The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) intends to negotiate a contract on a sole source basis with Blackwoods Group, LLC. The USDA-NRCS needs a well-documented assessment paper, supported by robust economic and other analyses, which describes and documents the direct and indirect on-site and off-site benefits of the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) Program. The report will be used to support effective and efficient use of this program to further facilitate voluntary private lands conservation.

The paper will describe the use of the CTA Program to support conservation practice standards development; technology transfer; technical tools development; natural resources inventory data collection and analysis; conservation planning and other technical assistance; and conservation practice/system implementation and follow-up. The paper will describe the CTA Program's measurable and unmeasurable benefits in robust quantitative and qualitative means.
This Statement of Work (SOW) describes the objectives expected to be achieved with regard to fully describing the conservation, production, economic, social, and food security benefits of the CTA Program. Efficient and effective use of the CTA Program will greatly support the agency's continuing efforts to work toward its vision of "Productive working lands in harmony with a healthy environment."

Please see the attached Justification for further information.

The proposed action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) 6.302-1. If you believe you can provide the services requested, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement for consideration via email to the contracting officer at [email protected] by 5:00 pm Eastern time Tuesday July 25, 2017. Please reference the notification number in the subject line of the email.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. 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. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is not obligated to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website (www.fbo.gov) in accordance with FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

Bid Protests Not Available