Work shall consist of locating, establishing, measuring and recording data for sample plots. The work performed and the data collected shall be in compliance with the terms, specifications, conditions and provisions of this solicitation, and the Common Stand Exam Users Guide, Version 2.12.6March2015, hereafter known as "CSE User Guide". The Contractor shall furnish all personnel, materials, equipment, tools, supplies, transportation, supervision and incidentals to perform data collection work, except as otherwise provided by the Government, and in the timeframe specified in this solicitation.

Offerors are urged to inspect the Bid Items and work areas prior to submission of an offer.

It is the Government's intent to award one contract resulting from this solicitation. Accordingly, offeror's shall SUBMIT PRICING FOR ALL LINE ITEMS. However, if upon evaluation, it is determined that multiple awards are in the best interest of the Government, multiple awards may be made. It is the Government's intent to award a fixed priced contract resulting from this solicitation.

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, and supplemented with additional information included in, and attached to, this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation: proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ) and the documents incorporate provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-97, including but not limited to commercial provisions 52.212-1, 52.212-2, 52.212-3 and commercial clauses 52.212-4, and 52.212-5. Provisions and clauses incorporated by references have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. The full text of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Agriculture Acquisition Regulations (AGAR) can be accessed at http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and http://www.usda.gov/procurement/policy/agar/html

This procurement is a total small-business set aside. The NAICS code is 115310 and the Small Business Size Standard is $7.5M.

Contractors are required to be actively registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov in order to be considered for award. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this synopsis, the solicitation or any follow up information requests.

All invoices are to be submitted via the electronic Invoice Processing Platform. This is a mandatory requirement initiated by the U.S. Department of Treasury and you can find more information at this website https://www.ipp.gov/index.htm. Please make sure that your company has registered at https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/enrollment-vendors.htm to establish your account. The "Submit Invoice-to" address for USDA orders is the Department of Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). The contractor must follow the instructions on how to register and submit invoices via IPP.

The solicitation has been posted to FedBizOpps (FBO) and no hard copies of the solicitation, supporting documents and applicable amendments, if any, will be provided. To receive the entire solicitation package and any applicable amendments, prospective offerors must download them from the FBO website.

Schedule of items consists of 34 bid items with a range of one to six compartments per bid item.

Bid Item 1 Total quantity 288
Bid Item 2 Total quantity 290
Bid Item 3 Total quantity 326
Bid Item 4 Total quantity 218
Bid Item 5 Total quantity 238
Bid Item 6 Total quantity 109
Bid Item 7 Total quantity 193
Bid Item 8 Total quantity 112
Bid Item 9 Total quantity 195
Bid Item 10 Total quantity 371
Bid Item 11 Total quantity 312
Bid Item 12 Total quantity 233
Bid Item 13 Total quantity 310
Bid Item 14 Total quantity 390
Bid Item 15 Total quantity 202
Bid Item 16 Total quantity 228
Bid Item 17 Total quantity 365
Bid Item 18 Total quantity 355
Bid Item 19 Total quantity 206
Bid Item 20 Total quantity 417
Bid Item 21 Total quantity 147
Bid Item 22 Total quantity 127
Bid Item 23 Total quantity 155
Bid Item 24 Total quantity 290
Bid Item 25 Total quantity 308
Bid Item 26 Total quantity 263
Bid Item 27 Total quantity 377
Bid Item 28 Total quantity 225
Bid Item 29 Total quantity 152
Bid Item 30 Total quantity 291
Bid Item 31 Total quantity 144
Bid Item 32 Total quantity 285
Bid Item 33 Total quantity 381
Bid Item 34 Total quantity 261

See 12569R18Q0007 Solicitation Document - Section B for detailed Schedule of Items.

The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

(a) Qualifications (as listed in section C.3.1.1) and Technical Excellence
(b) Price/Cost
(c) Project Management
(d) Past Performance
(e) Safety Plan & Bio-based products utilized (if applicable)
(f) Availability

Award will be made to the offeror(s) (1) whose Proposal is technically acceptable and (2) whose technical/cost relationship is most advantageous to the Government. Cost (b) is equal to qualifications and technical (a) and will factor in the award decision.
All Offerors must submit the following:

1. Complete and return the schedule of items information (Section B).
2. Complete and return the SF-1449, Section K - Certs & Reps OR SAM registration AND provision 52.209-11 (pg 55).
3. Provide Technical Proposal. Please ensure that you have addressed all of the criteria as stated in section M. (Experience Questionnaire provided for your convenience)
4. Quality Control Plan
5. Safety Plan
6. The Government will evaluate proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in Section M of this solicitation.

All offers must be received by 4:30 pm EST on April 20, 2018.

Please submit one complete copy of the above information to:
USDA Forest Service - 12569R18Q0007
Annette Caliguri, LSAT Contracting Officer
820 Rains Drive
Gladstone, MI 49837

Offers may be submitted electronically to [email protected], SUBJ: 12569R18Q0007.
If submitting via email please note file size limitations, formatting or other problems may hamper receipt so please verify that the contracting officer has received your quote.
No facsimile offers will be considered per (c)(1) of FAR clause 52.215-1 Instructions to Offerors -- Competitive Acquisition. (Jan 2004). Incomplete offers will not be accepted.

Contact Annette Caliguri at [email protected] or (906) 428-5842 with administrative questions concerning this solicitation.

Contact Ted Frank at 906-285-6964, Dave Steffensen at 906-884-2085, ext. 29, or Mike Strieter at 906-850-4033 for more information or technical questions concerning this solicitation.