R--Notice of Intent to Sole Source Award to The Conservation Fund

The US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Conservation Training Center at Shepherdstown, WV intends to sole source award to The Conservation Fund for the design, development, delivery, and evaluation of a pilot training course entitled Inter-jurisdictional Mitigation Banking Strategies. The course will promote the conservation of critical habitat for a variety of species over a variety of land ownerships. The course will be designed to accommodate up to 40 participants and provide a solid foundation in the relevant federal policy guiding mitigation bank review, establishment, and management. It will cover techniques and approaches for reviewing mitigation bank prospectuses, mitigation plans, mitigation banking instruments, techniques and approaches for monitoring report assessment, guidelines for determining remedial measures and their use, processes for approving credit releases, and techniques and approaches plus issues to consider when making modifications to mitigation banking instruments and the approval process. The course will promote a learning process that will give students the opportunity to learn from each other as well as the instructor. The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all proposals received within forty-five days (thirty days if award is issued under an existing basic ordering agreement) after date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete with this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.