Vegetation_Study_SOW_2024_RFQ.pdf

Vegetation Study

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge

Project Goal: The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge aims to identify best management practices that will support a diversity of herbaceous plant species, which may be host plants for at-risk insects or utilized by pollinators.

Summary: The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LSNWR) habitat management program has treated sites with various land management tools such as prescribed fire, mechanical timber thinning, mechanical groundcover manipulation, and herbicide treatments over the last 25 years. It appears that the treatments have been beneficial, and the habitat/groundcover is thriving, however there is no research or scientific data to prove this.

This study should quantify the various treatments to determine which is beneficial or harmful to plant diversity.

Method: The data collected will include species lists from 15 ‘Priority 1’ sites identified by Refuge staff. Within each site, three permanent 10x10m2 plots will be randomly assigned, and species-level data will be recorded using dataloggers. Qualitative information regarding species dominance will also be incorporated. The resulting information will be provided to Refuge staff to further evaluate how treated and untreated plots differ, which will be used to tailor future management to maximize plant diversity. The Priority 1 sites will be sampled during Fall 2024.

Once Priority 1 sites are completed, 20 additional sites will be considered for future sampling.

The Refuge hopes to continue monitoring these sites annually to gather information on the succession of the plots following treatment.

Primary Contact: Daniel Barrand

Refuge Forester Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge 16450 NW 31st Place, Chiefland, FL. 32626 Office 352-493-0238 ext.233 Mobile 352-210-5355

Secondary Contact: John Stark Refuge Deputy Manager

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge 16450 NW 31st Place, Chiefland, FL. 32626 Office 352-493-0238 ext.221 Mobile 479-312-8892

Vegetation Study 2024 Lower Suwannee NWR

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

General: This is a non-personnel services contract to provide surveys of vegetation within Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LSNWR). The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.

Description of Services: The Contractor shall provide all personnel, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform scientific research as defined in this Performance Work Statement except for those items specified as government furnished property and services. The contractor shall perform to the standards in this contract.

Objectives: The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LSNWR) habitat management program has treated sites with various land management tools such as prescribed fire, mechanical timber thinning, mechanical groundcover manipulation, and herbicide treatments over the last 25 years. It appears that the treatments have been beneficial, and the habitat/groundcover is thriving, however there is no research or scientific data to prove this.

This study should quantify the various treatments to determine which is beneficial or harmful to plant diversity.

Scope: The data collected will include species lists from 15 ‘Priority 1’ sites identified by Refuge staff. Within each site, three permanent 10x10m2 plots will be randomly assigned, and species-level data will be recorded using dataloggers. Qualitative information regarding species dominance will also be incorporated. The resulting information will be provided to Refuge staff to further evaluate how treated and untreated plots differ, which will be used to tailor future management to maximize plant diversity. The Priority 1 sites will be sampled during Fall 2024.

Once Priority 1 sites are completed, 20 additional sites will be considered for future sampling.

The Refuge hopes to continue monitoring these sites annually to gather information on the succession of the plots following treatment.

Period of Performance: Surveys will occur in 2024 and continue through Spring/Summer/Fall 2024. A final report will be submitted by December 30, 2024.

Quality Control: The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services.

The contractor’s quality control program is how they assure that work complies with the requirement of the contract. The report will be delivered by the date identified and will be reviewed by a qualified biologist for quality assurance.

Quality Assurance: The government shall evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

Recognized Holidays: Contractor will not be required to work holidays.

Hours of Operation: The Contractor is responsible for coordinating and scheduling the work with refuge staff so that necessary field and logistical assistance can be provided to complete the work described in this contract. The contractor is responsible for conducting business, between the hours of sunrise and sunset, as needed, except Federal holidays or when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings. For other than firm fixed price contracts, the contractor will not be reimbursed when the government facility is closed for the above reasons.

The Contractor must at all times maintain an adequate workforce for the uninterrupted performance of all tasks defined within this PWS when the Government facility is not closed for the above reasons. When hiring personnel, the Contractor shall keep in mind that the stability and continuity of the workforce are essential.

Place of Performance: The work to be performed under this contract will be performed at Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.

Type of Contract: The government will award a Firm Fixed Price contract.

Security Requirements: No security clearance is required at time of the proposal submission.

The Contractor will be responsible for safeguarding and preventing unauthorized access to these data collected by the contractor.

Physical Security: The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use. The work will be done outdoors, thus there is no requirements for physical security of government facilities.

Key Control: Keys will be issued to the Contractor by refuge personnel as needed. The Contractor shall prohibit the opening of locked areas by Contractor employees to permit entrance of persons other than Contractor employees engaged in the performance of assigned work in those areas, or personnel authorized entrance by the Contracting Officer.

Special Qualifications: Extensive knowledge of all plant species in all growth forms of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, familiarity with the area and ability to produce accurate reports with accuracy assessment.

Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: The Contractor agrees to attend any post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. The contracting officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the contracting officer will apprise the contractor of how the government views the contractor's performance and the contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the government.

Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The (COR) will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract: perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance: maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract: issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications: monitor Contractor's performance and notifies both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies;

coordinate availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regard to changes in cost or price, estimates or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

Key Personnel: The contractor shall provide a contract manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer.

The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The contract manager or alternate shall be available between [8:00 a.m. to 4:30p.m.], Monday thru Friday except Federal holidays or when the government facility is closed for administrative reasons. Qualifications for all key personnel are listed below: The key personnel will have no less than 15 years of experience identifying plants in the Southeastern Piedmont and Coastal Plain.

Data Rights: The Government has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the contractor without written permission from the Contracting Officer. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT, AND SERVICES

Services: If and when available, the refuge will provide access onto the refuge. The Contractor is responsible for coordinating and scheduling the work with refuge staff so that necessary field and logistical assistance can be provided to complete the work described in this contract.

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES

General: The Contractor shall furnish all supplies, equipment, facilities and services required to perform work under this contract. Contractor and all Contractor employees performing work related to this contract must adhere to all applicable regulations, rules, policies and procedures.

Materials: The Contractor shall provide any materials needed for vegetation sampling and statistical analysis.

Equipment: The Contractor shall provide any equipment needed for vegetation sampling and statistical analysis.

APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS

The Contractor must abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and local policies and procedures including but not limited to Refuge regulations and Permit conditions of the SUP.

ATTACHMENT/TECHNICAL EXHIBIT LISTING

The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to mission success.

DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE

Deliverable Frequency # of Copies Medium/Format Submit To Interim Report Once 1 Word Document daniel_barrand@fws.gov Geospatial Data Once at end of performance period (12/30/2024)

[Same as above.] ARCGIS formatted shapefile

[Same as above.]

Report [Same as above.] [Same as above.] Word Document [Same as above.] Location and Record of Voucher Specimens

[Same as above.] [Same as above.] Word Document [Same as above.]

Photographs [Same as above.] [Same as above.] Raw image [Same as above] and iNaturalist

Performance Objective (The Service required—usually a shall statement)

Standard Performance Threshold (This is the maximum error rate.

It could possibly be

“Zero deviation from standard”)

Method of Surveillance

PRS # 1.

Continuity in science to support mission of identifying species

Data collection should be completed to professional scientific standards, and assessed by refuge experts

Zero deviation from standard

100% monitoring

PRS # 2

Communicate significant results to key refuge personnel

Report should be completed to professional scientific standards, and assessed by refuge experts

Zero deviation from standard

100% monitoring

PRS # 3

Support refuge management with best available science

Geospatial data and management recommendations should be completed to professional scientific standards, and assessed by refuge experts

Zero deviation from standard

100% monitoring mailto:daniel_barrand@fws.gov

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

(QASP)

INTRODUCTION

This quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP) is pursuant to the requirements listed in the performance work statement (PWS). This plan sets forth the procedures and guidelines the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge will use in ensuring the required performance standards or services levels are achieved by the contractor.

Purpose The purpose of the QASP is to describe the systematic methods used to monitor performance and to identify the required documentation and the resources to be employed. The QASP provides a means for evaluating whether the contractor is meeting the performance standards/quality levels identified in the PWS and the contractor’s quality control plan (QCP), and to ensure that the government pays only for the level of services received.

This QASP defines the roles and responsibilities of all members of the integrated project team (IPT), identifies the performance objectives, defines the methodologies used to monitor and evaluate the contractor’s performance, describes quality assurance documentation requirements, and describes the analysis of quality assurance monitoring results.

Performance Management Approach The PWS structures the acquisition around “what” service or quality level is required, as opposed to “how” the contractor should perform the work (i.e., results, not compliance). This QASP will define the performance management approach taken by Lowe Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge to monitor and manage the contractor’s performance to ensure the expected outcomes or performance objectives communicated in the PWS are achieved. Performance management rests on developing a capability to review and analyze information generated through performance assessment. The ability to make decisions based on the analysis of performance data is the cornerstone of performance management; this analysis yields information that indicates whether expected outcomes for the project are being achieved by the contractor.

Performance management represents a significant shift from the more traditional quality assurance (QA) concepts in several ways. Performance management focuses on assessing whether outcomes are being achieved and to what extent. This approach migrates away from scrutiny of compliance with the processes and practices used to achieve the outcome. A performance-based approach enables the contractor to play a large role in how the work is performed, as long as the proposed processes are within the stated constraints. The only exceptions to process reviews are those required by law (federal, state, and local) and compelling business situations, such as safety and health. A “results” focus provides the contractor flexibility to continuously improve and innovate over the course of the contract as long as the critical outcomes expected are being achieved and/or the desired performance levels are being met.

Performance Management Strategy The contractor is responsible for the quality of all work performed. The contractor measures that quality through the contractor’s own quality control (QC) program. QC is work output, not workers, and therefore includes all work performed under this contract regardless of whether the work is performed by contractor employees or by subcontractors. The contractor’s QCP will set forth the staffing and procedures for self-inspecting the quality, timeliness, responsiveness, customer satisfaction, and other performance requirements in the PWS. The contractor will develop and implement a performance management system with processes to assess and report its performance to the designated government representative. The contractor’s QCP will set forth the staffing and procedures for self-inspecting the quality, timeliness, responsiveness, customer satisfaction, and other performance requirements in the PWS. This QASP enables the government to take advantage of the contractor’s QC program.

The government representative(s) will monitor performance and review performance reports furnished by the contractor to determine how the contractor is performing against communicated performance objectives. The government will make determination regarding incentives based on performance measurement metric data and notify the contractor of those decisions. The contractor will be responsible for making required changes in processes and practices to ensure performance is managed effectively.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Contracting Officer The contracting officer (CO) is responsible for monitoring contract compliance, contract administration, and cost control and for resolving any differences between the observations documented by the Refuge Manager (RM) and the contractor. The CO will designate one full-time Government Representative (GR) as the government authority for performance management. The number of additional representatives serving as technical inspectors depends on the complexity of the services measured, as well as the contractor’s performance, and must be identified and designated by the CO.

The Government Representative The Government Representative (GR) is identified in the Contract. The authorized representative is to assist in administering a contract. GR limitations are contained in the written appointment letter. The GR is responsible for technical administration of the project and ensures proper government surveillance of the contractor’s performance. The GR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the government’s behalf. Any changes that the contractor deems may affect contract price, terms, or conditions shall be referred to the CO for action. The GR will have the responsibility for completing QA monitoring forms used to document the inspection and evaluation of the contractor’s work performance. Government surveillance may occur under the inspection of services clause for any service relating to the contract.

IDENTIFICATION OF REQUIRED PERFORMANCE STANDARDS/QUALITY LEVELS

The required performance standards and/or quality levels are included in the PWS and in Attachment 1, “Performance Requirements Summary.” If the contractor meets the required service or performance level, it will be paid the amount agreed on in the contract. If the contractor exceeds the service or performance level, they will be given a high rating on their evaluation through CPARS. Failure to meet the required service or performance level will result in a poor evaluation rating under CPARS.

METHODOLOGIES TO MONITOR PERFORMANCE

Surveillance Techniques In an effort to minimize the performance management burden, simplified surveillance methods shall be used by the government to evaluate contractor performance when appropriate. The primary methods of surveillance are:

Random monitoring, which shall be performed by the designated government personnel.

Acceptable Quality Levels The acceptable quality levels (AQLs) included in Attachment 1, Performance Requirements Summary Table, for contractor performance are structured to allow the contractor to manage how the work is performed while providing negative incentives for performance shortfalls. For certain critical activities such as those involving plant species identification and data analysis, the desired performance level is established at 100 percent. Other levels of performance are keyed to the relative importance of the task to the overall mission performance at Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.

QUALITY ASSURANCE DOCUMENTATION

The Performance Management Feedback Loop The performance management feedback loop begins with the communication of expected outcomes. Performance standards are expressed in the PWS and are assessed using the performance monitoring techniques shown in Attachment 1.

Monitoring Forms The government’s QA surveillance, accomplished by the Government Representative, will be reported using the monitoring forms in Attachments 2. The forms, when completed, will document the government’s assessment of the contractor’s performance under the contract to ensure that the required results are being achieved.

The Government Representative will retain a copy of all completed QA surveillance forms.

ANALYSIS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE ASSESSMENT

Determining Performance Government shall use the monitoring methods cited to determine whether the performance standards/service levels/AQLs have been met. If the contractor has not met the minimum requirements, it may be asked to develop a corrective action plan to show how and by what date it intends to bring performance up to the required levels when appropriate: Failure to meet the AQL may result in a nonpayment until standards are met.

Reporting At the end of each 6-month period, the contractor assist the Government Representative with preparing a written report for the Refuge Manager, summarizing the overall results of the quality assurance surveillance of the contractor’s performance. This written report, which includes the contractor’s submitted report and the completed quality assurance monitoring forms (Attachment 2), will become part of the QA documentation. It will enable the government to demonstrate whether the contractor is meeting the stated objectives and/or performance standards, including cost/technical/scheduling objectives.

Reviews and Resolution The GR may require the contractor’s project manager, or a designated alternate, to meet with the GR and other government personnel as deemed necessary to discuss performance evaluation. The GR will define a frequency of in-depth reviews with the contractor, including appropriate self-assessments by the contractor; however, if the need arises, the contractor will meet with the GR as often as required or per the contractor’s request. The agenda of the reviews may include:

• Monthly performance assessment data and trend analysis

• Issues and concerns of both parties

• Projected outlook for upcoming months and progress against expected trends, including a corrective action plan analysis

• Recommendations for improved efficiency and/or effectiveness

The QAR must coordinate and communicate with the contractor to resolve issues and concerns regarding marginal or unacceptable performance.

The GR and contractor should jointly formulate tactical and long-term courses of action.

Decisions regarding changes to metrics, thresholds, or service levels should be clearly documented.

Changes to service levels, procedures, and metrics will be incorporated as a contract modification at the convenience of the PCO/ACO.

ATTACHMENT 1: PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY

Performance Objective (The Service required—usually a shall statement)

Standard Performance Threshold (This is the maximum error rate.

It could possibly be

“Zero deviation from standard”)

Method of Surveillance

PRS # 1.

Continuity in science to support mission of identifying species

Data collection should be completed to professional scientific standards, and assessed by refuge experts

Zero deviation from standard

100% monitoring

PRS # 2

Communicate significant results to key refuge personnel

Report should be completed to professional scientific standards, and assessed by refuge experts

Zero deviation from standard

100% monitoring

PRS # 3

Support refuge management with best available science

Geospatial data and management recommendations should be completed to professional scientific standards, and assessed by refuge experts

Zero deviation from standard

100% monitoring