Sources_Sought_1.doc

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)” TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

NOTE: THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE IS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, CERTIFIED 8(a) SMALL BUSINESSES, CERTIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESSES, CERTIFIED SERVICE DISABILED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES and/or WOMAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES.

The National Park Service (NPS), Northern Rockies Major Acquisition Buying Office (MABO) seeks to determine the availability and capability of potential SMALL BUSINESSES, CERTIFIED 8(a) SMALL BUSINESSES, CERTIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESSES, CERTIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS, and/or WOMAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES for the project below. The Government anticipates a competitive method of procurement. The information received resulting from this market research will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement under one of SBA's socioeconomic business programs. The NPS does not intend to pay for any information provided under this notice.

Solicitation No.: 140P1423R0009 Project Name: Lake Trout Gillnetting and Trapnetting on Yellowstone Lake Location: Yellowstone National Park, Lake District; Park & Teton Counties, WY. The site is:

* 54 miles south of Gardiner, MT via Grand Loop Road, Norris Canyon Road

* 55 miles east of West Yellowstone, MT via West Entrance Road, Grand Loop Road

* 99 miles north of Jackson, WY via US-89, John D Rockefeller Jr. Parkway

* 77 miles west of Cody, WY via US-16, East Entrance Road

* 66 miles southwest of Cooke City, MT via Northeast Entrance Road, Grand Loop Road

NAICS: 114111 - Finfish Fishing (Trout Fishing)

Size Standard: $22.0 million

Product Service Code: F020 - Fisheries Resource Management Services

Set Aside: 100% small business set-aside.

Estimated Period of Performance: Mid-July 2023, through October 2028 Contract Type: A single-award, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ) for up to five years with firm-fixed price task orders is anticipated to be awarded resulting from the solicitation.

Pre-bid Tour: No pre-bid tour is planned; however, if interest in a pre-bid tour is expressed then one may be scheduled. Contractors are urged to inspect the site where the work will be performed. Interested parties shall take reasonable steps to ascertain the nature and location of the project area and the work to be completed, as well as the general and local site conditions which can affect the work and cost of performance.

A complete Statement of Work will be included with the Solicitation. The solicitation is anticipated to be issued on SAM.gov in early May. All questions will be answered in writing via amendments to the Solicitation. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

Project Description:

Work encompasses mobilization and on-going assistance from a professional fishing operation, including all necessary personnel and gear such as boats, lines, weights, and buoys, to significantly reduce the non-native lake trout population and restore native cutthroat trout during the fishing season (ice-free) in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Yellowstone Lake is in the interior of Yellowstone National Park and can be reached by two-lane highway during May – October (Figure 10). Yellowstone Lake has a surface area of 136 square miles, a shoreline length of 148 miles, and an average depth of 140 feet. At an elevation of 7,800 feet, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. Unique and sensitive geothermal features are found on the bottom of the lake. Damage to these resources by gillnetting, trap netting, or other netting strategy operations must be avoided.

The remote location of Yellowstone Lake makes the logistics of working there somewhat difficult. The Offeror will be responsible for trailering their boats to and from the lake, which is only accessible by traveling narrow winding roads. Boats can be stored outside at Bridge Bay Marina over winter when option years are required. Launching and docking facilities are located at Bridge Bay Marina near Lake Village. Launching facilities consist of a cement pad, requiring boat draft to be less than 5 feet. Docking facilities are capable of handling boats up to 45 feet in length. Boats must leave the marina by travelling under a bridge requiring boat height above waterline to be less than 12 feet. Additional docking and launching facilities exist at Grant Village but are limited.

Background:

Lake trout, a nonnative predator, were discovered in Yellowstone Lake in 1994. The National Park Service (NPS) immediately began work to understand the problem and reduce the impact of lake trout on the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout. However, it was determined in 2008 that NPS efforts alone were not enough to cause the lake trout population to crash. Since that time, NPS has incorporated contracted commercial-style gillnetting and trap-netting into our suppression program. This solicitation seeks to continue that work. Over the last several years, between 280,000 and 330,000 lake trout have been removed from the Yellowstone Lake population. The Offeror should expect similar catches annually until the population crashes (the desired outcome) due to intense removals. The Offeror is expected to provide boats, gear, and skilled captains and crews capable of handling extremely large numbers of gill nets and gillnetted fish from mid-May through late-October on Yellowstone Lake.

The National Park Service requires mobilization and implementation of large-scale gill and deep-water trap net fishing to remove non-native lake trout from Yellowstone Lake during the fishing (ice-free) season in Yellowstone National Park.

The Offeror is expected to provide captains and crews of size and working days/hours sufficient to meet gill net effort targets and trap netting for up to 22 weeks (mid-May through late-October), annually. In 2023, netting operations will be from mid-July through mid-October 2023.

Boat Specifications:

The Offeror is expected to use at least two contractor-owned boats All offeror boats are expected to be compliant with Coast Guard approved safety equipment. Up-to-date Sonar and GPS equipment will be necessary for accurate net placement, recording, and locating set nets. Boat engine emissions must meet the highest of standards.

Contractor-owned boats will be at least 32 feet long and will be powered by diesel inboard drive systems. Two of the contractor-owned boats are expected to have fully enclosed work areas and be similar in design to the NPS Freedom (typical Great Lakes gill netting boat design; Figure 6). One of the contractor-owned boats will be a large open-deck boat with small forward cabin design. It is expected this boat will have a hull design that allows greater speed for accessing remote lake areas and that the boat will be used for trap netting.

All routine boat maintenance is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure target effort units are met. It is expected that boat mechanical failures, including major engine and transmission failures, will be fixed immediately (within days) by the Offeror. This includes all routine maintenance and repairs on the NPS-owned Freedom. It also includes winterization, removal from the water, and preparation for over-winter storage at Bridge Bay Marina on stands in an open area. Catastrophic repairs (in excess of $10,000) needed to the Freedom will be the responsibility of the NPS.

Up-to-date Sonar and Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment will be necessary for accurate net placement, recording, and locating set nets. Boat engine emissions must meet the highest standards, as the first priority of the NPS is to protect the pristine environment of the Yellowstone Lake Ecosystem.

Boats used for gill net operations must be outfitted to process 300-ft gillnets typically set in gangs of 4,500 to 18,000 feet of net between marking buoys and anchors, fishing on the bottom in water as deep as 200 feet. A hydraulic net lifter is expected to be an essential piece of equipment for gillnetting operation on each boat.

Gill Net Requirements and Specifications

Gill nets for the 2023 season will be provided by NPS. The Offeror is expected to provide all repairs and construction of all gill nets for the program during additional years of fishing, 2024-2027, including those used concurrently by NPS netting operations (which achieve approximately 18,000 effort units each season). Sufficient gill nets will be required for the Offeror and NPS gill netting operations to achieve 100,000 effort units annually. All nets must be either newly constructed or have previously only been fished in Yellowstone Lake waters to ensure they are free of harmful Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS).

Numbers in each mesh size will be finalized at the end of each fishing season and updated each year the contract options are awarded. At the end of the fishing season, all nets used by the offeror that season will be examined by the Offeror and graded for condition according to whether they need to be replaced, restrung, or repaired or remain in new condition. All nets will be repaired or replaced as needed by the Offeror for the following field seasons to ensure the gear remains in excellent fishing condition.

The Offeror is responsible for all construction, repair, and re-hanging work required to keep the nets fishing at maximum efficiency throughout the season. Each season from 2024-2027 this is expected to include approximately 420 nets fished the prior season that will need repair by rehanging or reconstruction (replacing panels or mending), or other repair work to ensure the nets remain in excellent fishing condition. Newly constructed and repaired nets should be of the following specifications:

· Total length 300’

· Lead Line – 30# - 50# Lead Core

· Float Line –float line with plastic deep-water corks sufficient to keep netting upright

· Bridle Construction – ¼” Meter with 9” phrases to minimize tear out, minimize twisting, and facilitate efficient and simple means of ganging multiple nets. Looped bridles for strength and ease of attachment.

· Seaming twine – 9 thread tarred/coated

· Phrase Length – All meshes and selvage hung on ½ basis

Gill Net Box Requirements and Specifications

The Offeror is expected to provide sufficient numbers of net boxes for handling and storage of required gill nets (Figure 8). The net boxes will be, constructed of high density polyethylene, with the following dimensions:

· Top: 36" x 24"

· Bottom: 28" x 16"

· Depth: 11"

Trapnetting:

Trapnetting will be conducted on a large open-deck boat, staffed by an experienced captain and crew, and equipped to handle setting, lifting, retrieving, and moving deep water trap nets. Trap nets will be deployed and fished five weeks mid-July through August, exact dates to be determined in consultation with NPS biologist in 2023. Nine deep-water trap nets will be maintained and lifted at least twice per week to check for fish and remove any lake trout. Researchers will be onboard to tag/mark Yellowstone cutthroat trout and lake trout as needed. All live Yellowstone cutthroat trout will be released. All lake trout will be measured and checked for total length, sex, and maturity level. Trap-netting is expected to occur up to 12 weeks in additional years of the contract.

Data Collection:

The Offeror will accurately collect data on net site location and collected fish as requested by the NPS. Data to be collected may be as minimal as net set location, beginning and ending GPS locations, set depth, number, and species of fish caught per net type. Other data that may be requested to be collected could include fish length, weight, maturity level, and tissue samples. Captain and crew will be required to work closely with Yellowstone Park employees and to take direction from NPS biologists and law enforcement rangers. Captain and crew must maintain professionalism while abiding by rules and regulations associated with working and residing within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. NPS Biologists each week will closely monitor netting logs (data sheets) maintained by the Offeror to ensure that adequate progress is being made towards meeting the gillnetting effort target by season end.

Research Assistance:

Assistance is expected in the form of consultation in the development of research plans, and from crews on the lake in capturing and handling fish, tagging fish for movement studies, marking and recapturing fish for population estimates, or providing fish carcasses for suppression efforts.

Housing:

Housing for personnel must be provided by the Offeror. NPS will provide housing with beds for up to 5 contract employees in the Yellowstone Lake area. The Offeror must provide at least one mobile home and 6 two-bedroom (>24 feet) RV travel trailers (or more) to ensure adequate housing for required crews to meet annual gill and trap netting effort benchmarks on Yellowstone Lake. The Offeror is also expected to provide for company office space. The mobile home must be 14 feet by 60 feet (or similar) with at least 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and furnished, delivered and set up. NPS will provide RV sites with electrical, water, and septic at Lake Village, Grant Village, and/or Canyon. The Offeror may be required to provide additional mobile homes and/or RV units to house larger crews in option years of this contract. All housing purchased under this contract will remain the property of NPS at the conclusion of the contract.

At an elevation of 7,800 feet, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. Unique and sensitive geothermal features are found on the bottom of the lake. Damage to these resources by gillnetting, trap-netting, or other netting strategy operations must be avoided.

Instructions for Interested Parties, Capabilities:

If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information via email to Stacy_Vallie@nps.gov:

1)

Name of Firm:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Duns Number:

2) Size status/SBA certification: Mark all that apply (See FAR Part 19, Small Business Programs):

󠆢Small Business (meets size standard for NAICS or Non-manufacturer)

󠆢Women Owned Small Business (WOSB)

󠆢Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Business (EDWOSB)

󠆢HUBZone

󠆢Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)

󠆢Other (specify)_____________________

󠆢Large Business

3) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. Your email capability information MUST be 10 pages or less and be SPECIFIC to the scope provided for your company and any major proposed subcontractor.

Sources sought responses are due no later than March 20, 2023, by 0800 MDT.

Question submissions:

All questions must be submitted to the contract specialist at Stacy_Vallie@nps.gov. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise, resulting from a response to this Sources Sought.