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Science Supportive Services Regarding Fire Coordination Tasks Sources Sought The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting market research to determine the availability of qualified businesses capa... Science Supportive Services Regarding Fire Coordination Tasks Sources Sought The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting market research to determine the availability of qualified businesses capable of providing science supportive services regarding fire coordination tasks as described in the attached Statement of Work. This sources sought announcement is not a request for quote or proposal and the Government is not committed to award of a purchase order or contract pursuant to this announcement. The information resulting from this market research is simply for planning purposes to assist the Government in determining its acquisition strategy. The Government will not pay for any costs incurred in the preparation of information for responding to this notice. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code - 541690, Other Scientific & Technical Consulting Services and associated revenue standard $16.5M apply to this announcement. All responsible sources may submit a capabilities statement detailing the ability of their service to meet the Statement of Work included in this announcement. Responses to this announcement shall only be accepted through electronic mail addressed to dallan-loucks@usgs.gov and must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than 07/22/2022 1500 ED. Responses submitted by hardcopy shall not be accepted or considered. STATEMENT OF WORK I. GENERAL INFORMATION A. Introduction. The USGS has been contracted by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to coordinate wildfire management for sensitive species and habitat on Conserved Lands in western San Diego County as outlined in the Management and Monitoring Strategic Plan ("MSP Roadmap"). SANDAG is assessing and developing a wildfire management approach to guide the scoping of fire management tasks. USGS will continue to support this effort by helping to coordinate recommendations to reduce wildfire ignitions and impacts on Conserved Lands in the MSP Roadmap area. USGS will help develop a regional MSP Resource Avoidance Areas Map (RAAM) integrated into fire agencies' Wildland Fire Decision Support Systems and support the establishment of a Wildland Fire Resource Advisor Program for locally owned lands that integrates with federal and state programs. B. Background. San Diego has had many large and catastrophic wildfires in the last 20 years. Between 2002 and 2021, at least 401,210 hectares (ha) have burned in San Diego County, covering a total of 34% of the area within the county (CAL FIRE 2022), with many ha burning multiple times. This makes wildfire a topic of concern regarding protecting our prioritized natural resources. For this reason, USGS has held several fire-related workshops (2013, 2015, 2016) with land managers, researchers, and fire management personnel to discuss the topic of wildland fire impacts to at-risk natural resources. Discussions from these workshops assisted in developing the Fire Threat section of the MSP Roadmap (SDMMP and TNC 2016; Volume 2A). SANDAG would like USGS to add the information gleaned from previous workshops and fire-related studies with information gathered from land managers to integrate into a Fire Management Strategy. As the landscape grows warmer and drier from climate change and drought, and as the vegetation mix changes to flashier fuel loads from exotic grasses and other nonnative plants, the threat from wildfire to our natural resources grows. It is imperative to address this task before the next large-scale or destructive fire burns through Conserved Lands. C. Scope. The objective of this work is to coordinate with partners to identify data for the Wildland Fire Decision Support Systems, assist with development of a regional Wildland Fire Resource Advisor Program, and recommend fire risk reduction strategies for priority resources. II. WORK REQUIREMENTS A. Technical Requirements. 1. SANDAG needs USGS to create a Fire Management Strategy. To develop the strategy requires the awardee to work with USGS, San Diego Management and Monitoring Program (SDMMP), landowners and managers, fire management agencies, Wildlife Agencies, and other partners to complete several tasks. Task 1: The first components of this strategy are integrating GIS information on resources of highest priority to avoid fire suppression disturbance and identify roads and staging areas to facilitate fire management. The goal is to integrate information from local jurisdictions and other non-profit landowners into existing systems such as the National Incident Command and the San Diego County Fire Interra system. This will involve meeting with partners to develop these GIS layers that will be included in the Wildland Fire Decision Support Systems. Task 2: A second component of this strategy is the development of a regional Resource Advisor program for Conserved Lands that are not currently covered by federal or state advisors. The awardee will provide training and guidelines for the regional Wildland Fire Resource Advisor (RA) Program for jurisdictions that currently do not have an RA Program. This will include training in the protocol and types of information necessary for interacting with incident commanders and the federal and state RAs. Task 3: The third component of the Strategy is to identify and prioritize species and natural communities at highest risk of fire and develop a plan to reduce fire risk. This will include identifying the most important information to relay to incident commanders in initial attack and long-range fire event planning. The awardee will coordinate through meetings and site visits with USGS, SDMMP, Wildlife Agencies, landowners/ managers, and other partners to identify fire ignition and fire risk reduction measures that can be undertaken to protect prioritized natural resources. 2. Criteria for acceptance of Product or Service. Acceptance will be based on review by SDMMP and USGS project leads as products are submitted to confirm they meet minimum product requirements. Minimum product requirements: 1. Interim deliverables will include: ¿ Progress reports on all calls, site visits, and outreach meetings with land managers. ¿ Summary of the development progress of RA resources, fire management priorities, and GIS data that will be collected to include in the existing GIS-based Wildland Fire Decision Support Systems. 2. Final deliverables will include: ¿ Integrated GIS information on resources of highest priority to avoid during fire suppression, identifying roads and staging areas to facilitate fire management. These digital products will be delivered to the SDMMP GIS specialist. ¿ A regional Resource Advisor program for Conserved Lands that are not currently covered by federal or state advisors. The local land managers, resource agencies, and fire management staff will be made aware of the RA capacity and how to call up resources during a fire. ¿ A strategy identifying and prioritizing species and natural communities at highest risk of fire and develop a plan to reduce fire risk. Digital copies of the report will be provided to SDMMP and USGS project leads. 3. Progress reports will be submitted intermittently, as needed, to USGS. Final deliverables will be submitted one year after the start of the contract. Interim delivery dates may be established between USGS and awardee upon award. III. SUPPORTING INFORMATION A. Place of Performance. The awardee must work remotely and provide his/her own computer equipment and programs to conduct the work necessary to provide the listed deliverables. B. Period of Performance. The period of performance is from the date of award through 07/31/2023 with three one-year options to extend if required. C. Government Furnished Property (GFP): None D. Special Considerations: 1. Key personnel qualifications. Qualifications for the awardee include: ¿ Extensive history of fire coordination as fire incident commander, battalion chief, wildland firefighter division chief, and part of Type 1 incident management team as Operations section chief and Planning section chief, which oversees the resource advisor team. ¿ The awardee should have at least 25 years of experience working with natural resource agencies to: o Implement pre-fire management ¿ Fire risk reduction ¿ Hazard reduction o Protect natural resources during fire incidents o Train and present on the: ¿ Incident Management System ¿ Fire behavior ¿ Wildland fire management ¿ Integration of cooperating agencies ¿ Natural resource management on wildland fire incidents o Present at public Education forums for: ¿ Wildfire preparedness ¿ Defensible space management ¿ Natural resource management ¿ The awardee should: o Know the primary threatened species in the region o Understand the changing fire regime in Southern California and San Diego County over the last 25 years 2. Data Rights, Safety, Environment. None