7G--GPS Bear Collars

The USGS Cooperative Research Units in Reston, VA, supporting the Ecosystems Mission Area, requests the purchase of 12 GPS tracking collars. The primary use is to support the field program of the South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (SC CFWRU) at Clemson University. The collars will be used to study black bear (Ursus americanus) movement ecology in South Carolina, with a particular focus on road-crossing behavior and habitat use, pursuant to research objectives associated with wildlife management, ecological sciences, and resource conservation.

The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to VECTRONIC Aerospace unless it is contacted by any vendor who believes they have similar technical expertise and can provide the same product(s). Vendors are invited to contact the Contract Specialist, Miranda Blankenship, via email at Miranda_blankenship@ios.doi.gov no later than 1:00 PM EDT, Thursday, August 20th, 2026, with an affirmative answer.

Sole Source Justification States the Following Parts:
1. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.102(a), I hereby determine that the required products for GPS Collars are available from only one responsible source, and competition is precluded. No other vendors are known to provide products that meet the Government¿s requirements without resulting in unacceptable duplication of cost or delay.

2. This acquisition is restricted to the following source:
Company: VECTRONIC Aerospace GmbH
Address: Carl-Scheele-Str.12, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Point of Contact: mail@vectronic-aerospace.com

3. Description of Supplies or Services: 12 VERTEX PLUS-IRIDIUM-2D GPS collars, including one year of Iridium satellite service subscriptions and data transmission fees. These collars will be used by the South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (SC CFWRU) at Clemson University to study black bear movement ecology.

5. Vectronic Aerospace is the only reasonably available source that can meet the Government¿s requirement based on the following: The VERTEX PLUS collar manufactured by VECTRONIC Aerospace is the only commercially available option that meets all minimum specifications for the type of data USGS needs to collect. The use of these GPS collars is required for black bear research data consistency, comparability, and continuity. Vertex Plus collars are the accepted standard for use by field ecologists to study black bears. USGS requires all data collected to be consistent and comparable in the broader research field of black bear movement ecology. Continuing use of these GPS collars is important so that the research data can be accepted by fellow ecologists as following best practice. Furthermore, using VECTRONIC collars will ensure data continuity so that data from our study can be combined and compared with other studies that use the same collars. Each collar manufacturer and type has slightly different errors and ranges of variation that should be minimized by using the same collars across studies to ensure highest research quality.

Based on the specifications stated above, the VERTEX PLUS collar from VECTRONIC is the only commercially available item meeting the USGS minimum needs for black bear research. VECTRONIC is the sole manufacturer and seller of this collar.

6. Market research was conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 to identify potential sources capable of fulfilling this requirement.
Market research was conducted via online search, review of manufacturer specifications, and consultation with wildlife researchers and colleagues. Findings indicate that possible alternative vendors offer GPS collars with a minimum fix rate of 10 minutes, which would be more coarse data resolution than needed for this study. Other identified collar options with GPS recording do not have the required position recording capacity. This research confirms that no other vendor manufactures a GPS collar that meets all the Government¿s minimum technical requirements.