Description
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 (Alaska) intends to award a sole source contract in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 5, Section 5.203 and is supplemented with additional information contained within to Transboundary Ecologic LLC to subcontract with Mr. Artyukhin of Russia to preform a reanalyses of data collected for the Kittlitz's Murrelet in the Russian part of the Berin gSea. Negotiations are estimated to occur approximately 15 days following the posting of this notice, with the estimated contract award approximately November 1, 2009. The Government is contemplating award of a firm fixed price contract. This announcement is for information purposes only. No solicitation is available. This is NOT a request for competitive proposals. Information received in response to this notice will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to compete this requirement. A determination by the Government to not compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice and currently available information about the intended recipient, is solely within the discretion of the Government. BACKGROUND: The Russian part of the Bering Sea is known to support a significant portion of the world population of Kittlitz's Murrelets, a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. Yet, little information on the species status in this area is available. Vyatkin (1999) presents a rough estimate of Kittlitz's Murrelet abundance, but the estimate was not subject to peer review and is not well documented. Additionally, new surveys were carried out by Yuri Artyukhin in two successive years (2004 and 2005), with spatial overlap to Vyatkin's surveys. WORK DESCRIPTION: Contractor must demonstrate the ability to subcontract with Russian scientists Yuri Artyukhin for the purposes of reanalyzing their data sets on Kittlitz's Murrelet in the Russian part of the Bering Sea. The re-analyses of the data must be conducted in a manner that is comparable to similar efforts in the United States (e.g., Kuletz et al. 2008). The contractor must be able to work with the Russian Scientist to assure they prepare a manuscript, in English, for peer-reviewed publication. Contractor will reanalyze the original Vyatkin data and analyze the Artyukhin data in a standardized fashion to ensure comparability. Output data will include maps of surveyed birds, tables showing Kittlitz's Murrelet abundance and distribution, and documentation of estimated populations. The contractor must be able to accomplish this work without the need for charging overhead for the subcontract. All data must be made available to the FWS upon their request throughout the duration of the contract. PRODUCTS: The contractor will provide the following services and products:1. Database and associated metadata of the Vyatkin and Artyukhin survey data - February 15, 2010;2. Manuscript in English, in a format acceptable for submission to a journal such as Marine Ornithology, Bird Conservation, or the Auk. - February 15, 2010;3. Presentation of findings at 2010 Pacific Seabird Group Symposium on Population Status and Trends of Kittlitz's Murrelets to be held in Long Beach California. Literature CitedKuletz KJ, Labunski EA, Speckman SG. 2008. Abundance, distribution, and decadal trends of Kittlitz's and marbled murrelets and other marine species in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Final Report (Project No. 14) by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Alaska Department of Fish and Game, State Nongame Wildlife Grant, Anchorage, Alaska.Vyatkin PS. 1999. New data about the range and numbers of the Kittlitz murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) over the Bering Sea western coasts. In: Konfratyev AY, Zelenskaya LA, editors. Beringian Seabird bulletin. Number 4. Magadan, Russia. p 29-31. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and the Government does not intend to accept proposals received. Award will be made 15 days after publication of this notice. See Numbered Notes 1 and 22.