The Contractor will provide aerial infrared survey capabilities to design and survey Michigan’s core elk range in the Northern Lower Peninsula to estimate total elk abundance that will address priority goals as stated. Activities include, but are not limited to, survey design, survey implementation, coordination, planning, report writing. The work will involve meeting with DNR to review planned survey design and coordinate with current research activities. It will also include direct coordination with DNR pilots to avoid interference between aircraft surveying core elk range simultaneously. Survey conducted during January 2026 to coincide with DNR aerial sight ability survey for direct comparison. Identify age/sex of detected elk. A final report detailing survey coverage, elk abundance estimate, detection locations of all groups or individuals including time and date of each detection and sex/age of each detection. Provide supporting documentation including: Representative video clips of each detection. KML and .shp file with flight track and all detection locations. Excel spreadsheet containing all detection data.
