R--Fire Ecology Research
Overview
Buyer
Place of Performance
NAICS
PSC
Set Aside
Original Source
Timeline
Qualification Details
Fit reasons
- NAICS alignment with historical contract wins in similar service areas.
- Scope strongly matches core technical capabilities and delivery model.
Risks
- Past performance thresholds may require one additional teaming partner.
- Potential clarification needed on staffing minimums before bid/no-bid.
Next steps
Validate eligibility requirements, assign capture owner, and schedule partner outreach to confirm teaming strategy before submission planning.
Quick Summary
The US Geological Survey (USGS), under the Department of Interior, is conducting market research through a Sources Sought announcement to identify qualified businesses capable of providing Fire Ecology Research Support. This effort aims to support the USGS Western Ecological Research Center's projects focused on understanding how fire frequency impacts resource conservation in California's diverse shrublands. This is a Total Small Business Set-Aside. Responses are due by March 17, 2026, at 0500 PDT.
Scope of Work
The required research support involves analyzing the distribution of shrub species based on their postfire response, examining topographic, vegetation, and soil characteristics, and extracting historical fire perimeter data. The contractor will also diagnose how fire response strategies vary with statewide characteristics and provide all research in digital formats. The objective is to balance hazard reduction through prescription burning with the conservation of natural resources, particularly addressing the negative impacts of high-frequency fires on obligate-seeding shrub species.
Key Requirements
Key personnel must include a research scientist with a PhD and demonstrable experience in spatial databases for analyzing California climate, weather, land use change, wildland-urban interface, NDVI imagery, and fire history. Expertise in studying climatic drivers of historical fire activity, mapping fire regimes, and assessing impacts of altered fire regimes on native ecosystems is essential. The contractor must have ready access to statewide NDVI and vegetation maps, historical maps, and extensive experience in multivariate statistical techniques (e.g., classification trees, random forests, gams, glms, unsupervised cluster analysis). Demonstrable experience using R statistical programming and thorough knowledge of past research on fire-induced type conversion in chaparral are also required.
Contract & Timeline
- Type: Sources Sought (Market Research)
- NAICS: 541620, Environmental Consulting Services ($19.0M size standard)
- PSC: R425, Engineering And Technical Services
- Set-Aside: Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)
- Period of Performance: July 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026
- Place of Performance: Contractor's facility
- Response Due: March 17, 2026, at 0500 PDT
- Published: March 5, 2026
Additional Notes
This is solely for planning purposes and market research; it is not a request for quote or proposal, and the Government is not committed to awarding a contract. The Government will not pay for any costs incurred in preparing responses. Responses must be submitted via email to aberry@usgs.gov.