Invasive Species Support, Eareckson Air Station, AK | W9126G 21 2 SOI 4921

Opportunity Information: Apply for W9126G 21 2 SOI 4921

The Department of Defense, through the US Army Corps of Engineers (Fort Worth District) on behalf of the US Air Force, issued a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) for a project called "Natural Resources Support - Invasive Species, Eareckson Air Station, Alaska" (Funding Opportunity Number W9126G-21-2-SOI-4921). The work supports natural resources compliance and implementation at Eareckson Air Station (EAS), a remote installation in the Aleutian Archipelago managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center (PRSC). The project is tied to the Sikes Act and the installation's Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP), with a specific emphasis on improving the Air Force's understanding of non-native and invasive plant presence and determining practical control or eradication approaches when needed.

Eligibility is narrow and is a gatekeeping requirement: applicants must be non-federal partners affiliated with one of three Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) regions (Alaska, Pacific Northwest, or Rocky Mountains). The anticipated award instrument is a CESU cooperative agreement under Sikes Act authority (16 USC 670c-1). Administration through CESU is contingent on mutual agreement and acceptance of the CESU Network indirect cost rate of 17.5 percent. Only one award was expected.

Funding for the base effort (Tasks 1 through 4) was estimated at roughly $95,000 (the listing reflects an award ceiling of about $95,112). The base period of performance was expected to be 18 months from the date of award. The announcement also notes the possibility of additional funds for up to two optional tasks, to be performed within the same base period, if funds are available and if the survey results justify follow-on invasive plant control actions.

From a technical standpoint, the core purpose is to fill an information gap: prior natural resource survey work at EAS in recent years had been limited largely to birds, wetlands, and some shore-based marine mammal monitoring. This project shifts the focus to terrestrial vegetation, aiming to document the status and distribution of alien and invasive plant species on the installation and to produce decision-ready information on effective control or eradication methods. The work is framed as supporting PRSC's 2020 INRMP, specifically Goal 8, Objective 8.1, and it sits within a broader compliance environment that includes the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, NEPA, and Air Force Instruction 32-7064 on integrated natural resources management.

The anticipated base tasks are structured like a typical field ecology and GIS deliverables project. First, the selected cooperator must develop and submit draft and final work plans that explain the approach, schedule, and logistics, including a project planning chart, anticipated site visit dates, deliverable dates, staffing, and safety considerations. A key requirement is that the survey design be clearly described and repeatable so that EAS or future contractors can duplicate the methods in later years for trend tracking. Second, before any fieldwork begins, the cooperator must obtain necessary federal and state permits and incorporate those permitting steps into the work plan. Third, the cooperator conducts the field survey according to the approved plan and is responsible for installation-specific travel and access requirements, including arrival notifications and civilian aircraft landing permits, as well as coordinating with the base operations contractor on on-site safety procedures. Fourth, the cooperator must collect specific datasets during surveys: GPS track logs showing search paths, GPS point locations for any invasive plants found, a list of all plant species observed, and high-quality GIS-based mapping of vegetation types. After fieldwork, the cooperator produces draft and final field survey reports documenting methods, findings, and mapped outputs.

Optional tasks are essentially an implementation phase triggered by what the surveys find. If invasive grasses or other invasive plant populations are identified, the Air Force may fund return travel to EAS to apply control techniques intended to control or eradicate the target species. Those actions would then be documented in draft and final invasive plant control reports describing what was done, where, and with what apparent results or recommendations for next steps.

At the RSOI stage, the government was not asking for a full technical proposal or any budget. Instead, it was a qualifications screen intended to identify capable investigators or teams who could later be invited to submit a full proposal. The statement of interest was capped at two pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, and needed to include basic entity identifiers and contact information (including CAGE code and DUNS number), plus a concise but substantive qualifications narrative. That narrative was expected to cover a biographical sketch, relevant past projects and clients, available staff (including faculty or students where applicable) and their expertise, and any capabilities that would help execute remote Alaska fieldwork and GIS products (for example, specialized equipment, field facilities, laboratory or greenhouse resources, and similar assets).

Selection was described as a board review by personnel at the receiving installation or activity, with invitations for full proposals based on the best fit to project objectives and the investigators' demonstrated experience. The announcement also signals what "best fit" looks like: preference was to be given to teams that can field biologists with deep Alaska-specific botanical expertise, specifically at least five years of Alaska plant identification experience, including at least two years searching or surveying for invasive species (including potential invasive grasses) within Alaska. In practice, that means proposals that only demonstrate general botany or invasive plant work outside Alaska would be less competitive than those showing direct, on-the-ground Alaska survey experience and proven ability to operate in remote conditions.

Administrative details include the points of contact for questions and submissions (a USACE grants specialist and a USACE project manager). The posting stated that the RSOI would be available for at least 30 days before the government decided whether to request full proposals. The stated response deadline for statements of interest was 5:00 PM Central Time on July 9, 2021, while the opportunity record also lists an original closing date of August 9, 2021, indicating there may have been an extension or a difference between the SOI response date and the overall listing closeout date.

• The Department of Defense, Fort Worth District in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Invasive Species Support, Eareckson Air Station, AK" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.005.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 09, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 09, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $95,112.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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