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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 (Alaska) intends to award a sole source contract in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 5, Section 5.203 and is supplemented with additional information contained within to Dr. Diana Solovieva of the Institute for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources to conduct spectacled eider research in Chaun Delta, West Chukotka, Russia. Negotiations are estimated to occur approximately 15 days following the posting of this notice, with the estimated contract award approximately May 18, 2009. The Government is contemplating award of a firm fixed price contract with four option years. This announcement is for information purposes only. No solicitation is available. This is NOT a request for competitive proposals. Information received in response to this notice will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to compete this requirement. A determination by the Government to not compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice and currently available information about the intended recipient, is solely within the discretion of the Government. BackgroundThe threatened spectacled eider is composed of 3 disjunct breeding populations that breed in Russia, on Alaska's North Slope, and on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta (YKD). Breeding biology, including measures of adult female annual survival and nest site fidelity, have been studied since 1994 at Kigigak Island on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, but comparable studies have not been conducted elsewhere in the species' range until a study was initiated in 2003 by Dr. Diana Solovieva on Ayopechan Island in the Chaun Delta. This proposal was reviewed by the Spectacled Eider Recovery Team and is considered a high priority recovery task. Objectives and MethodsThe proposed project will follow the established Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge's Kigigak Island spectacled eider study protocol to provide comparable information on spectacled eider breeding biology from Russia on nests density, nest success, adult female survival, and nest site fidelity. The principal investigator has a copy of this protocol and implemented the protocol from 2003-2005 and 2007-2008 (no funding was available for the project in 2006). Copies are also on file in the offices of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office. Comparable data collected from the primary breeding range of the spectacled eider will be used to help identify reasons for the observed population declines in Alaska, and potentially to help define recovery actions for the species. Products A written draft report, including data collected by following the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge's Kigigak Island spectacled eider study protocol, will be submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service Project Officer by 31 October 2009. Service reviewers will respond with comments no later than one month after receiving the draft report. Authors will respond to comments and submit a final report no later than 28 February 2010. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and the Government does not intend to accept proposals received. Award will be made 15 days after publication of this notice. See Numbered Note 22.

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