Easement Restoration and Emergency Watershed Protection – Seedbed Preparation, Seeding, and Post Seeding Clippings in South Dakota

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) under the U.S. Department of Agriculture is procuring seedbed preparation, seeding, and post-seeding clipping services for easement restoration and emergency watershed protection projects in South Dakota counties east of the Missouri River. The contractor must furnish all labor, equipment, operators, supervision, supplies, and materials necessary to complete vegetation stand establishment work over a five-year period, including chemical and mechanical seedbed preparation, procurement of appropriate vegetation mixes for upland and wetland sites, seeding operations, and post-emergence weed control maintenance across two full growing seasons. Key contractor requirements include minimum two years of field experience installing native grass and forb seeding, active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) at time of award, and compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and professional licensing requirements. Award will be made to the responsible offeror submitting the best value proposal using a Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluation approach, with evaluation factors including price fairness and reasonableness, technical approach demonstrating understanding of seedbed preparation timing and resource allocation capacity, key personnel qualifications and certifications, and relevant past experience with similar restoration work in eastern South Dakota completed within the past five years. Solicitation questions are due April 2, 2026 at 1200 EST, and proposals must be submitted by April 20, 2026 at 1200 EST.

This solicitation uses no set-asides and involves no identified incumbents or current contractors in the notice materials. The contract is structured as a single Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) task order contract with firm-fixed-price terms and FOB destination delivery, spanning five contract years with potential annual price adjustments; however, no specific award value or budget range is disclosed in the solicitation documents. The bid schedule template indicates pricing is required on a per-acre unit basis across three primary practice codes covering herbaceous weed control stand establishment, restoration of rare or declining communities seeding, and wetland restoration seeding, with multiple seed mix options and three-year post-seeding mechanical weed control activities. Performance will occur entirely within South Dakota in counties east of the Missouri River, including Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Clark, Clay, Codington, Davison, Day, Deuel, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Hamlin, Hanson, Hutchinson, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lake, Marshall, McPherson, Miner, Moody, Roberts, Sanborn, Spink, and Yankton. Contractors must comply with Service Contract Act wage determination No. 2015-5375 establishing prevailing wage rates and mandatory fringe benefits for service employees in the designated region.