F--Revegetation Services

This modification will extend the approximate response date from May 8, 2003 to June 23, 2003. The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking one or more nursery or plant propagation organizations to propagate native plants for National Parks in Alaska, Arizona California, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, South Dakota Texas, Washington and Wyoming. The government may elect to award a single task order contract or to award multiple task order contracts for the services to be provided by two or more sources under this solicitation. The Government reserves the right to award contracts, based on the selection board's final selection list, in order of preference of the firms considered most highly qualified to perform the work. Offerors need not have experience in all states listed in order to be selected. Specialists in particular ecosystems are encouraged to apply. Each awardee shall be provided a fair opportunity to be considered for task orders to be issued. The government will use such factors as past performance, quality of deliverables, cost-control, or other factors that the Contracting Officer, in the exercise of sound business judgment believes are relevant to the placement of orders. Interested firms are encouraged to team with subconsultants as needed to meet scope requirements. The selected firm(s) shall be able to perform the following tasks: prepare revegetation plans and provide technical assistance in the field of native plant revegetation and ecological restoration; collect seed and cuttings; propagate native plants from NPS genetic stocks; locate and provide plants when strict genetic considerations are not applicable; hold and care for plants in the contractor nursery if project delays require; prepare planting sites; control exotics; salvage plants from designated areas; install seed and plants; construct or apply plant protective devices or substances; provide plant establishment care; and monitor revegetation/restoration success. NPS genetic conservation policy: The National Park Service policy calls for the preservation of native plant communities and their genetic resources wherever possible in natural zones. Accordingly, road slopes and other large areas intended to support self-sustaining native plant communities will usually be restored with local genetic stocks of native species. Most propagation requested under this IDIQ will require use of seed or cuttings native to areas which the NPS will designate as appropriate for a particular project. Genetic policy is less stringently applied for landscaping around developed areas. Depending on the site, the project time frame, and the importance of genetic issues there, large landscape plants may be custom-grown or they may be provided from sources other than park gene pools. Preferably provided plants will be site-adapted (i.e., from genetic stocks likely to survive at the project site). Materials to be produced or supplied: The types of materials to be produced include, but are not limited to: trees and shrubs in seedling, 1 gallon and 5 gallon sizes; and grasses and forbs in plugs, tubelings and other small containers. For areas where a more mature landscape is desired and genetic integrity is not crucial, the contractor may be requested to provide the same sizes of materials from sources that are likely to survive well at the project site. The scope of work includes but is not limited to the following: 1. Revegetation Consulting: Utilizing NPS regulations and policies, prepare revegetation plans or sections of plans for park projects or provide technical assistance to park staff. Plans may include, but are not limited to, analyses of soil resources, recommendations for soil salvage, topsoil storage, and soil amendments; seeding and planting prescriptions; installation techniques; plant protection, supplemental watering and establishment care; work scheduling, and cost estimating. 2. Seed and Cutting Collection: Collect seed, cuttings and native soil for mycorrhizal inoculum from within designated national park areas. Provide all labor, materials, equipment, supplies, and transportation needed to collect seed and cuttings for plant propagation. 3. Plant Propagation: Provide a permanent greenhouse/nursery facility with heat, water, fertilizer, insecticides, fungicides, and photo periods as needed to ensure the propagation of healthy seedlings. Stock under production must not interbreed with other ecotypes of the same species and potting mix must not be contaminated with weed or species alien to the designated park. Provide appropriate measures of hardening and site adaptation to prepare stock for successful transplanting into the park. Records must be maintained throughout production and provided to the National Park Service. 4. Plant Provision: Provide native seed and plants in sizes ranging from seedlings to 2" caliper trees that are native to the designated park and adapted to the environmental conditions at the project site, but not necessarily from local genetic stocks. 5. Holding: Provide holding for plant materials which will ensure healthy stock if there are changes in the delivery date. Include repotting when necessary. 6. Site Preparation: Prepare soil as needed, including scarification and addition of appropriate soil amendments. Install erosion control measures as needed. 7. Exotics Control: As appropriate and acceptable in the designated park, utilize hand pulling, clearing, tilling and chemical application practices to control exotic species at the revegetation site before and after installation. 8. Plant salvage and direct transplant: Dig native plants mechanically or by hand from designated areas only. Plants will range in size from seedlings to 2-inch caliper or larger. Hold in storage areas. Provide care during storage. 9. Installation: Deliver and install seed and plant material. As directed, mulch and perform other associated planting practices. Provide a one-year guarantee for plants installed by the offeror. 10. Protection: Provide protection from human trampling, and surface and underground predators as needed. Methods may include protective netting, photo-degrading protector tubes and repellents, and temporary fencing. 11. Follow Up Care: Provide, upon request, care for revegetation installations until the plants are established (approximately 2-3 years) .Care to include exotics control, weeding and irrigation as needed. Provide written progress reports as needed. 12. Monitoring: Establish baseline conditions and monitor revegetation success following installation for a period of 1- 5 years, depending on the situation. The National Park Service will award an indefinite quantity contract to one or more successful offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Government, cost and other factors considered. Individual task orders will be placed to order services as they are required and the funding becomes available. The total of all task orders per year will not exceed $1,000,000. The maximum task order amount will not exceed $200,000. The selected firm(s) is guaranteed a minimum amount of $25,000 throughout the life of the contract. The term of the contract shall be one year with four additional one-year options. This procurement is set aside for small business concerns. The Standard Industrial Code for this procurement is 113210. To the fullest extent, the NPS welcomes the participation of women and minority-owned and operated firms. Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 1443N2000033500 will be available on or about the 15th day after this announcement is published. This RFP will be issued electronically on the Department of Interior's National Business Center (NBC) web site, at http://ideasec.nbc.gov. Paper copies of this RFP will not be available. Prospective offerors desiring to conduct business with DOI are requested to register at the NBC. Proposal documents will be available in Microsoft Word. Offerors wishing to receive electronic notification of changes will need to register to receive notification of this specific solicitation at http://ideasec.nbc.gov. This service is provided for convenience only and does not serve as a guarantee of notification. Subscribers to this service are ultimately responsible for reviewing the http://ideasec.nbc.gov site for all information relevant to this solicitation. Plan holders will be required to visit this website periodically to check for amendments and other changes to the contract documents. No other notifications will be sent.