23TDRRSD864 - CARIBOU AND BISON RECOVERY PROGRAM HELICOPTER SUPPORT - NORTHEAST

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) requires casual hire rotary-wing contracts to transport AEP staff to remote sites in order to achieve program objectives for woodland caribou and wood bison in the Northeast region of Alberta. The term “casual” means the aircraft will be hired if needed, with competitively established hourly rates, but with no overall guarantee of hours or days of work.
A core component of this program includes site visits to locations of mortalities of radio-collared female woodland caribou and wood bison. The goal is to investigate these mortality notices as soon as possible, in order to be able to determine probable cause of death of the animal. Ability to deploy quickly is essential. It is sometimes necessary to use aerial telemetry to locate the collar signal, using antennae attached to the nose and/or sides of the aircraft. Biological samples are usually collected, and transported back to government offices for further investigation.
Aircraft may also be required to deploy and collect remote cameras, check remote fuel caches, retrieve collars, and conduct site-specific habitat assessments. All these activities require pilots that have extensive experience with confined/remote landing and hover exits. There will also be elements of low-level, low airspeed flying to assess sites from the air prior to landing. Pilot experience conducting these types of operations on aircraft type will be crucial to ensure the safety of the pilot and AEP staff.
Aircraft may also be used to sling empty or full AEP aviation fuel drums to/from remote fuel caches. The contractor may be required to load drums, or other equipment, into the sling and unload them at the required site, as well as placing them in a secure location and taking photos and a GPS coordinate of the positioned fuel or equipment to send to the respective AEP contact.
Bases of operation for this work will be Fort McMurray, Lac la Biche, and Cold Lake.