The USDA Forest Service intends to award a sole source contract to West, Inc. on the basis of other than full and open competition under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. Work to be performed includes all data summaries, final analyses, co-authorship, and statistical responses needed to successfully complete the refereed journal publication process to publish results of all prior elk telemetry data analysis and elk habitat modeling work in Oregon and Washington. The prior analysis and modeling work is nearing completion under prior purchase order AG-05GG-P-09-0020 and AG-05GG-S-11-0035 with WEST, Inc. Prior work includes the application of statistical methods and statistical analysis programs developed and published by WEST, Inc. biometricians and biologists, demonstrated in this Company's long record of accomplishment and experience in constructing and validating resource selection functions (RSFs) and related models for a myriad of wildlife species in different environments of the world. Prior work also includes novel methods of statistical meta-analyses developed by WEST, Inc., specifically for the elk telemetry data analysis and elk modeling work under the prior purchase order. Finally, prior work includes R program code written specifically to complete these meta-analyses for elk modeling in Oregon and Washington. The novel statistical methods of analysis developed by WEST, Inc., working in concert with PNW Research Station scientists and a variety of federal, state, private, and tribal scientist partners, represent joint intellectual property of WEST, Inc. and all other scientist partners. This joint intellectual property requires that WEST, Inc. biometricians, who conducted these prior meta-analyses, be included as authors on all publications of this work in scientific journals. Moreover, these methods are new, not published, and thus will undergo their first peer review with submission of our manuscripts for publication. Consequently, the work of WEST, Inc. biometricians involved with the prior work is required for the publication process to address the many peer review comments that always are generated with publication of any new statistical and analytical methods. West, Inc. is a leading scientific authority on methods and programs for analysis of radio-telemetry data to construct and validate RSF-based models for research and management of wildlife species such as elk. West, Inc. is the only source for methods and supporting computer programs needed to correct fix rate bias in GPS telemetry data, which is an essential part of the project. Interested persons may identify their interest in writing, to the Government point of contact. Responses to this notice must be received no later than 4:30 pm Pacific Standard Time, 5/29/2014. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations or a solicitation of offers. The government point of contact for this action is Candy Millener, Procurement Technician, phone 541-278-3843, email:
[email protected].