Red-cockaded woodpecker Monitoring

The USDA Forest Service Southern Region is soliciting quotes for Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) monitoring services on the Croatan National Forest in North Carolina. The contract requires the contractor to furnish all equipment, labor, transportation, and supervision to perform RCW cluster and tree inventory, group checks during nesting season, project-level RCW inventory, and painting and tagging of RCW trees across approximately 140 known clusters. Key requirements include conducting 100% monitoring of all known clusters annually, obtaining a valid federal permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, using ArcGIS Field Maps for data collection, and submitting an end-of-season report by December 1st. The solicitation utilizes a price-based evaluation approach with quotes submitted directly to the contracting officer. All quotes must be received by December 18, 2025, at 2:00 PM ET/ED and submitted to marian.feist@usda.gov as a signed Standard Form 1449.

This solicitation is designated as a Total Small Business set-aside under NAICS code 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry) with a small business size standard of $11.5 million. No incumbent contractor is identified in the available documents. The contract runs for a base year (January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026) with four option years, and includes estimated quantities such as 140 cluster/tree inventories and 4,327 acres of project-level inventory in the base year, increasing to 180 cluster/tree inventories and up to 6,600 acres in later option years. The contract will be performed in New Bern, North Carolina, with most RCW clusters located within one-half mile of roads or trails for accessibility. Winning contractors must be verified through a Federal data check to confirm they are in good standing with no contract terminations within the past three years, and prevailing wages as determined by the Department of Labor Wage Determination apply.