This is ONLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. YOUR RESPONSE IS NOT AN OFFER. THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION DOES NOT COMMIT THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY ANY COSTS INCURRED IN PREPARATION OF ANY SUBMISSION TO THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION MARKET, NOR IS THIS A CONTRACT FOR SERVICES. GENERAL: The purpose of this request for information is to gather vendor’s ability to provide professional remote sensing and geospatial services for the Forest Service. Services include: geospatial technology evaluation; research and development; geospatial training and technical support; sample design and accuracy assessment; resource inventory, mapping, and monitoring; minor programming and development of geospatial applications; geospatial help desk support, and geospatial information technology management. This requirement is anticipated to be a 100% total small business set-aside. The Government is not bound to the information contained in the draft documents; however, it is anticipated that the final will be similar to this draft. SCOPE OF WORK: To provide services and consultation to Forest Service units from the Washington Office to field offices as determined by GTAC staff. Individual task orders issued under this contract are varied, may be of varying size and complexity, and performed at/for geographically separate locations. The level of effort may change from year-to-year based on government funding levels and program priorities. The contractor must respond to workload changes, unanticipated workload surges or decreases in Agency ordering, and/or multiple reprioritizations of workload. Place of Performance for task orders issued under this contract may order performance at destination or at the orgin. Origin of services will be at the GTAC facility in Salt Lake City, Utah or telework from an alternative location with the Government’s approval. CONTRACT TYPE: The anticipated contract is firm-fixed price (FFP), time and materials single-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity type contract using Best Value Trade-Off (BVTO) evaluation procedures. PERIOD OF PERFOMANCE : The period of performance is not to exceed 5 years (inclusive of base and option periods). REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Interested companies shall furnish the following minimum information: Review the attached draft performance work statement. Please provide any feed-back, questions, areas of concern, or possible document improvements in order that the contemplated acquisition will be easily understood by all potential sources and will reflect the best practices of commercial companies while adhering to both statutory and regulatory mandates. What is the optimal plan for on-going work under task orders issued under the current incumbent contract? What should the estimated timeframe be for transitioning from the incumbent contractor? Is industry amenable to pricing one (1) FFP for transition from incumbent contractor (if required)? What labor or type of activities would be included in the transition price? This requirement contains work that is deemed Mission Essential. Some key labor positions may be required to be on-call for emergency response situations. What is the best way to handle emergency work under this effort? Would you include a separate emergency rate for those identified as Mission Essential? If so, which labor positions would you identify as Mission Essential? The pricing arrangement would be FFP and T&M. Is this the best possible method to competitively price this requirement? The government anticipates that work ordered under this contract will be spilt between FFP and T&M in nature. Given the planned work spilt, how would you ensure cost control under the resulting contract? The Forest Service requests the above information no later than 1400 Mountain Time on 25 April 2023. The points of contact for this action are Megan Acord. Only email submissions will be accepted. Submission shall have a Subject Line of: 12970223R0009 GTAC Remote Sensing and Geospatial Support (RSGS). Emails shall be to
[email protected]. Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this Request for Information or any follow up information. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses a solicitation may be published on SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. All interested firms must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov and remain current for the duration of the contract to be eligible for award of a government contract.