The USGS has a requirement for a firm-fixed price purchase order to the University of Florida Leadership and Education Foundation (UFLEF), a not-for-profit administrated by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and follows the IFAS mission to develop knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and to make that knowledge available to people to sustain and enhance their quality of life. The purchase order is for sponsorship of the 2016 "A Community on Ecosystem Services" (ACES) conference, which is managed and organized by UFLEF. The sponsorship provides the USGS with an 8'x8' display booth to feature its programs and resources to conference attendees. In addition to the booth, USGS will receive four (4) conference registrations. Period of Performance will be as follows: 12/05/2016 through 12/09/2016 The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to UFLEF unless it is contacted by any who believes they have obtained similar technical expertise and can provide the same service. Vendors are invited to contact the Contract Specialist, Chris Kuhn, via email at
[email protected] no later than 12:00 PM EDT, Wednesday, November 23, 2016 with an affirmative answer. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained. The ACES 2016 conference provides a unique opportunity for USGS scientists to share and obtain information on state-of-the-art ecosystem services science and practice. There is no other conference in the US that provides the breadth and depth of ecosystem services expertise. The purpose of ACES 2016 is to provide a needed forum for sharing information on state of-the-art methods, tools, and processes related to ecosystem services and their effective use in decisions. The issue of ecosystem services has become an increasingly critical factor in resource management and conservation. These important issues require an understanding of the services provided by ecosystems and ways they can be valued and used in decision making. ACES 2016 is the only forum to provide a needed platform for sharing information on state-of-the-art methods, tools, and processes related to ecosystem services and their effective use in decisions. The interdisciplinary nature of ACES will facilitate interactive discussions and networking to create and build partnerships while sharing lessons learned from the field. The topic of ecosystem services is essential to the USGS and its Science Strategy, as indicated in the October 2015 Memorandum from the Executive Office of the President directing Federal agencies to incorporate ecosystem services into decision making. The ACES 2016 Conference is a University of Florida event held on a bi-annual basis. As a University of Florida event, this event cannot be conducted by an organization other than the University of Florida.