Statement_of_Work_(SOW).pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

RANGE SITE & RANGE CONDITION SURVEY

Section I - INTRODUCTION This contract is for a range site and range condition survey. A principal objective for Indian trust range is to improve and preserve the forage, soil, wildlife, watershed and recreational value of these lands. Biological and ecological facts obtainable only through range surveys are necessary for accomplishment of these objectives. Bureau of Indian Affairs staffing limitations have precluded adequate resource inventories of the nature required for proper rangeland management.

Section II – PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Contractor shall conduct a range site and condition class survey on 43,451 acres of trust range located in Buffalo, Hyde and Hughes Counties, within the exterior boundary of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. The reservation lies in south central South Dakota.

Section III - SCOPE The Contractor shall provide all supplies, materials, transportation and personnel to gather, compile and interpret ecological site, similarity index and other resource data required by this contract. All reports shall be delivered in hard copy and in a digital format. The final report shall be written in Microsoft Word and all tabular data shall be compiled in Excel.

All work must be completed by or under the supervision of competent professional personnel. All range survey work must be conducted by or under the direct supervision of individuals meeting the basic civil service requirements for Rangeland Management Specialists and must be certified through the Society for Range Management, NRCS conservation planning certification, or be able to show enough relevant experience in lieu of certification. A project supervisor, meeting the above professional requirements must be available to review and correlate field personnel to insure technical adequacy of work completed. All project management and supervision will be the responsibility of the Contractor.

Section IV - STATEMENT OF WORK Statement of work for range site and condition survey on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation.

A. The Contractor shall delineate for each management unit (Range Unit), ecological site boundaries on field sheets and base maps in a GIS format for each ecological site on Indian trust lands. A similarity index survey will be completed for all ecological sites on Indian trust lands within the boundary of Buffalo, Hyde and Hughes Counties. Range sites have been previously mapped on approximately 100% of the survey area.

1. All GIS coverages will be in an ArcGIS shape file format. The projection shall be UTM. Datum will be NAD 83. Units will be meters. The zone will be 14. Coverages will contain a metadata file defining each of the above conditions following Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standards

2. Edge types (ecological sites, similarity index classes, production, prairie dog towns, fence-lines and other infrastructure) shall be consistent along common borders between quads and photos.

B. The current National Range and Pasture Handbook of the Natural Resources

Conservation Service shall be used as the basic document for inventory procedures and standards. The latest ecological site descriptions for Buffalo, Hyde and Hughes Counties, South Dakota will be used for each vegetation zone when the survey is conducted. Similarity index and trend will be determined and compared to the reference or historic climax plant community.

C. The double sampling method of weight estimate and plot clipping will be used for determination of species composition and production. A technician will visit each ecological site. The number of plots per ecological site and ratio of plots estimated to plots sampled will be determined through analysis of uniformity or complexity of plant communities and species composition.

D. Natural or management barriers will always be considered as similarity index breaks. Similarity index breaks that do not coincide with natural or management barriers will not ordinarily be made with less than 20% difference in similarity index. Judgment must be exercised in applying this guideline.

E. The Contractor shall provide the following for each Management unit (range unit) and range-site condition class delineation, in accordance with previously stated standards:

1. Field write-up describing:

a. Relative species composition based upon weight. Total annual production (estimation or clipping).

b. Degree of immediate past use (including kinds of using animals).

c. Use adjustment factors (in %).

d. Judgments as to current forage vigor, soil erosion, amount of litter and relative growing season favorability.

e. Unusual or noteworthy aspects of the area which might affect use of management (such as poisonous plant or noxious weed infestations, prairie dogs or other rodent activity). etc.

2. Computations of

a. Range condition.

b. Useable production

(Final determination of range condition will be based upon evaluation of both species composition relative to potential, and useable production.)

3. Delineate within range site boundaries, changes in vegetative condition or yield which are great enough to change condition class. Each delineation must be described by information listed in E 1 and 2 above.

4. Recommend a stocking rate for each specific management unit (range unit) delineation expressed in surface acres per animal unit month.

(AC/AUM) and tables showing data used to calculate the stocking rates.

5. Make management recommendations to initiate range recovery in range units or sites which require immediate attention to prevent further deterioration.

6. Provide updated information on the correct location and condition of features encountered during the course of the field examination (water developments, fences, springs cultivated lands etc.)

Section V - BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS FURNISHED MATERIALS

The Government will furnish, for the Contractor's use, their best available data for inspection and use at the appropriate government field office. Every reasonable effort will be made to furnish copies of these types of data for the Contractor's use off-site;

however, no guarantee is made for this service. Other necessary data includes soil survey maps, agency plat maps, field mapping legends, etc. All materials furnished by the Government must be afforded reasonable care by the Contractor and are to be returned in a useful condition at the end of the project. Any such material lost, stolen, damaged and/or destroyed while in the care of the Contractor must be replaced at the Contractor's expense.

The Crow Creek Natural Resource Officer may provide assistance in obtaining data or information such as technical guides, taxonomies, etc., from other sources, but final responsibility of obtaining and evaluating such material for use is the Contractor’s.

All other materials, supplies and equipment not otherwise accepted which is requested to complete the project in a timely and professional manner will be furnished by the Contractor.

Section VI – PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Supervision: The Contractor will designate, in writing, key personnel responsible for project management and clearly outline each designated individuals area of responsibility.

Recording: All records, invoices, progress reports, etc., will be identified by project location.

Reporting: Weekly status meetings may be required to check on progress. Monthly status reports will be submitted in writing to the Crow Creek Agency Natural Resource Officer.

Section VII - BIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RANGE CONDITION REPORT

The Contractor will submit a completed final report covering a summary of the work completed and the results to the Agency Superintendent upon completion of the contract.

The report should be the calculated stocking rates breakdown of how they were calculated. The information supplied will be restricted for their official use.

Section VIII – PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance shall be from November 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022. Final reports shall be delivered the Crow Creek Natural Resource Officer by November 1, 2022.

Section IX - DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

The Contractor or their agents shall not disclose or disseminate any data material or information assembled in the performance of this contract to a third party, without prior written approval of the Chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.

Section X - POINT OF CONTACT

For technical questions and status reports contact Jerrod Looft, Natural Resource Officer at 605-245-2007 or jerrod.looft@bia.gov. For submitting the final report, contact Patrick Duffy, Superintendent at 605-245-2000 or patrick.duffy@bia.gov.

Range Unit Tribal Acres Allotted Acres Acre/AUM Total Acres 1 241.03 879.95 1.7 1120.98 5 2719.53 1160.26 2 3879.79 7 1642 1824.7 2.2 3466.7 8 1558.71 499.87 1.8 2058.58 9 3225.03 1831.98 2.2 5057.01

10 231.72 759.94 2.5 991.66 18 3169.54 1915.13 2.6 5084.67 21 2586.25 688.46 2.4 3274.71 23 2075.15 798.1 2.7 2873.25

23A 0 1113 2.7 1113 24 2079.9 640 2.2 2179.9 25 2323.75 1465 2.2 3788.75 27 3766.28 718 2.4 4484.28 28 1251.28 240 2.4 1491.28 30 372 0 2.5 372 31 108.5 278.3 1.9 386.8 32 640.3 160 2 800.3 35 353.36 673.76 2.5 1027.12

Total: 43450.78