FWC 22.23-63 Addendum 1.pdf

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Commissioners Rodney Barreto Chairman Coral Gables

Steven Hudson Vice Chairman Fort Lauderdale

Gary Lester Oxford

Albert Maury Coral Gables

Gary Nicklaus Jupiter

Sonya Rood St. Augustine

Robert A. Spottswood Key West

Office of the Executive Director Dr. Thomas H. Eason Acting Executive Director

Jessica Crawford Chief of Staff

850-487-3796

850-921-5786 FAX

Finance and Budget Office

(850) 488-6551

Managing fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people.

620 South Meridian Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1600 Voice: 850-488-4676

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MyFWC.com

DATE: JANUARY 24, 2023

ADDENDUM NO.: 1

BID NO.: FWC 22/23-63

BID TITLE: TIMBER STAND MAPPING MULTI-AREA

UPDATE: ANSWERS TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS

The enclosed addendum has been issued for consideration in the preparation of your response to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Solicitation No. FWC 22/23-63, “Timber Stand Mapping Multi-Area”.

All responses to the subject solicitation must be received no later than 3:00 PM (ET) on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

A response received after the exact time specified will not be considered.

Failure to file a protest within the time prescribed in Section 120.57(3), Florida Statutes (F.S.), or failure to post the bond or other security required by law within the time allowed for filing a bond shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes. Written notices, formal requests and proceedings must conform with the requirements set forth in Chapter 28-110, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.). Protests must be filed with the Purchasing Office, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1875 Orange Avenue East, Tallahassee, Florida 32311-6160 within the time prescribed in Section 120.57(3), F.S. and Chapter 28-110, F.A.C.

Sincerely, Jordan Irving, FWC Procurement Manager

FWC SOLICITATION ADDENDUM 2

BEGIN ADDENDUM

QUESTION #1

I noticed that it said that there is “no expectation for vendors to collect field data.” I just wanted to follow up and see if this is the case, or if there is an expectation for some sort of field data to be collected?

ANSWER #1

From page 11 & 12: The vendor will be required to populate the following data fields:

Managed Area Name (FWC_Name)

FWC WMA/WEA Unit (if applicable such as the Tide Swamp Unit of Big Bend WMA)

FWC Region (FWC_Region)

Management Unit ID

Stand Polygon ID

Polygon Size (acres)

Mapping Date (use date of delivery in the month/day/year format. Ex. 6/1/2023)

Stand Origin (natural, planted, combination, other, unknown)

Stand Composition (pine, hardwood, cypress, mixed, or non-forested [e.g., pasture, marsh, dry prairie, agricultural field, borrow pit, wildlife opening, etc.])

Follow-up projects, in future years, will populate the timber polygons being developed for this project with additional field data, such as pine species, hardwood species, stand age, stand basal area, stocking rate, etc. The future project will require much more time to be spent on the ground verifying stand composition, but such additional detailed field data is not required for this project.

QUESTION #2

What is the recommended maximum stand size?

ANSWER #2

The largest management unit (MU) on any of the managed areas where bids are being solicited is 14,180 acres, found in Aucilla WMA and generally composed of hydric hammock. Since timber stand polygons are limited to the management unit (i.e., cannot cross MU lines), the largest possible stand size, for the areas currently under bid, is 14,180 acres. Most are very much smaller.

FWC SOLICITATION ADDENDUM 3

QUESTION #3

What is the recommended minimum stand size?

ANSWER #3

The standard, smallest polygon that could potentially be mapped is 1/2 acre (0.5 acre).

Anything smaller than 1/2 acre, as a distinct land coverage type, does not need to be mapped. HOWEVER, as described in section 5.1: “…non-pine polygons (e.g., cypress domes, marshes, etc.) within a MU (management unit), non-contiguous areas within a MU can be grouped together into one stand as a multi-part polygon.” So, with non-pine cover types, multiple smaller polygons of approximately 1/2 acre in size could potentially be combined into a single non-contiguous polygon.

QUESTION #4

Do the total acres for each WMA include acres that are to be excluded from the project as described in Section 5.2? If yes, please provide an estimate of these acres by WMA to ensure the best price for the State. Do the acres within roads mentioned in section

5.2 include all forest roads, or primary and secondary only?

ANSWER #4

The total acres for each WMA do include acres to be excluded from the project as described in Section 5.2. The table below excludes acres mapped as “canal/ditch”, “developed”, “firebreak”, “impoundment”, “road”, and “utility corridor”. The roads mentioned in section 5.2 include all roads: primary, secondary, as well as Level 3 roads (public roads where four-wheel drive is recommended) and Level 4 roads (service roads closed to public vehicular access).

Area Name Number of Acres

Number of Acres, Excluding Mapped Infrastructure

Aucilla WMA 45,379 44,725

L. Kirk Edwards 1,783 1,758

Big Bend WMA – Jena Unit

19,160 19,087

Big Bend WMA – Tide Swamp Unit

22,596 22,417

Joe Budd WMA 5,132 4,981

FWC SOLICITATION ADDENDUM 4

Box R WMA 18,462 18,263

Suwannee Ridge

WMA

1,438 1,355

Fort White WMA 1,654 1,580

Lafayette Forest

WMA

2,145 2,040

Andrews WMA 3,511 3,451

QUESTION #5

For ground truthing, is it required to visit each WMA?

ANSWER #5

From Page 12:

7. GROUND TRUTHING

While we do not expect the vendor to collect field data, we do expect a level of certainty about the deliverables. The vendor shall use due diligence to verify the polygons drafted match what is on the ground. The vendor shall plan to visit the site to spot-check several polygons prior to submitting the draft product for evaluation. Such due diligence should minimize the number of comments or recommended revisions FWC staff need to make on draft products. The vendor shall address all reasonable comments and recommended revision that staff make prior to submitting the final version.

The selected vendor will be required to be accurate in the description of submitted timber polygons; “The vendor shall plan to visit the site to spot-check several polygons prior to submitting the draft product.” The vendor is not required to visit all parts of a site or even most of a site (i.e., spot-check), but the vendor is required to be accurate and should plan to visit a sufficient amount of each site to ensure accuracy.

QUESTION #6

For year 2, is there an idea what WMA’s may be included? Field verification costs can vary depending on location and access.

ANSWER #6

We have not identified any areas for a year-2 of this project. Ultimately, all areas in Florida, where the FFWCC is the lead managing agency, and with timber resources

FWC SOLICITATION ADDENDUM 5

(generally excluding the everglades complex of managed areas and a few others) will have timber polygon mapping. The rate at which mapping will occur (i.e., number of areas per year) will be determined by bid prices and available funding.

END ADDENDUM