USACE_Recreation_PWS_04_15_2020.doc

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

A HISTORY OF THE USACE RECREATION MISSION FROM 1944 TO THE PRESENT

1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Office of History, HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing a series of survey histories on selected topics on the history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from the American Revolution to the present. The contractor will research and write a volume in that series focusing on the history of the USACE Recreation mission from 1944 to the present. The text will be accompanied by informative and visually appealing images.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

This approximately 40,000-word volume will trace the history of USACE Recreation from 1944 to the present. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the Nation's largest federal provider of outdoor recreation, hosting nearly 385 million visitors a year at 4,300 recreation areas in 46 states. Its lakes and parks include over 100,000 campsites, 2,100 miles of trails and host 33 percent of all freshwater lake fishing in the United States. This study will document the historical background of the Corps recreation mission from a national perspective. It will track emergence of the relevant legal authorities and the political backdrop to the these laws as well as the broader context in which they emerged – including mass suburbanization, economic and geographic decentralization, a deepening American dependence on automobiles and, by the 1960s, the birth of the Big Dam Era and a new widespread popular interest in the natural environment. It will also discuss how the recreation mission evolved and grew while presenting a picture of the program over time. Finally, the study will identify the major challenges facing the program – both past and present – including more contemporarily requirements for park modernization to address increasing demands and flat revenues and the need for modern equipment to facilitate larger crowds and bigger Recreational Vehicles (RVs); ranger staffing and safety; and aging infrastructure.

During the preparation of the manuscript, the contractor will work closely with the editors of the comprehensive history and the contracting officer’s representative (COR) for the contract. The contractor will also read related portions of the comprehensive history in order to ensure continuity and coherence among the various volumes and coverage of all-important topics. The history to be researched and written under this contract is to be an analytical and comprehensive synthesis relying largely on printed primary and secondary sources. Archival research, in addition to that required to obtain photographs and other images, will also be necessary; and the contractor should anticipate conducting, in coordination with the editors and COR, ten days of primary source research at the National Archives (NARA) and/or other appropriate Records Centers, private collections, etc. Up to an additional twenty days of additional archival research may be authorized under Options One and Two.

3. CONTENT

In addition to the major themes identified above, the contractor will cover the following general topics including but not limited to:

· Trace the origins of USACE Park Rangers in 1886 when US Army soldiers first served to protect Yellowstone National Park. The term “ranger” was first used in 1898 when referring to special agents assigned to protect “American natural reserve areas.”

· Briefly detail overlapping periods between 1886 and 1916 of military control and civilian scouts hired by the army to serve as rangers.

· Detail the relevant legislative history of the 1944 Flood Control Act (section 4) which gave USACE the authority to construct and operate recreation facilities at reservoir projects.

· Recount the post-WWII period that set the stage for renewed interest in nature and outdoor recreational areas in an era of increasing economic prosperity.

· Describe the ways that recreation grew naturally out of post-WWII USACE involvement in water pollution control planning, municipal water supply, fish and wildlife conservation and protection.

· Describe the ways that the 1944 law was amended in 1946, 1954, 1959, and 1962 to increase and further refine USACE recreation responsibilities.

· Discuss the ways that the 1953 Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act gave the recreation mission a boost.

· Describe some of the early resistance within Congress and the Corps to the authorized recreation program including fiscal constraints and planning obstacles.

· Discuss the real estate history and the evolution of USACE land stewardship and responsibility for those lands which would later evolve into recreational areas. Be sure to discuss changes to USACE land acquisition policies after 1962 and the effect of those changes on the budding USACE Recreation Mission.

· Discuss the change in outlook within the Corps of Engineers as it accepted recreation as a valid part of its civil works construction program.

· Provide a broad overview of the construction of recreation facilities at 456 Corps projects in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

· Discuss the effects of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) in 1960 on the USACE Recreation Mission.

· Detail the role in the early 1960s of the US Senate Select Committee on National Water Resources in promoting water recreation. Also be sure to detail the role played by President John F. Kennedy.

· Describe the 1962 Flood Control Act (Section 4) which saw recreation broadened to include water resources generally (non-reservoir).

· Discuss the significance of the 1962 Senate Document no. 97 which authorized recreation as a full-fledged project purpose.

· Describe the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (BOR) – later renamed the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Services – and its role in planning.

· Describe the 1964 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act which authorized user fees and the 1965 Federal Water Project Recreation Act (PL 89-72) which established cost-sharing requirements.

· Discuss the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (LWCF) which provided the Corps and other Federal Agencies with the authority to collect recreation fees from users of Federal recreation facilities.

· Describe the successes and failures of the Code 712 Program (by memorandum dated 18 November 1966)

· Track the origins of the “modern Ranger” program in 1973 when they first received citation authority beginning in the Nashville District and then nationwide.

· Detail the 1976 WRDA (Section 120) and its impact on the recreation mission.

· Discuss the significance of the 2983 Title 18 which protected Park Managers and Park Rangers against assault.

· Discuss the significance of WRDA 1986 (PL 99-662) and subsequent WRDAs on the USACE Recreation Mission.

· Discuss the ways that budget shortfalls shaped the recreation mission and how USACE strove over the years to overcome those constraints.

· Discuss the interplay and occasional conflict between the missions of environmental stewardship and outdoor recreation.

· Describe the evolution of the safety mission from its inception to the establishment of the National Water Safety Program.

· Detail the USACE efforts in 2020 to modify operations at recreation areas due to the coronavirus.

· Identify a number of the key figures (both within and without the Corps of Engineers) in the evolution of the USACE Recreation Mission.

4. RESEARCH

The research is to be conducted in published primary, secondary, and archival sources. Published primary sources may include congressional reports, hearings, and records; Corps reports; newspapers; and published reports of other agencies. Important published and unpublished sources include the following:

· Biographies and memoirs

· General histories of the Corps of Engineers

· Articles in scholarly journals

· Materials in the research collections of the Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

· Mike Loesche Collection

· Matthias Huppoch Collection

· CEHO Oral History Collection

· Don Dixon

· Pep Persio

· Mike Ensch

· Ranger Community of Practice (CoP)

· Secondary sources including:

· USACE District and Division Histories available online.

· US Army Corps of Engineers Recreation Study: A Plan Prepared for the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), 1990.

· National Archives (NARA) – Record Group 77 (RG77)

· Also Atlanta and Mobile

The Contractor shall also conduct 8-12 roughly two hour interviews with current and/or former USACE Recreation Program Managers, Park Rangers, etc. The interviews will be recorded using high quality digital recording equipment and transcribed at the Contractor’s expense using a format provided by the government. The interviews will be conducted in Washington, DC. area of operations, defined as within a two-hour drive of the USACE HQ headquarters, and the contractor should coordinate with the COR and the Office of History to identify qualified subjects. Interviews performed outside the headquarters’ area or operations may be conducted by telephone, or if necessary, by the Contractor traveling to the desired location at government expense. All reimbursable travel expenses will be authorized separately.

5. MAJOR WORK TASKS

Base Contract

a. Prepare outline and research proposal

b. Prepare detailed outline

c. Collect photographs and prepare captions and credits

d. Prepare supporting information for charts, graphs, and maps

e. Prepare draft manuscript

f. Prepare final manuscript

g. Prepare index terms

h. Prepare bibliography with bibliographic essay

i. Prepare list of key index terms Option One

a. Conduct ten additional days of archival research.

Option Two

b. Conduct ten additional oral history interviews The contactor will include separate pricing for each Option. The offeror’s cost proposals must be submitted in accordance with the format provided in Table 1 which is displayed below for convenience.

Base Task

Option One

Option Two

6. SCHEDULE

a. Within five days of award, the contractor will meet with contracting officer’s representative (COR), Dr. Matthew Pearcy, at the Office of History, HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in Alexandria, Virginia, to receive additional guidance. Additional telephone calls and meetings with the COR and with the editors of the history will be held at the request of any of the parties involved. All telephone calls and meetings are considered part of the contract, and no additional payment will be provided for participating in them.

b. Within 35 days of award, contractor will prepare and submit to the Office of History a preliminary outline and research proposal as well as a schedule for completion of the history. The outline will include a subject breakdown and indicate major themes. The research proposal will contain the contractor's research plans and a preliminary bibliography of works to be consulted. The Office of History's comments on the outline and bibliography will be returned to the contractor within 15 days of receipt.

c. Within four months of award the contractor will submit a detailed outline that establishes, in considerable detail, outlines the entire history, provides significant amount of information on each topic to be addressed, and includes a preliminary bibliography. The outline is a key step between research and writing, for it allows the contractor to compile and arrange their research, thereby demonstrating the contractor’s understanding of the material and allowing the COR the opportunity to alter the contractor’s research methodology or historical focus before writing begins.

d. A draft manuscript, including footnotes and bibliography, will be submitted to the Office of History not later than 16 months after the date of award. This draft will be returned to the contractor within 30 days of receipt.

e. The entire revised manuscript will be resubmitted to the Office of History within 30 days of receipt of the Office of History's comments. The Office of History will complete its review of the revised draft within 30 days of receipt and will send comments to the contractor. If further revisions or corrections are required, the contractor will have 30 days after receipt of the Office of History's comments to complete and return them.

7. FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION OF MANUSCRIPT

The draft and final manuscript will contain at a minimum the following elements:

a. Title page;

b. Acknowledgements;

c. Author’s preface, including a short, separate paragraph containing biographical information about the author;

d. Table of contents with chapter titles;

e. A minimum of 60 images to illustrate the text. Color images are preferred. The images will be provided in separate digital files complete with a table listing the appropriate captions and credits. Hard copy images will be scanned as 600 dpi TIFF files and provided to the government electronically. The contractor will provide digital images at a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at 5x7 inches, resulting in a minimum file size of approximately 1.6 megabytes. The contractor will also write the appropriate captions and credits for all of the images and identify the placement of an appropriate number of these 60 images (20 to 30 or so) in the manuscript. The Contractor will also secure releases, where necessary, for all of the images.

f. A minimum of 3 draft map proposals.

j. The information necessary to produce the charts, graphs, and maps to accompany the manuscript. The cost of preparing the charts, graphs, and maps will be the responsibility of the government.

d. Text with endnotes (endnotes should be put at end manuscript, double‑spaced);

e. Glossary, if necessary;

f. Bibliography.

8. FINAL PRODUCT

a. The final manuscript will be submitted on 8.5 by 11‑inch white bond paper using 12-point type and 1-inch margins. The manuscript will be double‑spaced using Microsoft Word software. The text should be clean and clear. The entire narrative will be approximately 40,000 words, not counting photographs, charts, graphs, maps, endnotes and bibliography. The narrative shall be descriptive and analytical and will conform in matters of format, style, and grammar to the latest edition of A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press) as modified by the Office of History “Style Sheet” prepared for the comprehensive history. Additional guidance will be available from Mr. Douglas Wilson, editor, Office of History, at (703) 428-6566.

b. The final manuscript will also be delivered in digital form in Microsoft Word format.

c. All copies of documents, including illustrations, collected during the research are the property of the Government and will be turned over to the Office of History upon completion of the history.

9. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

All equipment and materials will be provided by the contractor. The Corps will provide access to official files and documents in its possession. The Office of History will also provide the contractor with access to its copying and scanning equipment.

10. PUBLICATION DATA

All publications and other data furnished by the Government in support of this contract shall remain the property of the Government and shall be returned to the COR upon completion of the contract. All information and data generated in the course of accomplishing this contract shall become the property of the U.S. Government.

11. CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The historian for the effort must demonstrate that they have at least ten years experience researching and writing recreation, landscape design, environmental, or USACE history. To qualify, a wide-ranging knowledge of the history and missions of the U.S. Army engineers is required. Writing experience will be based on the number and quality of historical publications completed.

12. USE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED

The contractor will not use the information collected during this contract for any purpose prior to the public release of the printed material without the prior written consent of the CO or COR.

13. PAYMENTS

10% of the award price will be paid to the contractor after submission of a preliminary satisfactory outline and research proposal; 25% percent of the award price will be paid to the contractor after submission of a satisfactory detailed outline; and 40% of the award price will be paid to the contractor after acceptance of a satisfactory draft manuscript complete with images and the descriptive information necessary to produce the required charts, tables, and maps. The 40% payment for the draft manuscript can be paid in installments upon submission of satisfactory significant elements (ex. chapters). The remainder of the award price will be paid after the contractor submits a satisfactory final manuscript and turns over to the Office of History all Government property as described above.

14. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

All contractor and all associated sub-contractors employees shall comply with applicable installation, facility and area commander installation/facility access and local security policies and procedures (provided by government representative). The contractor shall also provide all information required for background checks or background investigation and to meet installation/facility access requirements to be accomplished by installation Provost Marshal Office, Director of Emergency Services or Security Office. Contractor workforce must comply with all personal identity verification requirements as directed by DOD, HQDA and/or local policy. In addition to the changes otherwise authorized by the changes clause of this contract, should the Force Protection Condition (FPCON) at any installation or facility change, the Government may require changes in contractor security matters or processes.

All new contractor employees will complete Level I OPSEC Training within 30 calendar days of their reporting for duty. Additionally, all contractor employees must complete annual OPSEC awareness training. The contractor shall submit certificates of completion for each affected contractor and subcontractor employee, to the COR or to the contracting officer (if a COR is not assigned), within 5 calendar days after completion of training. OPSEC awareness training is available at the following websites: https://www.iad.gov/ioss/ or http://www.cdse.edu/catalog/operations-security.html; or it can be provided by the RA OPSEC Officer in presentation form which will be documented via memorandum.

The Contractor must pre-screen Candidates using the E-verify Program (http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify) website to meet the established employment eligibility requirements. The Vendor must ensure that the Candidate has two valid forms of Government issued identification prior to enrollment to ensure the correct information is entered into the E-verify system. An initial list of verified/eligible Candidates must be provided to the COR no later than 3 business days after the initial contract award.

15. Local Security Policy. All contractor employees who require physical access to government controlled facilities or logical access to government information and or information systems are subject to a fitness determination and appropriate vetting. To assist in the vetting process, the contractor must submit a notice of visit form for each employee who will perform work on the contract, including at the minimum, the name, social security number and date of birth of each employee performing work on the contract that need physical and or logical access.

Documents containing personally identifiable information may only be submitted via encrypted email, by first class mail or it may be hand carried to the security office. Notice of visits must be submitted through the government contracting officer representative (COR) or technical representative who will deliver them to the security office. All notice of visits must be received three business days in advance of the contractor reporting for work.

The contractor will work through the COR or technical representative for the contract who will serve as the liaison between the security office and the contractor. Contractor employees who are not sponsored by a government employee will not be granted access to any facilities under HECSA control nor will HECSA security approve logical access to information systems if a notice of visit containing either the DOD ID number or the social security number is not provided to the security office.

Contractor personnel who do not require a common access card may be granted physical access based on favorable results of an NCIC III records check. Contractors who need a common access card must have the minimum of a favorably adjudicated NACI. If no investigation is on file the CAC will not be issued until a favorable FBI fingerprints check is received by the security office and the NACI has been initiated in PSIP. HECSA Security will initiate all NACI investigations. Contractors who require access to classified information must be performing work on a classified contract and the contract company is responsible for initiating all required investigations for the appropriate security clearance.

If an employee has been the subject of a previous favorably adjudicated investigation, it may be reciprocally accepted if there has not been a two year break in service and there is no presence of new and potentially unfavorable information that casts doubt about the subject’s suitability. When a background check is reciprocally accepted but is more than 5 years old, the security office may initiate an NCIC III check to ensure no new unfavorable information exists.

Contractor employees whose access to classified information has been suspended or revoked will not be authorized logical access to government information systems IAW AR 25-2 paragraph 4-14 b (2) until that investigation is favorably adjudicated. These personnel will also not be allowed unescorted access to government facilities until the investigation has been favorably adjudicated by the Command Security Manager. OPM Final Credentialing Standards allow agencies to deny a CAC or PIV card to any individual who has had their access to classified information denied or revoked. Further due process is not required in these situations. The contractor must provide employees who can be cleared to perform work and must immediately provide replacement employees for those who cannot be cleared.

The contractor and all associated sub-contractors shall receive a brief/training (provided by the RA) on the local suspicious activity reporting program. This locally developed training will be used to inform employees of the types of behavior to watch for and instruct employees to report suspicious activity to the project manager, security representative or law enforcement entity. This training shall be completed within 30 calendar days of contract award and within 30 calendar days of new employees commencing performance with the results reported to the COR NLT 5 calendar days after the completion of the training.

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