Whitewater Allocations

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is soliciting sealed bids for whitewater rafting allocations on the Kennebec River (54 Saturday allocations) and West Branch of the Penobscot River (7 Saturday allocations), with bids due October 14, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. local time through the State of Maine's AdvantageME/Vendor Self Service e-Procurement system or via sealed delivery to the Division of Purchases in Augusta.

Bidders must currently hold a valid Maine Whitewater Outfitter License with no outstanding quarterly allocation or user fees from prior periods — a hard eligibility gate. Minimum bids are $500 per single allocation for Kennebec River Saturday operations and $200 per single allocation for Penobscot River Saturday operations, calculated per passenger. Only one bid per outfitter per river will be accepted; multiple bids from a single outfitter will be rejected. Bidders may not exceed 120 allocations per river per allocated day.

All bids are binding and non-withdrawable once allocations are awarded. Successful bidders must submit a certified check payable to the Treasurer, State of Maine within ten days of notification. New outfitters receive minimum allocations of 10 passengers per day on the Kennebec and 16 passengers per day on the Penobscot. Awarded outfitters pay an annual allocation fee in four quarterly installments, with the first payment due 30 days after allocation award. The Department reserves the right to forfeit or suspend allocations if outfitters fail to maintain their license conditions, productively use their allocations, or provide quality service consistent with public interests. All questions must be submitted through the solicitation's Q&A List tab in the e-Procurement system; no other communication channels are authorized.