Contract for moose aerial inventory in WMU 7-54 (Toad River) Winter 2022/2023 including helicopter services
Solicitation number 7823
Publication date
Closing date and time 2022/11/06 02:00 EST
Last amendment date
Description
Invitation to Quote – Moose Stratified Random Block WMU 7-54
BACKGROUND:
The Ministry of Forests is seeking a qualified contractor to conduct a stratified random block (SRB) moose survey in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 7-54. As such, an Invitation to Quote (ITQ) is being sent to wildlife consulting companies who have experience at conducting these types of surveys.
MU 7-54 is 7,516 km2, and will require approximately 75-85 helicopter hours, or 12-15 days to complete depending on survey conditions. Toad River is the closest community and has minimal amenities. The closest companies providing helicopter services are in either Fort Nelson or Watson Lake, Yukon. The contractor will have to validate their habitat-based GIS stratification of the survey area with TWO helicopter passes over the blocks. This is necessary before commencement of survey flights. Examples of GIS stratifications will be provided.
If weather conditions allow, the surveys can commence in December 2022; if not, the survey will commence in the new year (January 2023) when weather conditions are favourable. The successful bidder will be responsible for all aircraft charter costs, maps, and providing and paying for First Nation observers; communication with Daylu Dena community in Lower Post will be facilitated by Ministry staff. Ministry staff reserve the right to accompany the survey team as an observer throughout the duration of the survey, advance notice will be given.
It is important to note that there has been difficulty conducting moose surveys in the Northeast Region in recent years due to unfavorable winter weather conditions. These surveys will not take place if required weather conditions do not occur.
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED:
Vendor selection:
Qualified and experienced wildlife consulting companies are being contacted with this Invitation to Quote. Submissions should provide a cost estimate for the GIS Stratification, inventory including helicopter services, accommodations and per diems, and reporting time. Final selection will be determined based on the submitted cost.
SUBMISSION Date:
Submissions to this ITQ must be submitted through BCBid, no later than November 5th, 2022 by 11pm (PST). Contact the Project Contact for any questions regarding the project. I am available to respond to any questions you may have on this ITQ. Responses to these questions will be shared with the other companies if the answer may influence their quote.
Sincerely,
Audrey Gagne-Delorme
| DATE: | October 11th, 2022 |
| FLNR Project Contact: | Audrey Gagne-Delorme – Wildlife Biologist Northeast Region Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development |
| Email: | Audrey.GagneDelorme@gov.bc.ca |
| Phone: | 778-576-8870 |
BACKGROUND:
The Ministry of Forests is seeking a qualified contractor to conduct a stratified random block (SRB) moose survey in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 7-54. As such, an Invitation to Quote (ITQ) is being sent to wildlife consulting companies who have experience at conducting these types of surveys.
MU 7-54 is 7,516 km2, and will require approximately 75-85 helicopter hours, or 12-15 days to complete depending on survey conditions. Toad River is the closest community and has minimal amenities. The closest companies providing helicopter services are in either Fort Nelson or Watson Lake, Yukon. The contractor will have to validate their habitat-based GIS stratification of the survey area with TWO helicopter passes over the blocks. This is necessary before commencement of survey flights. Examples of GIS stratifications will be provided.
If weather conditions allow, the surveys can commence in December 2022; if not, the survey will commence in the new year (January 2023) when weather conditions are favourable. The successful bidder will be responsible for all aircraft charter costs, maps, and providing and paying for First Nation observers; communication with Daylu Dena community in Lower Post will be facilitated by Ministry staff. Ministry staff reserve the right to accompany the survey team as an observer throughout the duration of the survey, advance notice will be given.
It is important to note that there has been difficulty conducting moose surveys in the Northeast Region in recent years due to unfavorable winter weather conditions. These surveys will not take place if required weather conditions do not occur.
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED:
- The project lead must be a Registered Professional Biologist with the College of Applied Biologists – or equivalent. This is a new requirement under the Professional Governance Act. The ITQ must include the project lead’s relevant experience and qualifications.
- Conduct all preliminary inventory preparation work including obtaining and preparing maps, applying for a Wildlife Act permit, organizing your company’s inventory crew, consulting with aircraft charter companies with regards to flight dates and safety check-ins, and advising the First Nation Observer of flight dates.
- Conduct habitat-based GIS stratification of the WMU 7-54 moose survey area following methods outlined in Davis (2015), Blackbird (2022) – these reports and methods will be provided upon request through the identified Project Contact.
- Conduct a helicopter flight across the survey area to assess the accuracy of the GIS stratification and adjust, if necessary, for local features influencing moose distribution. Two passes per block must be done.
- Co-ordinate all aspects of the rotary survey component, including randomly selecting the number of pre-stratified blocks to be sampled with rotary aircraft, directing crews to survey location, and providing them with appropriate data collection sheets.
- Incidental species locations and count must be recorded. There are other populations of interest within WMU 7-54 that the Ministry is monitoring.
- Conduct aerial surveys with the use of 1 helicopter, as such, your company must be capable of providing 1 experienced rotary aircraft inventory crew (i.e., a crew of 2 or 3 experienced wildlife observers who are capable of navigating, observing moose and classifying moose as cows, bulls, or calves).
- Inventory methods and data analysis is expected to meet the RISC Standard No. 32 – Aerial-based Inventory Methods for Selected Ungulates (+/- 20% at 90% confidence interval)
- Present data in a technical report format, including the individual costs for each component of the inventory work to the Project Contact.
- Submit all raw data and a digital copy of the final report to the Wildlife Species Inventory Submission Site before March 31st, 2023. Submission requirements for this project include:
- Completed project registration and survey definition
- GIS stratification code/shapefile
- A report
- Data formatted in a standard template (i.e., Game Census template)
- Shape files of flight routes (i.e. flight route tracking)
Vendor selection:
Qualified and experienced wildlife consulting companies are being contacted with this Invitation to Quote. Submissions should provide a cost estimate for the GIS Stratification, inventory including helicopter services, accommodations and per diems, and reporting time. Final selection will be determined based on the submitted cost.
SUBMISSION Date:
Submissions to this ITQ must be submitted through BCBid, no later than November 5th, 2022 by 11pm (PST). Contact the Project Contact for any questions regarding the project. I am available to respond to any questions you may have on this ITQ. Responses to these questions will be shared with the other companies if the answer may influence their quote.
Sincerely,
Audrey Gagne-Delorme
Contract duration
Refer to the description above for full details.
Trade agreements
-
Please refer to tender description or tender documents
Contact information
Contracting organization
- Organization
-
Northeast Resource Management and Major Projects
- Contracting authority
- Audrey Gagne-Delorme
- Email
- Audrey.GagneDelorme@gov.bc.ca
Bidding details
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