FL SW FL gulf cstl rfugs fues monitoring

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a Notice of Intent announcing a sole source contract award valued at $35,030.00 to Tatenda Inc. for vegetation and fuels monitoring services in Florida's southwest Gulf coastal refuges. This firm-fixed price contract falls under NAICS code 115112 (Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating) and is designated as a small business set-aside under FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The contract involves commercial services related to environmental monitoring and protection activities. The Fish and Wildlife Service, operating under the Department of the Interior, is managing this procurement through contracting officer Merenica Banks. The special notice was posted on September 8, 2025, with a response deadline of September 11, 2025.

The primary objective of this contract is to monitor vegetation transects in designated refuge areas to document changes in plant communities and fuel loads over time. The contractor will be responsible for assessing all vegetative strata within representative examples of major plant community types to determine shifts in species composition and dominance patterns. Although the Fish and Wildlife Service intends to award this contract to Tatenda Inc. on a sole source basis, they are accepting capability statements from other responsible sources who can demonstrate that competition would benefit the government. Interested contractors must submit their capability statements in writing to merenica_banks@fws.gov by the September 11, 2025 deadline. The contract is restricted to small businesses and requires expertise in vegetation monitoring and ecological assessment services. All inquiries regarding this opportunity must be submitted through written communication to the designated contracting officer.