Notice of intent to sole source

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 3, Bloomington, MN intends to award a sole source firm fixed price order under authority of FAR 6.302-1, Other than Full and Open Competition procedures, and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition procedures to Smith-Root Inc., Vancouver, Washington. This requirement is for continuity of service for an Electrical Fish Barrier Remote Monitoring at OCQUEOC River, Michigan. Blocking invasive Sea Lamprey migrations into the Ocqueoc River is essential to prevent future losses of fish populations caused by sea lampreys. Smith-Root Inc. has worked collaboratively with USFWS Marquette Biological Station for many years to implement these efforts.

Through this program, a concrete low head barrier with an electrical field was installed in the river. This structure has been in operation for the past 20 years. Because the barrier is located lower in the river system, it reduces the amount of stream that is treated with lampricide, which also reduces lampricide treatment cost, by approximately 60%.

While the concrete low head barrier blocks sea lamprey migrations through most of the spawning run, periods of high flows do occur that allows for sea lamprey passage. To protect against this, an electric barrier, patented product of Smith-Root Inc., was installed to block sea lampreys from breaching the concrete barrier during high flow conditions. The electrical barrier is activated when water levels reach predetermined levels and remain energized until flows subside. Smith-Root¿s technology continually monitors computer systems, activates the barrier, and notifies biologists in the event of system failure. Additionally, specialists at Smith-Root provide technical assistance in adjusting the parameters of the electrical barrier.

The electrical barrier requires annual software updates to ensure functionality. Currently, Smith-Root, Inc. is the only source known to have the capability to modify the system software.

These activities have followed a decision-based framework and reaching a critical phase where continued collaboration with Smith-Root Inc. is vital due to their technology, software updates, sea lamprey blockage/spread, and Data logs integrity.

The North American Industry classification (NAICS) code is 811219, and the size standard is 22.0 Million.

This notice is not a request for competitive proposals; however, firms with expressed interest and capability are encouraged to respond. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.