Lake County Aerial Capture of California Bighorn Sheep

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is soliciting proposals through an intermediate procurement for aerial capture services of California Bighorn Sheep in Lake County. This RFP (S-63500-00015816) seeks a contractor to provide a turbine engine helicopter (Bell 206, Bell 206L, McDonald-Douglas 500, or equivalent with minimum 340 horsepower), an experienced pilot certified under FAR Part 135, a fuel truck with driver, a two-to-five-person wildlife capture crew, net gun, and associated capture equipment. The contractor must capture up to 80 California Bighorn Sheep from two herds: approximately 20 sheep (15 ewes and 5 rams) from Abert Rim in late July 2026 using up to 16 flight hours, and up to 60 sheep from Hart Mountain over two years (20 lambs and 10 ewes in spring/summer 2026, and an additional 20 lambs and 10 ewes in spring/summer 2027) using up to 24 flight hours per year. All captured sheep must be processed on-site with GPS collars applied and disease samples collected; the contractor will not be compensated for incorrectly captured animals or those dying from capture-related injuries, and all capture-related gear must be disinfected between captures using chlorhexidine. Required qualifications include a pilot with a minimum of 1,000 hours of helicopter flight time and 100 hours of low elevation flight experience, and a fuel truck capable of carrying a minimum of 8 hours of Jet A fuel while traversing secondary and tertiary roads. Evaluation will be scored across five components totaling 145 points: Cost Sheet (30 points), References (40 points), Understanding of Requested Services/Project (25 points), General Qualifications (25 points), and Pilot(s) Qualifications (25 points). The reference evaluation will assess the proposer's safety practices, customer service responsiveness, pilot and crew flexibility, experience capturing sheep in steep rugged terrain, animal care protocols, and any capture-related injuries or mortalities. Questions and clarifications are due February 18, 2026, by 5:00 PM with answers issued by February 19, 2026; proposals are due February 26, 2026, at 2:00 PM; and the Notice of Award is anticipated March 12, 2026. The contract term runs for two years from June 30, 2026, through August 15, 2027, with an optional renewal period from June 30, 2028, through August 15, 2028, and equipment breakdowns or pilot performance issues must be remedied within 48 hours or result in $500 daily penalties.

No set-asides or restrictions on respondent type are indicated in the solicitation materials; however, proposers must complete a Certified Disadvantaged Business Outreach Plan documenting any subcontracting opportunities with certified disadvantaged business enterprises through the Oregon Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) and confirm willingness to report subcontractor information upon contract award, though this information will not be factored into the scored evaluation. All proposers must certify compliance with Oregon state tax laws, non-discrimination in employment and subcontracting, wage and compensation equity standards under ORS 652.220, sexual harassment prevention policies for contracts with an anticipated price of $150,000 or more, and confirm they are not listed on the U.S. Department of Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals list or government-wide exclusions in the System for Award Management. No incumbent vendors or existing infrastructure requiring integration is identified in the procurement documents. The budget structure itemizes costs for mobilization/setup fees, helicopter and pilot services (40 hours in 2026 and 24 hours in 2027), ferry flights (approximately 15 hours), fuel truck driver services (approximately 70 hours), fuel truck mileage (approximately 5,000 miles), and per diem based on GSA rates, with a not-to-exceed contract amount to be inserted by the Agency; the contractor must also maintain comprehensive insurance including Workers' Compensation, Commercial General Liability ($2,000,000 per occurrence/$4,000,000 aggregate), Automobile Liability ($1,000,000), and Aircraft Liability ($2,000,000). This is classified as an intermediate procurement under OAR 125-047-0270, and ODFW will not be accepting protests on this solicitation.