SOW_NRI_BLM_SoCal 2025_Final.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK FOR NATIONAL RESOURCES INVENTORY

GRAZING LAND ON-SITE DATA COLLECTION - SOCAL

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE

2025-2029

A. GENERAL

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture is mandated (through the Rural Development Act of 1972, the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, and other supporting legislation) to assess the status, condition, and trends of soil, water, and related resources on the Nation’s non-Federal lands.

Resources inventory legislative authorities, NRCS policy, and responsibilities for conducting the National Resource Inventory (NRI) are contained in NRCS General Manual 290, Part 400.

Separate authorities govern NRCS completing NRI on Federal lands under agreement with other federal agencies. In order to accomplish this task, the NRCS will award one contract that requires the successful contractor to collect rangeland resources data on selected sample sites (points) for the 2025 NRI Grazing Land On-Site Field Study in Southern California. Options for four additional years are also included.

B. DEFINITIONS

1. Contractor as used in these specifications refers to the service provider selected to perform the work defined in this contract.

2. Contracting Officer (CO). The duly appointed and warranted government agent authorized to enter into, administer or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings.

The contracting officer is the only person authorized to contractually obligate the government.

The contracting officer is responsible for ensuring performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensuring that the requirements of all pertinent laws, regulations, etc.

have been met, ensuring compliance with the terms of the contract, and safeguarding the interests of the United States in its contractual relationships. The contracting officer ensures that sufficient funds are available for government contractual obligation and ensures that all contractors receive impartial, fair and equitable treatment in the solicitation process.

3. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The Contracting Officer will appoint and delegate in writing limited authority for certain contract related decisions to an NRCS employee who will serve as the COR. The COR Appointment Letter details exactly what responsibilities lie within the scope of the COR's authority. The COR will notify the CO of recommendations for technical acceptance or rejection by the Government of all articles and services required to be furnished and/or performed under the contract; will receive, for the Government, all articles and services called for by the contract and will represent the Contracting Officer in the technical phases of the work. The COR monitors the Contractor's performance to ensure compliance with technical requirements of the contract, verifies and certifies that the items have been inspected and meet the requirements of the contract. The COR notifies the CO if performance is not meeting the requirements of the contract.

4. Segments (formerly referenced as Primary Sampling Unit) and Points. The NRI sample

GRAZING LAND ON-SITE DATA COLLECTION

was selected on a county-by-county basis, using a stratified, two-stage, area sampling scheme.

The two-stage sampling units are nominally square segments of land, and points within the segments. The segments are typically a half-mile-square parcel of land equivalent to 160-acre quarter-sections in the Public land Survey System, but there are some exceptions in the western and northeastern states. Three specific sample point locations are selected for most selected segments, although two were selected for 40-acre segments in irrigated portions of some western States, and some segments originally contained only one sample point. Certain data elements are collected for the entire segment; while others are collected at the sample points. For Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection, data are collected at the sample points;

data are collected for up to two points for each sample segment.

C. REFERENCE MATERIALS

1. Instructions, NRI Handbook of Instructions for Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection https://grazingland.cssm.iastate.edu/site-data-collection-handbook-instructions

2. Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils Version 3.0; USDA NRCS https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/research/guide/?cid=nrcs142p2_0 54184

3. Technical Reference 1734-4, 1999, Sampling Vegetation Attributes; see https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1044175.pdf

4. NRCS Field Office Technical Guide, select California; see https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/#/

5. NRCS National Range and Pasture Handbook, Revision 1, December 2003 https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=17734.wba

6. Technical Reference 1734-6 2020, Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, Version 5; see https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Interpreting_Indicators_1734- 6_ver5_08272020 %281%29.pdf

7. Ecological Site Descriptions https://edit.jornada.nmsu.edu/catalogs/esd

8. USDA NRCS National Plants Database; see http://plants.usda.gov/index.html

9. USDA NRCS Plants Invasive; see https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants

10. California Invasive Plant Species; see https://www.cal-ipc.org/plants/inventory/

D. CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

The NRI program is based upon rigorous scientific sample survey protocols. These protocols include maintaining and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of data gathering sites.

USDA and NRCS policy states that: “The geographic locations of data gathering sites used for USDA’s NRI are not public information and are to be used only for purposes of official NRI data gathering activities or for such purposes approved by the Secretary.” All of the contractor’s data gatherers shall sign a Confidentiality Statement under United States Code (USC), Title 18, Section 1905; USC, Title7, Section 2276 and USC, Title 7, Section 2240 for non-disclosure of confidential information relative to data site locations and/or private/corporate non-use of https://grazingland.cssm.iastate.edu/site-data-collection-handbook-instructions https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/research/guide/?cid=nrcs142p2_054184 https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/research/guide/?cid=nrcs142p2_054184 https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1044175.pdf https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/#/ https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=17734.wba https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Interpreting_Indicators_1734-6_ver5_08272020%20%281%29.pdf https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Interpreting_Indicators_1734-6_ver5_08272020%20%281%29.pdf https://edit.jornada.nmsu.edu/catalogs/esd http://plants.usda.gov/index.html https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants composite data. The Confidentiality Statement shall be signed prior to starting data collection.

The NRI data that identifies owners, operators, or data collection sites are not to be released to the public. See Attachment #2 “Confidentiality Certification and Request for Access to National Resources Inventory (NRI) Data.”

E. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Attend NRCS provided training

Training and calibration must be completed prior to commencing field data collection.

Field Data Collection Commence on or about March of the current inventory year. Data collection complete no later than July 31 of the current inventory year (unless otherwise Negotiated)

Data transmission to ISU server

Segments must be electronically transferred to the ISU server no later than 15 days after commencing field data collection for said segments. All segments (to include digital camera images) must be returned to the ISU server no later than midnight August 15 of the current inventory year, Pacific Time.

Segment data deemed inaccessible in field determination

Required documentation must be delivered to the Government no later than 5 working days after determination property cannot be accessed to collect data.

Government Furnished Property/Material (GFP/GFM)

All GFP/GFM shall be returned to the Government no later than August 30 of the current inventory year.

Final Invoicing No later than August 30 of the current inventory year.

Map 1. Expected NRI Data Collection Periods by MLRA for California

F. DESCRIPTION OF WORK - Bureau of Land Management Federal points

The contractor(s) shall furnish the necessary personnel, material, equipment, services and facilities, except as otherwise specified, to perform the effort described below. Documentation guidance for implementing the requirements of this contract is outlined in Paragraph C. Reference Materials.

Overview: This contract requires collection of rangeland resources data at sample points found within selected sample segment boundaries on federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands for a period of up to five years. The specific segments and points are announced annually by the National NRI program manager during the second quarter of the Federal fiscal year. A task order will be issued once the annual list of segments and points is published. Note: No amount will be guaranteed on the contract beyond the minimum guarantee. Spatial data will be provided which identifies the coordinates of each point for the fiscal year season. These segments are located in Inyo, Riverside, San Bernardino, and potentially adjacent counties (i.e. Imperial, Mono, Kern) in southern California. Each inventory segment is roughly 160 acres in size and typically contains three points; field data will be collected for a maximum of two points at each segment. In some instances, only one point within a specific segment may be available due to accessibility, eligibility, or cultural resource issues. In the Base Year 2025, there are approximately 144 inventory segments with a maximum of 288 points selected for data collection (see Attachment #5 FY25 County Table).

Data are to be collected by data collection teams consisting of two or more members. Minimum Data Collector qualifications and requirements are as follows:

(i) Data collection teams proposed by offeror must, at a minimum, include at least one individual with a Bachelor’s Degree in Range Management; and have experience in the following:

• Working in Western states in the field of rangeland management,

• Ecological Site Descriptions (ESD) (Technical Guide Sec II; Part F) and Forage

Suitability Groups (Technical Guide Sec II; Part E)

• Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to navigate to sample sites.

• Use of soil survey information

• Apparent rangeland trend,

• Rangeland health and health indicators,

• Plant identification,

• Rangeland resource concerns.

• Rangeland Conservation Practices

• Rangeland line point transects,

• Rangeland line intercept transects,

• Rangeland vegetation cover, density and height measurement.

(ii) Data collection teams proposed by offeror must, at a minimum, include an individual with at least six (6) semester hours of soils courses (including at least one course in Soil Morphology and in Soil Survey); and

(iii) Data collectors must have a minimum of two (2) years of formal undergraduate training in biological or earth sciences.

Data collection will be conducted on public land managed by BLM. The NRCS will clear the points for data collection with BLM prior to release of the data to the contractor for data collection each season. The contractor can contact the local BLM office for directions if needed, but should not rely solely on BLM for this information. If crossing private land to access the BLM site is necessary, the contractor will coordinate with the local BLM office and/or the local NRCS office to gain landowner permission to cross said private land. However, the contractor should not rely solely on the government for private landowner permission to cross private land.

The contractor has ultimate responsibility to secure private landowner permission prior to accessing the site. Private landowners may refuse permission to access or cross their land to reach the points on the BLM land. When this occurs, the contractor will not enter or cross the private land and will not be paid for that point.

The contractor(s) shall enter the data collected on site into a hand-held computer using NRCS approved Computer Assisted Survey Instruments (CASI). The contractor will directly transmit the data from the CASI to the USDA NRCS Iowa State University Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology located in Ames, Iowa. In the event of hardware or software failure in the field, the contractor may use NRCS approved paper forms to collect the data to enhance data collection efficiency as necessary prior to entry into the CASI by the contractor.

1. Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection: The contractor shall collect data for the following elements in accordance with the standards outlined in the Handbook of Instructions for the NRI Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection, reports, site locations maps and aerial photographs furnished by the COR. The data shall be free of errors and be collected in a logical order with a minimal number of trips to the field for data collection. To be considered complete, range data collection protocols will be collected for range points and certified by NRCS. Work shall begin on or about March of the current inventory year and be completed in accordance with the table set forth at section E (“Period of Performance”) of this Statement of Work. The Handbook is available online; the link is listed in section C (“Reference Materials”). Highlights in the protocol are covered below.

a. GPS Navigation and Point Coordinate Capture – navigate to and record data point position with a hand-held GPS device

b. Transect Layout; (2) 150 foot linear transects NE/SW-NW/SE intersecting as an “X” at the 75-foot mark

c. (98) Digital photos of the transects per point labeled as per instructions

d. Ownership – NRI ownership code

e. Land Cover/Use – NRI cover/use code

f. Soil Observation(s) to determine/verify the soil component

• Dig a hole to a depth (a minimum of 20 inches) necessary to identify the soil component

• Take a photo of the soil profile as per instructions

• Conduct soil evaluation

• Record details (i.e. depth, texture, soil texture modifier, effervescence class, any unusual features) for each mineral soil horizon

• Determine and select soil component

g. Landscape parameters

• Vertical Slope Shape

• Horizontal Slope Shape

• Slope Percent

• Slope Length

• Slope Aspect

h. Ecological Site Information

• Rangeland Cover Type Name

• Historic Major Land Resource Area (MLRA)

• Ecological Site Number

• Ecological Site/Soil Correlation

• Apparent Rangeland Trend

• Use questions (grazing, haying)

i. Rangeland Health

• Indicators of Rangeland Health (17 attributes to achieve indicator summary of

Soil/Site Stability, Biotic Integrity and Hydrologic Function)

j. Disturbance Indicators

k. Identification of Conservation Practices Applied and needed; Yes/No (14) NRCS

Technical Guide Section IV; Part C

• Brush management (314)

• Prescribed Burning (338)

• Pond (378)

• Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment (380)

• Fence (382)

• Riparian Herbaceous Cover (390)Pipeline (516)

• Prescribed Grazing (528)

• Grazing Land Mechanical Treatment (548)

• Range Planting (550)

• Spring Development (574)

• Trail and Walkways (575)

• Watering Facility (614)

• Water Well (642)

l. Identification of Resource Concerns; Yes/No (NRCS Technical Guide Section V; Part A)

• Soil erosion (6 concerns)

• Soil condition (3 concerns)

• Water quantity (3 concerns)

• Water quality (2 concerns)

• Plant condition (5 concerns)

• Domestic Animals (1 concern)

m. Soil Stability Test – when insufficient root mat exists (9 samples)

n. Transect Vegetation Data

• Line Point Transects for Cover Composition

• Record plant canopy cover by species (up to six species) at three-foot intervals along two 150 foot transects

• Record basal cover at the same points by plant species, or lichen cover, or moss, or rock fragments, or none (bare soil)

• There are 50 points on each transect

o. Line Intercept Transects: for Canopy Gaps

• Record the beginning and end of plant canopy gaps (all foliar, perennial) greater than 1.0 foot to the nearest 1/10th of a foot

• Plant material may be dead or alive

• Uses the same transects as the Line Point Transects

p. Plant Height

• Record the maximum height, in inches, of the tallest rooted plant that is nearest to the three-foot intervals along two 150 foot transects

2. Landowner Permission: If BLM site access requires crossing private land, the contractor will coordinate with the local BLM office to gain landowner permission to cross said private land.

However, the contractor should not rely solely on BLM for private landowner permission to cross private land. The contractor has ultimate responsibility to secure private landowner permission to access private land. Landowner permissions are not always available, and the contractor will not be paid for points when permission is not granted.

3. Training: Training requirements each year may be subject to change. Every grazing lands onsite data collection must be conducted by an authorized technical leader, accompanied by one or more crew members. Each of the collectors must be authorized by the COR’s representative annually before collecting data. Authorization is based on the combination of training and experience as indicated:

• Crew Members. A crew member for a grazing lands onsite collection must attend one of the following the same year as the collection:

o Grazing lands onsite training conducted by the Employee Development Section

(EDS)

o Grazing lands onsite training conducted locally by a national grazing lands trainer o Grazing lands onsite training conducted by an authorized technical leader The current year training may be waived if the crew member was also a crew member the previous year, conducted data collections at five or more points, and attended an approved training session.

• Technical Leader. The technical leader for any grazing lands onsite collection must:

o Have been previously qualified as a crew member and acted as a crew member for data collections at five or more points, led by an authorized technical leader.

o Have attended the EDS grazing lands onsite training for the year conducting collection as a technical leader.

The current year training may be waived if the technical leader was also a technical leader the previous year, acted as technical leader for data collections at five or more points, and attended an approved training session.

4. Deliverables: Payment will only be made for deliverables that meet contract quality standards submitted to and accepted by the Government. The contractor(s) shall submit the following:

a. Segment Data Collection: Completed segments shall include:

1) All field data collection and data entry into the hand-held computer using the NRCS approved Computer Assisted Survey Instrument (CASI), any required follow-up calculations, and verification so that all data has fully passed all electronic completion checks on the CASI (designated as “completed/CO” status) and has been transmitted electronically to the Statistical Laboratory, Iowa State University (ISU), Ames Iowa as per specifications outlined in the “Handbook of Instructions for NRI Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection.” All segment and point data elements must pass the completion check on the CASI to meet “completed/CO” status before being transmitted to the ISU server. In order to ensure data safety and security, segments must be electronically transferred to the ISU server no later than 15 days after commencing field data collection for said segments. Only a maximum of 10 segments can be on the CASI at any time, so they must be completed before more can be downloaded. No partially completed segments in non-completed status (designated as uncompleted/“UC”) will be accepted. All segments must be returned to the ISU server no later than midnight August 15, 2025, Pacific Time.

A point may be designated as Inaccessible in Office and no field visit is attempted in circumstances where the site map, commonly used ancillary references, GIS or other data, or previous inventory attempts indicates the point is CLEARLY ineligible or inaccessible”, as discussed in the NRI Handbook. Contractor will consult with COR as needed to make an Inaccessible in Office determination. No payment will be made for points deemed Inaccessible in Office.

2) The required digital imagery associated with each site as per the NRI Handbook of Instructions for Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection. All digital imagery must be labeled as per the NRI Handbook and uploaded via the ISU website no later than midnight August 15, 2025, Pacific Time.

b. Points Deemed Inaccessible in Field Designation: Points deemed to be inaccessible after the contractor has attempted travel to them require certain conditions be met and the contractor to provide documentation of the attempt for payment to be made (see Section O for specific details). Documentation may include but is not limited to:

a) GPS coordinates of location where access was impeded

b) dated photographs of access situation (locked gate, washed out road, etc.)

c) a detailed description of the circumstances which prevented data collection at the point.

c. Training: The Contractor shall successfully complete the required training course and calibration exercise, and provide all required documentation listed in Section F.4 Training, prior to beginning data collection. The Government will accept delivery upon demonstration of successful completion of the required training and initial calibration exercise, and upon acceptance of all documentation required in Section F.4 Training.

G. QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA)/PERFORMANCE-BASED REQUIREMENTS

The Government will coordinate the evaluation of Contractor performance. NRCS will provide Quality Assurance Reviews (QAR) for at least 10% of collected data for segments. QARs will consist of an in-field review, and/or review of data submitted to the ISU server by the Contractor.

A minimum of one week prior to invoicing, a list of the completed segments will be submitted to the Government POC for QAR. Any issues relative to the quality or correctness of collected data will be corrected by the contractor as soon as possible. The Contractor will transmit corrected segments, as needed, to the ISU server as described in Section F(3)(a). Contractor is required to participate in periodic calibration exercises. Such calibration exercises shall be required no more than two times during data collection after initial training and calibration. Calibration exercises are in addition to the training required by Section K of this Statement of Work.

I. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, MATERIALS, AND FACILITIES

1. Government Furnished Property (GFP): Property supplied by the NRCS shall only be used for direct performance of the work specified in this contract. Use for purposes other than this contract is prohibited. NRCS will maintain the GFP and will provide access to all equipment manuals for provided equipment. NRCS will provide the following GFP items: Jornada soil stability test kit, hand-held computer loaded with the NRCS Computer Assisted Survey Instrument (CASI) software, GPS (Bad Elf Mini), portable charger/powerbank, cables and vehicle chargers if available and applicable. All GFP must be returned by the Contractor to the COR at the end of the performance period, as identified in Section E, in full working condition.

The final invoice will not be processed for payment until all equipment have been returned, in good working order, to the COTR or their designee.

2. Government Furnished Materials (GFM): The NRCS will provide GFM in the form of NRI segment support materials including legal descriptions and aerial photographs of each segment with the segment boundary and data collection points located and labeled. Soil Maps will also be provided. Additional information may be provided by the NRCS. Materials will be delivered by the performance start date, once BLM access permission has been obtained. All NRI support materials must be returned to NRCS at the end of the performance period.

3. Contractor Responsibility for GFP and GFM: The contractor shall notify the COR in writing within two working days after the discovery of lost, damaged, or destroyed GFP or GFM.

The notification shall include the specific Property Number or other identifying codes and property nomenclature; the circumstances surrounding the loss, damage, or destruction; estimated cost of alleviating the problem, if appropriate; and the expected impact on provision of Contractor services. The contractor may be held financially liable for any shortage, loss, damage, or destruction of GFP as determined by the CO. Deductions will be made to the contractor’s payment accordingly.

J. CONTRACTOR PROVIDED PROPERTY

The contractor shall furnish all property, etc. to perform this contract that is not specifically identified as GFP or GFM above. This is expected to include, but is not limited to:

• (2) 150’ tapes with 0.1-inch increments

• 6 to 10 survey pins

• 6 to 10 wire flags

• Compass

• Clinometer

• Soil auger or sharp shooter shovel

• Survey pole or some other measuring stick for plant height measurements

• Dry erase board, markers

• 10x magnifying lens for plant identification

• Deionized water (any noncarbonated bottled water except mineral water, for soil stability test)

• Small spray bottle with very fine mist

• Small bottle of 10% hydrochloric acid solution to test for calcareous soils

• Digital Camera / Or CASI Collection Device Camera

• Soil knife

• Metal dimeter tape (metric) with multimeter gradations

• Laptop or desktop computer with Microsoft™ Windows operating system with communications hardware and software enabling connection to the internet.

• Internet access to the ISU server for segment/point data transmission.

• Transportation to and from sample sites.

K. NRCS-PROVIDED TRAINING -NRI Grazing Land On-Site Data Collection

Prior to data collection, technical leader(s) must attend a NRCS National NRI Grazing Land On- Site Data Collection training (estimated duration: 3 days) in first year, and at a minimum every other year thereafter. Crew member(s) shall attend a NRCS approved training/calibration session on study protocols annually, conducted locally by an authorized technical leader.. To be authorized to collect data: one must attend training provided, participate in calibration and be within required limits, and pass the written test. There will be no charge for the NRCS provided training. Any associated travel and personnel costs should be included in the per-unit price for training. In addition, each contractor will be required to complete no more than two additional data collection calibrations onsite with the NRCS officials during the data collection season.

Interested contractors should include their cost to complete the calibrations in the per-unit price.

L. TELECONFERENCES

"As-needed" teleconferences with NRCS shall be scheduled whenever requested by the COR or the contractor to review items including progress, questions relating to the project, work revised, or decisions which need to be made with the intention of expediting the completion of the contract.

M. REVIEW PROCEDURES

Work completed by the contractor will be reviewed and approved by the COR.

N. CHANGES

Throughout the period of this contract the contractor can expect to receive government directed changes to the manner in which processes are being performed. Changes include minor changes in data collection instructions and data collection software. Directives may be received in the form of, but not limited to, memoranda, and other informal means of communication.

The contractor shall immediately implement changes to processes approved by the COR that result in a decrease to or no change in the contract price. A proposal documenting the decreased cost will be submitted within 10 working days. Any changes that result in increases in price can only be approved by the CO. A proposal showing the revised work and increased cost must be submitted to the CO and approved in a written modification before commencing the change in work.

O. PAYMENT

Payment shall be made in accordance with the contract requirements at the price per unit (point) as outlined below. Payment will only be made for deliverables that meet contract quality standards submitted to and accepted by the Government.

Note: Points where the contractor is unable to obtain permission from private landowners to cross their property for access to the BLM site will not be visited and will not be paid. Points where the land use type can be readily seen on the supplied aerial photos to be other than rangeland will not be visited and will not be paid.

1. Segment Data Collection: Segments are considered complete when 1) the segment has been transmitted with a “CO” status to the database located at the USDA NRCS Iowa State University Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology located in Ames, Iowa, and 2) when the digital images associated with the segment have been uploaded to the ISU website. Once the Quality Assurance Review has been completed by the Government POC, the Government POC will authorize submission of invoice for payment.

The Contractor invoice will list the points completed since the last invoice. Payment will only be made for a completed segment (as defined above) that meets contract quality standards and is successfully transmitted to the ISU server and accepted by the Government.

Invoices for this deliverable shall be submitted against the CLIN titled “Federal Points”.

2. Data Points Deemed Inaccessible in Field Designation: Points deemed to be inaccessible after the contractor has attempted travel to them will receive a portion of a full point payment provided the following conditions are met:

1) In the event transit across private land is necessary to access the BLM segment, permission was obtained from the private landowner,

2) Contractor notifies the Government POC regarding access problem within 5 working days of attempted access, and

3) Contractor must physically have attempted travel to the point and document it by field capture of a GPS waypoint at the nearest location the Contractor was able to traverse to before concluding access was not possible. This field-captured GPS location shall be provided to the COR’s representative, and

4) While attempting to access the point, Contractor was prevented from accessing the point by any of the following circumstances:

a. A locked gate (Requires a photograph of the locked gate as documentation);

b. The only way to access the point is by traversing very steep, and/or dangerous terrain, consistent with previous attempts by NRI staff to access the point.

c. A subsequent change in ownership resulting in denied permission to access point

(Requires documentation of new ownership to be provided);

d. Point is greater than 2.5 miles from a road or trail, consistent with previous inventory attempts by NRI staff to access the point (Contractor shall document on a topographic map);

e. Change in land use/cover at the point, unbeknownst to the Contractor and not discernable from most recent imagery, that causes the land use/cover selection to dis-quality the point from inventory as assigned

f. Where current or post-wildfire hazards put personnel at an unreasonable risk of injury;

g. Road washouts or similar travel hazards prevent access (Contractor shall document by a

GPS waypoint location and a photograph of the barrier);

h. Permission to access the point(s) is withdrawn by the private landowner after the

Contractor has begun to incur travel costs (documentation required);

Other conditions or circumstances deemed reasonable by the COR.

For Data Points Deemed Inaccessible in Field Designation events, payment will only be made after inspection of documentation and acceptance by the Government of the required deliverables.

Payment will be made for a maximum of two points per segment.

Invoices for this deliverable shall be submitted against the CLIN titled “Points deemed inaccessible in field designation”.

-----------------End of Statement of Work--------------------------------