1. Roan HTDR IRSC Appendix A.pdf

Roan Hazard Tree Debris Removal IRSC Pisgah National Forest Page 1 of 6 Appalachian Ranger District

Revised 01.06.2022

APPENDIX A

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR SERVICE WORK ITEMS

SECTION I – DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

The objective of this project is to respond to emergency disaster responses. Blowdown from Hurricane Helene has changed the fuel loading hindering the ability to use roads as containment lines for wildfire events. This has occurred within the spruce-fir ecozone on Roan Mountain where more than 25 acres of debris occur within 500 feet of roads and trails. Action is to remove the hazardous fuel along Toll House Gap to Roan Gardens Parking Area to maintain defensible space for firefighting activities, reduce hazardous fuel loads, and to protect the recreating public from catastrophic wildfire.

SECTION II – WORK ITEMS

Mandatory Item 1a: Cut and remove

Unit 1 (25 Acres)

1. Cut and remove from Contract Area material meeting A2 utilization standards as identified in Appendix B .

All Appendix B Provisions are applicable to this work item.

2. Leaving Woody Debris for Wildlife Purposes

a. Leave 4” to 12.9" diameter material, in 1/10-acre patches, 1 to 3 per acre, lopped to maximum height of 2 feet within 50 foot off road, outside of 50 feet, maximum lop height is 4 feet. Areas may be identified by COR or by contractor.

b. Patches will be irregular in shape.

c. Not located closer than 30 feet to of the unit boundary.

d. Leave material >13” DBH at least 10 foot in length will be left at a rate of 15-25 per acre. The intent is for stem to be cut where heavy limbs start. Log to be in full contact with ground.

e. Leave debris that has been compressed into the soil more than 4”

f. Within 10’ of the road, all slash material needs to be removed.

g. Retain all coarse woody debris that pre-dates windthrow event. This material will be in full contact with the ground, show signs of decay, and/or have moss mats.

3. If slash accumulates at or adjacent to log landings, delimbing areas, and similar areas within Sale Area, concentrates of slash greater than 2 feet in height and 50 feet in length, measured at greatest distances, shall be lopped and scattered in unit.

4. Forest Service will allow camping in parking lot from Notice to Proceed Date to June 13th. There will be no camping allowed after June 13th. There are no hookups or facilities available. All requirements in Solicitation Section 29 apply.

Mandatory Item 1b: Transportation of Forest Products :

Units 1 (555 Tons)

Load all material into a transportation facility and remove from Forest Service lands. Transport approximately 255 Tons Sawtimber, 250 Tons Pulpwood and 50 Tons Biomass products meeting minimum specifications as identified in Appendix B off National Forest. Conversion factors for truck configurations not listed in Appendix B, C6.821#, will be calculated at time of award.

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SECTION III – CONTROL OF WORK

The Contractor agrees to conduct its operations under this contract and other related business activities in compliance with Federal, State, and local statutes, standards, orders, permits and other regulations.

The Contractor shall meet all State and local environmental quality laws applicable to National Forest system lands.

Work may be done any time during the term of the contract, except under the following conditions:

(1) All operations prohibited Friday – Sundays from June 16 to July 31

(2) If any cultural or archeological sites are discovered during operations of this contract, work will be suspended in the immediate vicinity of the site until a reconnaissance survey is completed by the Forest Archeologist.

Areas excluded from treatment shall be deleted from the contract.

SECTION IV – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

For All Work Items:

At any point during the project, the Contractor and/or Project Manager may request (documented through email, text, or hand-written request) an in the field consultation with the Forest Service to inspect work progress, review contract specifications, or clarify issues. The Forest Service shall respond to Contractor’s request within 5 working days, excluding weekends and federal holidays.

GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

Government Inspection Procedures - The COR, or a designated inspector (GTM), will make periodic inspections while work is in progress, usually daily at first, as needed to assure work is proceeding satisfactorily. The Contractor shall notify the COR when units are started, when problems are encountered and when contract work needs government oversight.

1. Each unit will be inspected as a separate unit. Designation x Damage plots will be determined by pass/fail for each plot. The number of pass plots divided by total plots, multiplied by 100. Any adjustments that need to be made with operator to correct action will be determined by the COR. Total plots will be averaged.

2. When units are completed and ready for government inspection, Contractor’s designated Project manager shall request unit inspection in writing, prior to moving out of the general area. For the debris piles there will be four criteria that will be reviewed in a plot. Those are the diameter range, slash height, irregular shape, and avoidance near unit boundary. Three out of the four have to be met and all piles will be average for an overall percentage.

3. The COR, or designated inspector, will determine compliance with contract specifications through informal visual inspections. In the event visual inspection indicates work to be in non-compliance with specifications, prompt corrective action and/or rework shall be required.

Government Inspection Procedures – Formal (Plots)

1. In the event visual inspection indicates work and / or rework to be in non-compliance with contract specifications, a series of verification plots shall be installed by the Government to determine compliance with specifications and percent of satisfactory work for treatment of each unit not meeting specification as observed with visual inspection.

2. Government verification plots will consist of a series of fixed area plots and variable radius plots along transects to record whether density, basal area, best tree selection, and other requirements are being met and to what extent.

Brugger, Keith - FS, NY Remove if we offer with termination date of June 13. Will make no mention of working past that date.

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3. Plots and grid will be distributed so that a representative sample is obtained.

4. The COR or designated inspector will mark the center of each plot on the ground using flagging, stakes, or pin flags. Additional flagging will be hung near the plot center so that it may be seen from a distance. The inspector will include the plot number, their initials and date on the flagging.

5. Plots will be numbered to correlate with the inspection form and transects on a unit map.

6. The minimum number of verification plots, per treatment unit, shall be as follows:

Unit Acreage Minimum No. of Plots 25 1 plot per 2 acres

7. Determination of acceptability of the work performed will be based on Government verification inspections and will be considered conclusive.

8. At each plot, the Government will examine the plot area and record findings on the items listed below:

a. Plot number

b. Number of trees to be left on plot.

c. Number of trees left on plot.

d. Number of satisfactory trees.

e. Number of deficient trees.

f. Number of excess trees.

- Stumps containing live limbs which are not in accordance with specifications herein will be counted as excess trees.

- Cut trees which are still attached at the stump will be counted as excess trees

- Trees meeting cut specifications will be counted as excess trees

- Trees in excess of trees to be left will be counted as excess

9. Work quality will be calculated on the form as follows:

No. Trees Deficient + No. Excess Trees -------------------------------------------------- = % Unsatisfactory work No. Trees to be left

100% – % Unsatisfactory work = % Work Quality

Unsatisfactory Cutting

1. If the work quality falls below 80 percent, the COR will immediately notify the Contractor, in writing, and order him to improve the quality of subsequent tree cutting. If the quality of subsequent tree cutting is not raised above the 80 percent minimum acceptable standard within 24 business hours after receipt of such written notice, the Contractor’s right to proceed may be terminated and the contract considered in default.

2. When the work quality falls below 90 percent as a result of excess trees, the Government may elect to do one of the following:

(a) Order rework to be performed and withhold payment until excess trees are cut and the results of a post-rework Government inspection show work quality to be at least 80 percent or more. No rework shall be performed unless ordered or authorized by the COR.

(b) Order that no rework be performed and payment will either be made at a reduced rate, or not at all, as determined from the Thinning Inspection Report.

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3. Repeated failure to produce work quality at or above the 80 percent minimum acceptable standard will be considered reason for contract termination and default action.

Reinspection Upon Contractor Request

1. If Government inspection results are unacceptable to the Contractor, a reinspection may be requested, in writing, within 5 business days after receipt of notice of said inspection results. The same inspection procedure will be used; however, the inspection pattern will be shifted so that new inspection plots will not overlap previously inspected plots.

2. If reinspection results – rounded up to the nearest whole percent – indicate a variance of more than 5 percent from the first inspection, the results of the second inspection will be used to calculate work quality and payment, and the Government will bear the cost of reinspection.

3. If reinspection results – rounded up to the nearest whole percent – are within 5 percent of the first inspection, plots from the initial inspection and the reinspection will be combined and used to calculate work quality and payment, and the Contractor shall bear the cost of reinspection.

Government Inspection Procedures – Items 1-4

Table 1 – Minimum Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) of Work

ITEM DESCRIPTION SCHEDULE UNIT Min AQL

1a Cut and Remove MANDATORY ACRE 90 1b Transportation of Forest Products MANDATORY TONS 100

SECTION V – PAYMENT METHODS

Method of Measurement for Acreages Acreages were determined by using Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The acreage for each work item will be rounded to the nearest acre and is final unless:

a. The contract is modified or,

b. The Government makes a determination to remeasure or,

c. The Contractor exercises his/her option under the following Remeasurement provisions:

Remeasurement

1. The Contractor may request, in writing, remeasurement of any units under this contract if he/she feels that acreage stated on the project maps is incorrect. The remeasurement must be within the existing perimeter of the respective unit. No variance of the unit perimeters as laid out on the ground for this contract will be allowed.

All requests for remeasurement must be made prior to payment for each completed unit. Remeasurement will be performed by the Government.

2. If remeasurement indicates that a variance of ten percent or less exists on units of 1 to 5 acres, five percent or less exists on units of more than five but less than 20 acres, or if three percent or less exists on units of 20 acres or larger, the Contractor shall pay for the actual costs of the remeasurement. Under this condition, payment will be made on the acreage stated on the project maps. If the remeasurement indicates the actual acreage varies by more than the above factors from that stated on the project maps, the payment will be made on the remeasured acreage and the Forest Service will pay for the cost of the remeasurement.

Acceptance and Payment

1. Percentages as calculated herein shall be rounded to the nearest whole percent.

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2. No allowance for variation or portion of a variation will be added which will create a percentage greater than 100 percent.

Acceptance and Payment – Work Item 1a Cut and Remove from Road Corridor

1. If informal visual inspection indicates acceptable work quality, the Contractor will be paid 100 percent of their bid rate.

2. In the event that formal inspections are used, the rate of payment to the Contractor will be calculated as follows:

(a) For work quality of 90 percent or higher the Contractor will be paid 100 percent of their bid rate.

(b) For work quality from 80 to 89 percent the Contractor will be paid the total multiplied by the bid rate.

(c) For work quality 80 percent and less there will be no payment made to the Contractor.

(d) If, after rework, the percentage of satisfactory work is between 80% and 89%, payment will be made by the actual percentage. If the percentage is less than 80%, the work is unacceptable, and no payment will be made.

Acceptance and Payment – Work Item 1b Cut and Remove from Road Corridor

Full payment shall be made for the actual quantity of product removed upon receipt of acceptable proof of removal/transport for quantities invoiced. The number of tons awarded represents the ceiling amount for which a contractor could be paid without modification but is not a guarantee. Funds not utilized to pay for removal shall be de-obligated at the end of the contract.

* Stewardship Credits will be earned first, whenever practical. Forest Service Funds will be used if the availability of Stewardship Credits is exhausted or if appropriated dollars are obligated to a specific item.

SECTION VI – DEFINITIONS

ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL): Acceptance of work will be based on compliance with all specifications corresponding to the appropriate task(s). A minimum AQL is required for all service work – hand or mechanical. The minimum AQL will receive a satisfactory performance rating.

BIOMASS: Any woody debris that does not meet merchantable specifications. (Limbs, Tops, Chunks)

BOLE SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet from the edge of one leave tree bole to another leave tree bole, measured from the outside bark of each tree.

CIRCULAR PLOT: A sample plot within a thinning unit that is used to determine the number of desirable trees and other contract specifications.

COARSE WOODY DEBRIS: Woody material left on the ground to meet wildlife habitat requirements.

CROWN RATIO: The ratio of live crown length (tip of leader to base of the crown) to total tree length/height.

CROWN SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet between the dripline of a live crown to another live crown.

CLEARCUT: A cutting prescription in which all trees within a boundary are designated to be cut.

CROWN RATIO: The ratio of live crown length (tip of leader to base of the crown) to total tree length/height.

CROWN SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet between the dripline of a live crown to another live crown.

CUT TREES: Trees that do not possess the characteristics of desirable leave trees and are required to be cut. As described by the contract or otherwise marked to be cut.

CUTTING UNIT: See Treatment Unit definition

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DAMAGED TREES: Trees damaged beyond recovery. A tree that is larger than 2 feet in height, and has the top knocked out, is leaning more than 10 degrees, has less than one half of its original limbs, or has approximately 50% of bark removed from the circumference of the bole.

DBH: Diameter at breast height, measured at a point of 4.5 feet above the ground level on the uphill side of the tree.

DECKING: Stockpiling of trees in a designated area.

DEAD/DYING TREES: Trees with the crown foliage changing from green to red, yellow, or needleless. Any tree that has pitch tubes indicating Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.

DESIGNATION BY SPECIES AND DIAMETER (DXSD): A cutting prescription in which species and diameter are used to determine which trees will be left and which will be cut.

DIB: Diameter inside bark.

HANG-UP TREE: Any cut tree suspended above ground level.

LEAVE TREE: Trees that possess desirable characteristics and that serve to create the basis for designated spacing requirements or are otherwise designated to be left.

NON-SAWTIMBER TREE: For all conifer species, minimum diameter of 5 inches DBH to minimum diameter by species identified in Appendix B, Division A.

OVERSTORY REMOVAL: A cutting prescription where all trees greater than a specified size are cut. Trees less than the specified size are protected.

PAYMENT UNIT: See Treatment Unit.

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS): Identifies the key service outputs of the contract that will be evaluated by the Government to assure contract performance standards are met by the Contractor.

PILING: Material moved to an agreed upon location shall be piled for future treatment by Forest Service.

PROGRESSION OF WORK: Work conducted in a progressive, workmanlike and orderly manner by the Contractor.

RESERVE CLUMPS: Groups of trees within a treatment area that are protected from cutting, may also include Individual Reserve trees.

SAWTIMBER TREE: Included timber meeting sawlog size specifications as defined in Appendix B, Division A.2.

SLASH: Woody material existing or created that has accumulated on the forest floor. Woody material includes logs, pieces of logs, tops, and branches.

UNIT: See Treatment Unit.

TEMPORARY ROADS: Non-permanent roads that are constructed by Contractor for the purpose of treatment unit access.

TREATMENT UNIT: An individual area on the ground in which activities will be performed and which may appear as a separate pay item in the Schedule of Items.

UNSATISFACTORY WORK: If work quality falls below the AQL, the COR will issue a work order or notice of noncompliance to the Contractor in writing. Untreated or unsatisfactory treated areas shall be reworked to obtain satisfactory work quality.

WHOLE TREE YARDING: Whole tree logging includes cutting tree and removing the entire tree, including tops and branches, to the landing.

WILDLIFE TREE: Standing tree marked to be reserved as a wildlife tree. Used by birds and small mammals for shelter, nesting, perching, etc

SECTION VI – DEFINITIONS