Solicitation
FY27 Botany Surveys
Department of the Interior · Bureau of Land Management
AI summaryThe Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Medford District in Oregon wants a small business to survey BLM land for rare (Special Status) plants, lichens, mosses and fungi, and for invasive weeds, in the Ashland, Butte Falls and Grants Pass Field Offices. It is a request for quotation (RFQ: a quote, not a full proposal) for one firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price per unit, whatever the work ends up costing) commercial services purchase order, paid per acre, mile or site surveyed. Work runs March 1, 2027 to November 1, 2027, and quotes are due November 13, 2026, 5:00 PM Pacific by email. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 3 attachments weren't read (A04_ATTACHMENTS_-_18_ITEMS.zip, B03_Wage_Determination.pdf). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Medford District in Oregon wants a small business to survey BLM land for rare (Special Status) plants, lichens, mosses and fungi, and for invasive weeds, in the Ashland, Butte Falls and Grants Pass Field Offices. It is a request for quotation (RFQ: a quote, not a full proposal) for one firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price per unit, whatever the work ends up costing) commercial services purchase order, paid per acre, mile or site surveyed. Work runs March 1, 2027 to November 1, 2027, and quotes are due November 13, 2026, 5:00 PM Pacific by email.
Who can bid (5)
- Small business: this is a total small business set-aside (NAICS 541690). Under the limitations on subcontracting clause (52.219-14), no more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government may go to subcontractors that are not also small businesses.
- Key personnel (principal partners, project leaders, supervisors, crew leaders) whose resumes come with the quote must survey at least 50% of the acres
- Project leader or supervisor: bachelor's degree in botany or a related field with at least 8 upper-division credits in vascular plant taxonomy and 6 in nonvascular plant taxonomy, and three years or seasons each of vascular, nonvascular and fungi survey experience
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- Crew leader: three years or seasons each of vascular, nonvascular and fungi survey experience. Crew member: two years or seasons each. Crew trainee: one year or season each, with no more than two trainees per year. All surveyors need a botany-related bachelor's degree with plant taxonomy credits and must identify the target species in the field.
- Active SAM.gov registration with current representations and certifications
How to submit: Email to matthew_duane@ios.doi.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 14, 2026.
- Serious: Total small business set-aside. Only small businesses can quote, and the clause limiting subcontracting caps payments to non-small-business subcontractors at 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government.
- Serious: Specialist botanists required, and key staff must do half the acres. Project leaders, supervisors and crew leaders need botany degrees and several seasons of plant, moss, lichen and fungus survey experience, and the people whose resumes you send must survey at least 50% of the acres; a firm without these specialists cannot quote.
- Worth checking: Large survey volume in a short field season. The estimated quantities total about 35,000 acres, and vascular plant surveys generally happen from about April 1 to August 31 (Fritillaria gentneri blooms about April 1 to May 31), so the firm needs enough qualified crews for steep, brushy terrain.
Show all 10Show fewer
- Worth checking: Unit maps and unit details come after award. The detailed unit information sheets and unit maps are given out at the pre-work conference, so you price per-acre work without seeing each unit.
- Worth checking: Wage determination: documents disagree. The list of attachments says a wage determination is not required for botanists, but Section J lists Attachment 1 as a 7-page Service Contract Act wage determination and the service contract labor clause is included. Ask the contracting officer which applies; the wage determination file was a scanned PDF that could not be read.
- Worth checking: Rework and termination for default. Work that falls below standard must be redone, and if quality is not raised within three consecutive workdays after written notice the contract can be terminated for default; payment can also be reduced if fewer than 95% of forms, sites, vouchers or units pass inspection.
- Worth checking: Reduced payment for missed quality thresholds. Partial payment is based on the average of four inspection conditions, so one weak area (for example vouchers) cuts the payment for everything.
- Worth checking: Oregon labor contractor license and farm worker registration. If Oregon requires a Farm/Forest Labor Contractor's License, the awardee and first-tier subcontractors must hold one, and failing to keep it is grounds for termination for default.
- Minor: Progress report frequency differs. The pre-work conference text mentions weekly progress reports, while the documentation section and timeframes table say every two weeks; confirm which applies.
- Minor: Fire season restrictions and set work hours. Work hours run from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, with no weekend or federal holiday work unless authorized, and fire danger levels can restrict or stop field work with no extra pay or time.
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. 2 of 3 not read. Show which files.
- Sol_140LL027Q0003.pdf (read)
- A04_ATTACHMENTS_-_18_ITEMS.zip: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- B03_Wage_Determination.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Survey about 35,000 estimated acres of BLM timber, young-stand (silviculture) and fuels units for Special Status plants (vascular, nonvascular and fungi found along the way) using the intuitive controlled method (walking a representative cross section of each unit)
- Do second-year surveys for Fritillaria gentneri (Gentner's fritillary, a federally listed endangered plant) on 500 acres
- Revisit and document known Special Status plant sites, including 56 Fritillaria gentneri sites outside survey units, and flag, sign and map new sites
- Record invasive weed infestations and Special Status finds in the Field Maps mobile app (Android device and a GeoPlatform account), with GPS tracks of each survey route
- Collect voucher specimens (preserved samples) as required, and submit species lists, survey reports, maps, site forms and photos on paper and electronically
- Send progress reports every two weeks, then a final report
- Walk in to unit boundaries beyond one-half mile (priced per mile) and cover haul routes (priced per mile)
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price commercial services purchase order, paid at unit prices for the quantity completed and accepted
- Period of performance
- March 1, 2027 to November 1, 2027 (one period; no options stated)
- Place of performance
- BLM Medford District, Oregon: Ashland, Butte Falls and Grants Pass Field Offices, spanning most of Josephine and Jackson Counties
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best value: award to the responsible firm whose quote is most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. Price must be fair and reasonable.
- Offers due
- November 13, 2026, 5:00 PM Pacific
- How to submit
- Email to matthew_duane@ios.doi.gov
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Approach: how the work will be completed
- Past Performance: previous work on projects of similar scope
- Price: unit price and extended total for each Section B item
What to include when you submit
- Send the quote in two parts: (1) a non-price section and (2) a price section
- Non-price section: organize it by evaluation factor in this order, Technical Approach then Past Performance, with enough narrative detail to be evaluated
- Past Performance: give details of previous work on projects of similar scope
- Price section: send the completed Section B price schedule with a unit price and extended total for every item; prices must include all supervision, management, labor, transportation, equipment, materials, other direct costs, overhead and profit
- Include resumes of the principal partners and key personnel (project leaders, supervisors and crew leaders), who must survey at least 50% of the acres
- Complete and submit all applicable representations and certifications (they must also be current in SAM.gov)
- If you cannot use the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) for invoices, include a written waiver request to the contracting officer with the quote
- Send questions in writing by email to matthew_duane@ios.doi.gov
After award, you must have
- Oregon Farm/Forest Labor Contractor's License, if the State of Oregon requires one, for the awardee and first-tier subcontractors; proof is due within 10 days after written notice of award From Sol_140LL027Q0003.pdf:
Contractors not having a current license will be required to furnish…
- If applicable, a U.S. Department of Labor Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act registration number within 5 days after award From Sol_140LL027Q0003.pdf:
If applicable, a valid U.S. Department of Labor Registration number must be supplied within five (5) days after date…
- Own field equipment: compass, GPS unit and an Android device running the Field Maps app, a dissecting microscope, 10X hand lens, clinometer, convex densiometer and digital camera, plus botanical reference keys. A GeoPlatform account is needed for mobile data collection.
Not in the notice text
- Missing documents: the 18 attachments (vicinity map, sample section map, special status species lists, report forms and other references) came as a .zip file that was not read, and the wage determination (B03) is a scanned PDF that could not be read. They are posted with the solicitation on SAM.gov.
- Unit maps and detailed unit information sheets are given out at the pre-work conference after award.
- The Government's estimate or budget is not stated; only estimated quantities are given.
- No deadline for questions is stated.
- The number of past performance references to send is not stated.
- The importance order of Technical Approach, Past Performance and Price is not stated.
- Whether a Service Contract Act wage determination applies is unclear (see red flags).
Eligibility and how to respond
- Set aside for small businesses: only a business that counts as small under this notice's NAICS code can bid as the prime contractor. More open small business set-asides under NAICS 541690
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to matthew_duane@ios.doi.gov. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- SAM.gov has no description for this notice beyond its title. The work is described in its attachments, listed under Notice details.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 14, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- BLM Contracting Activity, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- F099 · Natural Resources/Conservation – Other
- Business type
- Consulting & professional services (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541690)
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
- Set-aside contracts explained
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, Set-aside
Full notice text from SAM.gov
FY27 BOTANY SURVEYS
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