B--Macroinvertebrate Sampling

SOURCES SOUGHT (MARKET SURVEY):

The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting a market survey to determine the interest and capability of vendors/contractors for a possible upcoming requirement. All costs associated with providing information in response to this market survey shall be the responsibility of the firm. Any information submitted is voluntary. The Contracting Officer will make an acquisition strategy determination based on the results of this market survey.

Vendors/contractors interested in working with Great Lakes Inventory & Monitoring Network in Ashland, WI - the work will consist of:

Detailed Description of Field and Lab Work

National Park Service staff will collect up to 22 macroinvertebrate samples annually in accordance with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) protocols. National Park Service will be responsible for sample delivery/shipping to the Contractor. The Contractor will process National Park Service macroinvertebrate samples and analyze as described below:

Processing of a macroinvertebrate sample includes:
¿Sample tracking in-lab
¿Gridded subsampling per WDNR protocols to a minimum target 500 specimens, sample allowing ¿Large/rare specimen examination applied to any unsorted remnant of the original sample debris ¿Mounting select specimens to microscope slides ¿Identification of all specimens to Genus, and species if possible¿Enumeration of all specimens within a taxonomic unit ¿Retention of all subsampled specimens and non-processed sample debris ¿Sample processing efforts are written to project-specific sample log sheet ¿Taxonomies, respective enumerations and respective taxonomic references are written to a standard laboratory bench sheet Non-wadeable m-IBI calculation The non-wadeable m-IBI (Weigel & Dimick 2011) will be calculated for each sample. Data reporting Taxonomies, respective enumerations and respective taxonomic reference citations will be listed to Excel® worksheets. m-IBI values will be reported to Excel® worksheet. Taxonomic justification Reported taxonomies will be consistent with taxonomies presented by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS, available from http://www.itis.gov/) when possible. Taxonomies not supported by the ITIS platform will be applied as necessary to illustrate unique taxon concepts. Contractor will provide justifications to National Park Service when reported taxonomies do not match ITIS platform listings and will indicate the lowest respective taxonomy displayed in ITIS. Data retention in cases of dispute All National Park Service sample components sans contractor-retained specimens will be retained within the Contractor¿s archives for a time span of at least three years post-billing date. Physical components from these samples will be discarded no sooner three years post-billing date unless retrieved by National Park Service prior to same date.The NAICS code for this project is 541380 ¿ Testing Laboratories, with a small business size standard of $16.5M. Interested firms must submit the attached Market Research Sources Sought Survey.This market research is being conducted to acquire additional information about potential vendors/contractors that may be interested in performing this work. This is not a request for quote (RFQ) and does not constitute any commitment by the Government to issue any solicitation. All interested firms must respond to future solicitation announcements separately from responses to this market survey. Any solicitation that may be issued will be posted on SAM.gov.All responses must be submitted via email no later than February 15, 2023 @ 12PM ET. Email address: [email protected]. Include the reference number (140P6423Q0016) in the subject line.