell 50 800 $40,000.00 Project Manager hr 80 80 $6,400.00 Travel mileage (state rate) mile 6000 0.67 $4,020.00 lodging (min state rate) night 45 98 $4,410.00 per diem (min state rate) day 50 59 $2,950.00

Subtotal $57,780.00 IDC rate (%) 0.035 $2,022.30

$59,802.30