This is a special notice prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2. The US Army Corps of Engineers - Portland District intends to award a sole-source, Firm-Fixed Price contract with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), 4034 Fairview Industrial Rd SE, Salem, OR, 97302-1142. The purpose of this acquisition is for the contractor to evaluate rearing and migration patterns of surrogate juvenile winter steelhead trout above Detroit Dam in the North Santiam River and its tributaries. Understanding how reintroduced winter steelhead would utilize stream and reservoir habitats above Detroit Dam and how these habitat conditions influence life history patterns (including the proportion of resident vs anadromy, and migration timing and size) will help design a reintroduction strategy for winter steelhead above Detroit Dam, and inform design and operations of downstream fish passage improvements. The ODFW will describe rearing and migration patterns of juvenile winter steelhead above Detroit Reservoir by determining the proportion of steelhead released in streams that enter the Detroit reservoir. The timing, age, and size of migrating steelhead entering the reservoir will also be evaluated. Juvenile winter steelhead are currently being reared and will need to be implanted with a passive integrated transponder tag (PIT tag). A total of 30,000 fish will be implanted with a half-duplex PIT tag (~15 November 2016) and 2 weeks later released into the North Santiam and or Breitenbush streams (~ 01 December 2016) above Detroit Dam reservoir. After release fish will be monitored by recapture methods (from release date to 01 December 2017) on a schedule outlined in the vendor's study plan to be delivered as part of the proposal. Results of the evaluation will be provided to USACE as a draft report by December 31, 2017 and a final report by February 28, 2018. Total contract period of performance will be from award notice to February, 2018. The USACE has invested in rearing ~30,000 juvenile winter steelhead through a surrogate program run by the Oregon State University (OSU). These fish are an ESA listed species and were reared to implement an evaluation of smolt-to-adult return of fish being released above and below dams in the North Santiam River. This study was canceled 16 September 2016 after consultation with regional stake holders (e.g., NOAA Fisheries, ODFW, Action Agencies, and USFWS). As a result, there is an opportunity to study winter steelhead behavior and fill current knowledge gaps using these existing fish. These fish are smaller than the fish on previous studies, providing a unique opportunity to study this size of fish. If not used for this study the fish may be euthanized due to additional rearing cost. In order to meet the goals of the new proposed study objectives, available surrogate fish need to be released at a size representative of naturally produced fry and parr, while also taking into account their outmigration timing from streams to reservoirs. For this reason there is urgency to get a contractor in place who can implant 30,000 juvenile fish in November 2016 (approximately ~30 days from acceptance) and release them into the appropriate study sites 2 weeks later. The ODFW has experience with tagging the fish, organizing marking operations, releasing the fish, recapture methods, and data interpretation. They also have worked with the OSU and can coordinate time critical tasks in a short time frame. The ODFW also has the facilities to hold fish after being marked prior to release. For these reasons, it is in the best interest of the government to award this contract to the ODFW. The NWP POC considered competitive solicitation however due to the longer timeline this was not an option when considering the need to mark fish in November 2016. Once these fish have grown into late December 2016 they are too large to be representative of the naturally produced fish that migrate from the stream environment to the reservoir, and therefore the value of the study is minimized. The proposed action takes advantage of an investment made by the government to rear surrogate fish and will aid in our understanding of winter steelhead behavior in the North Santiam River Basin. The authority permitting a sole source is FAR 13.501(a)(2)(i) IAW 41 U.S.C. 1901 and the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1903. THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS OR QUOTATIONS, AND A SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE POSTED Interested concerns must show clear and convincing evidence that competition of this requirement would be advantageous to the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal or quote to the contracting officer before the notice end date. If there are not any affirmative written responses received by 8:00 am Pacific Daylight Time on 1 November 2016 an award will be made without further notice. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement is solely within the discretion of the Government. Electronic responses and questions shall be submitted via email to
[email protected]. The US Army Corps of Engineers is not responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice.