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Development of Habitat Management Plan for Upper Lemhi River

Request for Proposals (RFP)

Project Title: Development of Riparian Re-Vegetation Plan near Leadore, Idaho

Project Description: After the recent acquisition of a conservation easement on 11

miles of the upper Lemhi River and 7 miles of Big Springs Creek by

Lemhi Regional Land Trust, Bonneville Power Administration has

required a Habitat Management Plan be developed for the riparian

areas within the conservation easement.

Solicitor: Lemhi Regional Land Trust

The Lemhi Regional Land Trust (LRLT), located in Salmon, Idaho, is a 501(c)(3) non-

profit conservation organization whose mission is to generate and provide supportive

funds and resources for the preservation of land and natural resources, and in particular,

central Idaho ranchlands and agricultural land. As a community based, grassroots, non-

profit organization, our primary goal is to maintain stewardship opportunities for

landowners that allow them to conserve the land’s agricultural, natural, and cultural

resources.

Project Contact: Breann Westfall, Project Lead

105.5 South Center Street

Salmon, ID 83467

(208) 756-8879

breann@lemhilandtrust.org

Mandatory Walkthrough: Monday, October 5, 2015 12:30pm MST

Meet at Lemhi Regional Land Trust at

105 South Center St Salmon, Idaho

Deadline to Submit Questions: Thursday, October 8, 2015, at 4 PM MST

Closing Date: Friday, October 13, 2015, at 4 PM MST

By hand delivery, post, or email.

1.1 Purpose

This RFP requests that qualified contractors submit a Statement of Proposal (SOP) to

conduct a full assessment of the Lemhi River and Big Springs riparian areas and

produce a management plan in accordance with specifications outlined below. LRLT

seeks to enter into a contract for the purpose of assessing the existing conditions of

riparian areas and developing a suit of treatments and a prioritization of areas to reach

specific riparian health targets. These services will be funded by the Governor’s

Office of Species Conservation and Lemhi Regional Land Trust. The work is to be

performed for the Lemhi Regional Land Trust, hereafter referred to as the "Contracting

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Agency." The Contracting Agency will enter into one contract to perform the work

and will administer the contract and payment for the project. The Contracting Agency

currently holds the funds, and the work is planned for completion by December 15,

2015. Contractors are asked to submit a proposal for all scope of work.

1.2 Questions must be submitted in writing via email or hardcopy to the Project Lead by

October 8, 2015, at 4 PM MST in order to be considered. Official answers to all written

questions will be distributed via email by the Contracting Agency as an amendment to

this RFP.

2. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF STATEMENT OF PROPOSAL

2.1 The SOP must be addressed to the Project Lead and clearly marked on the

envelope or in the subject line if electronically submitted; "STATEMENT OF

PROPOSAL- Development of Riparian Re-Vegetation Plan near Leadore,

Idaho."

2.2 The SOP may be submitted via email (scan the signed cover letter) or by hardcopy to

the Project Lead. If submitting the SOP by email, a confirmatory telephone call is

suggested to notify the Project Lead of the submittal.

2.3 The SOP shall not exceed ten pages in length.

3. PROPOSAL FORMAT

3.1 The SOP must be written on official letterhead of the business, with the business name,

mailing address, telephone number, facsimile number, e-mail address and name of

business officers.

3.2 The SOP will include proposal for achieving the scope of work.

3.3 The SOP will include cost estimate for services and timeframe for delivery of projects.

3.4 The SOP will include a minimum of two (2) similar projects that the applicant has

successfully completed, each with a reference including email and phone number.

4. SCOPE OF WORK

4.1 Property Background Information

The 4810-acre Lemhi Land Partners Conservation Easement (CE) on the Lemhi River is

located approximately 40 miles south of Salmon, Idaho on Highway 28 South. The

northwestern boundary and ranch headquarters can be accessed at Little Eight Mile Ranch

on the north side of the highway. The Lemhi River and its many tributaries are

designated Critical Habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead, and Essential Fish Habitat

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for Chinook salmon. Bull Trout and Redband Trout are also present in this section of the

Lemhi River and Big Springs Creek.

The Lemhi Land Partners CE consists of approximately 11 miles of Lemhi River. Many

other Lemhi River tributaries are influential on the ranch, including Eighteen Mile Creek,

Texas Creek, Hawley Creek, Canyon Creek, and Big Springs Creek. Groundwater-surface

water interactions are also important in this section of the Lemhi Valley and should be

documented in detail.

Currently, the CE property operates as a working ranch, with up to 1,800 cattle. The CE

property is a portion of the larger Lemhi Land Partners Ranch. The property consists of

irrigated grazing pastures, Lemhi and tributary riparian area, and sagebrush steppe.

Wildlife species such as elk, mule deer, whitetail deer and game birds frequent the

property.

Leadore Land Partners Conservation Easement

4.2 Shade Target Background Information

The Habitat Management Plan that will be developed for Riparian Areas within the CE

will use the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Total Maximum Daily

Load (TMDL) Shade Targets for Geyer Willow/Reedgrass community.

Shade targets come straight from DEQ’s potential natural vegetation shade

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curves. Geyer Willow is the appropriate climax community and therefore the shading

curve for most of the Upper Lemhi and Big Springs Creek on the CE. Cottonwood could

be apparent in the future as it is observed in areas of appropriate soil types nearby, but

that is not an immediately expected condition. In the figure below, shade targets ( Y-axis)

as a percentage of effective shade are based on channel width in meters (X-

axis). Narrower streams have a higher expected effective shade with some variation

introduced by stream aspect. For example, a two (2) meter wide (wetted width) stream

reach should have 77-80% shade for the Geyer Willow/Reedgrass community. Shade is

measured by the Solar Pathfinder, and should be measured by the Solar Pathfinder for all

monitoring purposes in the Habitat Management Plan.

For application of the TMDL shade targets, the shade curve and effective shading is the

surrogate for water temperature. If a waterbody has no point source influence and the

numeric water quality criteria is exceeded a pollutant load reduction plan must be written

and implemented. The Lemhi River on the CE property is listed as impaired for water

temperature by the State of Idaho and is listed as Water Quality Impaired in the

Integrated Report (CWA Section 303(d)). For the Environmental Species Act recovery

and for Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (BiOP) purposes,

shade is not only a surrogate for reducing excess thermal energy to spawning and rearing

areas but also an appropriate surrogate for bank stability, stream bank sediment, and

overall stream health. A channel that is highly vegetated with the climax plant

community is one that is stable, resilient to flooding flows, free from excess solar input,

and offers a source of woody debris recruitment and both directly and indirectly provides

fish cover.

4.3 Completed Actions

The current effective shade has been measured and assessed for the Lemhi River (DEQ)

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and for Big Springs Creek (OSC-LRLT) and shade targets have been derived for both.

This data will be provided to the successful bidder.

4.4 Habitat Management Plan Document

Areas that are not meeting shade targets need to be identified and evaluated to identify

factors limiting recruitment and growth. The Habitat Management Plan will identify and

prioritize these areas and develop treatments to address limiting factors. This will be

based on at least one, likely multiple, field visits, image analysis, and or unmanned aerial

vehicle video.

The successful bidder will inventory and classify areas not meeting shade targets into

active restoration needed vs. passive growth. LRLT will provide baseline documentation

of riparian zone condition. Photo imagery will also be provided, geo-rectified and used to

identify and prioritize site visits.

The successful contractor will conduct field inventories to determine the reason as to why

the shading is not meeting the goal. For the most part, areas not meeting the expected

effected shade targets are either 1) grazed by wildlife or domestic animals at vulnerable

times of the growing season or 2) site conditions exist that preclude growth from

initiating or continuing. In the first case, in conjunction with the landowner and on a

pasture by pasture basis, a determination can be made whether to alter the timing and

duration of exposure to domestic livestock or to temporarily exclude domestic livestock

by various means until growth is established and interim targets are being met. In the

second situation where conditions preclude growth, an interdisciplinary team (successful

contractor and local experts) should assess site conditions to determine the limiting

factor(s). Possible limiting factors include: soil compaction, competition from non-target

species, lack of access to water. The successful contractor will have the opportunity to

meet with local experts on the soil types, grazing management, hydrology, and plant

ecology of the area.

The results from the site visits should be assessed and prioritized to produce a plan and a

budget to address those areas not exhibiting needed growth. For example in those areas

where the bank is too high and willows cannot root or spread rhizominously due to lack

of access to the water table the bank needs to altered and cuttings need to be

established. Not all areas need to be addressed since the goal is not 100% shade.

Within the document, two (2) areas should be considered:

1) Interim Targets: We are anticipating growth rates of the willow varieties in

question to be up to 6”-10” per year. Once growth is established either by

exclusion of livestock or by bank restoration and planting of willows and/or

cottonwoods yearly measurement can be taken either of the shading provided

or of the vertical growth of the willow component. Development of this

monitoring protocol and sites are required within the Habitat Management

Plan.

2) Overall Targets: Shading targets will be evaluated via areal imagery analysis

of National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) Imagery and ground

truthed via Solor Patherfinder per the DEQ protocol. Development of this

monitoring protocol and sites are required within the Habitat Management

Plan.

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The two images below are for the Lemhi the most recent published DEQ shade analysis

for the Lemhi River, and it can be seen that the CE falls in categories between 0% shade

to 20% shade current condition, as of 2011 data. Big Springs Creek has not been

completed at this time. The shade target for the Upper Lemhi is 61-80% shade (see

Figure 28).

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5. PROPOSAL REVIEW AND EVALUATION

5.1 The SOPs will be reviewed by an evaluation committee made up of LRLT staff and Idaho

Governor’s Office of Species Conservation staff.

5.2 Any award to be made pursuant to this RFP will be based on best value criteria. The

following will be the primary considerations in evaluating all submitted proposals and in

the selection of a successful bid:

Bid Amount

References

Work History

Primary Place of Business

Proposals must be submitted in writing and include the following:

Bid Amount (including detailed and itemized pricing)

References and Work History

Self, Employees (if any), and Sub-contractors with employees (if any) resumes with

current addresses.

SOP with timeline describing field time, data collection plan, report writing plan, etc.

5.3 Upon award of contract, bidder must produce proof of Liability Insurance and Proof of

Workman’s Compensation for all employees. All sub-contractors are subject to providing

Liability Insurance and Workman’s Compensation for employees as well.

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