1. Galloway G-Z_RFI_Letter.pdf

Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Procurement & Property Services, National Procurement Operations, Stewardship Contracting Branch

1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250

Date: 03/06/2026

Subject: Request for Information

To: All Interested Parties and/or Offerors

The U.S. Forest Service is issuing this formal Request for Information (RFI) in connection with the Tahoe National Forest, Galloway G-Z Stewardship IRSC. The objectives of this initiative are to improve and restore forest health and resilience, reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire threats to communities and wildlife habitat from large, severe wildfires and protect and secure water supplies by restoring, and maintaining the watershed. While providing a steady supply of wood products to local facilities to bolster the wood utilization capacity of the region.

The intent of this RFI is to receive feedback from interested parties during contract creation.

Responses will inform the scope, structure, and feasibility of the future solicitation.

Project Overview and Scope:

Approximately 5,127 gross acres are available for treatment across the Galloway G-Z Stewardship IRSC; approximately 1,500 acres prepared for timber harvest (Keystone Roadside Fuelbreak), and 3,627 acres available for preparation and timber harvest (Hungry Slug). The contract term is anticipated to be up to 5 years. The net acres for treatment are expected to be less after unit layout.

Approximately 15+ MMBF of commercial timber and 8,000+ CCF of biomass is anticipated to be offered over the contract life.

Types of Service Work may include:

o Timber sale preparation activities which may include harvest unit layout, GPS traversing, unit boundary marking, verifying silvicultural prescription accuracy, interior marking in select units, and timber volume determination.

o Road reconditioning, and curve widening. Please note that detailed road design activities such as geometric alignment, engineering drawings, and technical specifications will be included in the final contract.

o Timber removal that will include logging operations conducted by tractor, skyline, and/or tethered systems and transportation.

o Temporary road construction and obliteration.

o Low value stand treatment including precommercial thinning (PCT), mastication, etc.

with a volume removal option.

o Biomass removal that may include thinning non-merchantable material, chipping, transportation and other related activities.

Anticipated Terms:

Minimum timber value estimates will be based on base rates and/or appraised rates if appropriate as determined from the Forest Service’s Timber appraisal system.

Payment terms for service work items are anticipated to be by the acre, ton or linear foot for most treatments. Reconstruction activities may be priced by the mile or contract quantity.

The project will include both mandatory and optional service items; product value at awarded rates will be used to offset the cost-of-service work items.

Davis-Bacon wages and certified payrolls will be required for all Road Construction requirements. Service Contract Act wages will apply towards all non-construction service work requirements.

Road construction requirements will be subject to bonding at applicable regulatory thresholds.

Project Questionnaire: We request responses to the following questions to assist the project management team in refining the project’s scope. All responses must be submitted in writing to the contacts listed below and information will be used for project planning only and will remain confidential.

1. Is your company interested in completing this work and submitting a proposal?

2. What is your company’s current operating capacity, and what are your plans for future capacity?

3. What would your preference be for volume and frequency of commercial harvest? For example, would 6 MMBF every two years be acceptable?

4. For wood utilization facilities, please provide details on your facility’s product types, species handled, expected annual processing capacity, and the approximate percentage of your processing volume that is derived from National Forests. If your company is not a wood utilization facility, please provide information on the facilities that you may deliver products to.

5. Is the timeline and period of performance dates, as outlined in this RFI, feasible for your company?

6. Are the project areas, as described, accessible to your facility?

7. What potential challenges or obstacles do you foresee in executing this project, and how might they impact your operations?

8. Considering the potential for unpredictable changes, what degree of flexibility would be required by your facility, supporting services, or in coordination with agencies and landowners?

9. What benefits do you anticipate from this opportunity? If applicable, please indicate timing for these benefits and include a business plan or supporting documentation for any planned investments.

10. How would you propose pricing be structured?

11. What is your preference for timber designated on the ground? What is your experience with Designation by Prescription or Description without individual tree marking (basal area, spacing, species, etc.)?

12. What is your preference for unit boundary designation? What is your experience with virtual boundaries (geofence) without boundary tree marking or flagging on the ground?

13. Is there anything you would like to add that could improve the project plan prior to the solicitation of proposals? We welcome any comments or suggestions that might enhance project design and execution.

How to Respond to the RFI

By March 20th, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. Pacific, interested parties are asked to submit written responses to questions included in this RFI via email to evan.fellrath@usda.gov and Kasandra.meyer@usda.gov.

Please note: Responding to this RFI is voluntary and solely for project planning purposes. Your response will not affect your eligibility for any subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP).

Sincerely, Evan Fellrath Project Manager-North Yuba Vegetation Management Officer

Mark Phillipp Contracting Officer

Enclosure 1: Project Overview Enclosure 2: Galloway G-Z Stewardship project area detail maps

EVAN

FELLRATH

Digitally signed by EVAN

FELLRATH

Date: 2026.03.05 09:42:20 -08'00'

MARK

PHILLIPP

Digitally signed by MARK

PHILLIPP

Date: 2026.03.05 08:33:39 -08'00'

Enclosure 1: Project Overview

This Project is part of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and has been developed to restore forest resilience in the Wildland Urban Interface to persist with fire as a natural process. It includes mechanical thinning of sawtimber and biomass, including maintenance and reconstruction of National Forest system roads. Also included will be mastication treatment of small trees, brush, and snags. The volume of sawtimber will not pay for the large volume of biomass material needing to be removed and hazardous fuels to be treated in the project area. This project is located directly north of the community of Strawberry CA, between Bumblebee and Herring Creeks, on the east side of State Route

108. It is accessed via 4N12 and 5N11, to State Route 108. The optional Marble Mountain area is located two miles south of the community of Long Barn CA, between Wrights Creek, Mount Lewis, Marble Mountain, and Funks Meadow. It is accessed via 3N01.