Timber_BPA_General_Statement_of_Work.docx

PERFORMANCE STATEMENT OF WORK

The contractor will provide any and all labor, equipment, supplies, services, permits and license necessary to perform timber support services to include but not limited to marking, cruising, painting boundary lines, GPS stand boundaries, data entry, sale layout, stand exams, volume estimation, defects timber, plot locations, making cruise maps, writing cruise plans, applying stream side zones, summarize cruise data, certified timber cruiser, traverses harvest unit boundaries, pre-commercial thinning, Chemical site preparation, tree planting, mechanical site preparation, and road locations covered under a fixed-price performance based service contract. This work will be performed on various Forest Service locations throughout the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests and Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Individual tasks to be performed will be assigned by individual task orders against the contract.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

Tree marking

1.1 – Tree Marking Sample Tree Requirements:

- Designate trees to be cut and removed according to government-provided marking guides or cruise plans. The trees will be designated with Government provided marking paint. The marking requirements can be a mark at eye level on 260 degrees of the tree with a stump mark of either one mark at ground level or 2 marks at ground level.

Sample tree data will be taken at interval designated by the district requesting the work. The sample tree will be designated with flagging wrapped around the tree that is to be sampled and containing the tree sample number, the species code, diameter at breast height (DBH), saw primary log height, primary log defect percent, pine saw log reference to 7” Diameter outside of the bark, or total height of sawtimber with one height at stopping defect or total height of pulpwood, hardwood sawtimber will be to a 9 inch top with/without defect and cruiser initials.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.2 Point-Count-Measure Plot Cruise Requirements:

- Point-count-measure variable plot cruise includes the plot establishment, determination of in/out trees, and measurements of the first “in” tree of each sample group on the plot.

Sample tree data will be designated with flagging wrapped around the tree that is to be sampled and containing the tree sample number, the species code, diameter at breast height (DBH), saw primary log height, primary log defect percent, pine saw log reference to 7” Diameter outside of the bark, or total height of sawtimber with one height at stopping defect or total height of pulpwood, hardwood sawtimber will be to a 9 inch top with/without defect and cruiser initials.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.3 – Leave Tree Mark Requirements:

- Designate timber according to government-provided making guides. Silviculture prescriptions calling for clear cut with reserves or seed tree designation with have a single band 2 inches around the tree 360 degrees at eye level. The stump will be marked with a single or double mark at ground level. The marking paint will be provided for the designation.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.4 – Timber Sale Cutting Unit Boundaries Requirements:

- Boundary on a stand will be identified by a three diagonal blaze marks with a single stump mark at ground level. The diagonal blaze will be at eye level or higher facing into the unit. These boundaries to be marked will be flagged in a designated flag color of the district preference.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.5 – Field Data Collection Requirements:

- Field data collections will be either written on the Region 8 cruise data forms or data forms of the districts preference. Data collection can be collected using electronic FSCruiser software on a data recorder if available. Field data must be well organized and legible.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.6 – GPS Data Requirements:

- A GPS unit will be used to traverse timber stand boundaries after layout and boundary painting has been completed. The data collected will meet the Forest Service standards that are required for each district. A hand held unit may be furnished by the Government or a contractor unit can be used with compatible software for creating shapefiles for ArcGis.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

Site Preparation and Tree planting

1.1 – Chemical Site Preparation or Release Requirements:

- Chemical site preparation/release in recently harvested timber stands by backpack foliar herbicide application. The herbicide will be applied to the target species only and the contractor must be able to determine the plant identification of the species to be targeted. Herbicide will be applied using a backpack sprayer to spray the foliage of targeted plants by speckling the leaf surface. For taller trees, spray as high as practicable, up to 6 feet high. The herbicide mixture will be determined by the district that is requesting the work.

Hack-n-Squirt method may be used on plants greater than 6 feet tall. A hatchet, machete or sandvik will be used to cut into the tree surface of larger targeted vegetation and will be injected with the mixture designated by the district requesting the work.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.2 – Mechanical Site Preparation:

- Drum Chopping – all live trees and stems up to 10 inches in diameter at a point 4.5 feet above ground lever, all stumps, and all logging slash will be cut off at ground level and chopped with a roller drum chopper. Stems simply knocked over will not be considered chopped. Area must be completely covered by the roller drum chopper, each row of chopping must overlap the previous row. Areas that may not be treated will be designated prior to work. There may be specific requirements for equipment that is to be used which will be based on the district requesting the work.

1.2 – Tree Planting Requirements:

- Planting unit will coincide with the orange painted harvest unit boundary. Tree planting can range from planning Shortleaf pine, Loblolly Pine, Long Leaf Pine, Pitch Pine, and Table Mountain pine seedlings. The seedling may provided by the Forest Service or contractor may be required to provide. Seedlings can be containerized stock or bagged with bare roots.

In the event that the stock type of a certain species becomes unavailable, the government reserves the right to substitute any available stock type with no change in contract price.

Seedling spacing shall be determined by the district that is requesting the work to be done. This spacing could be 12 x 12 feet or 7 x 7 feet spacing.

Tree handling inspection will consist of observation of operations to ensure that seedling are protected at all times.

Unless approved by the COR, all work shall be completed on each specific site before moving to the next location.

1.3 – Pre-commercial Thinning Requirements:

- Hand tools – Using a chainsaw and/or other cutting hand tool select for release the tallest, best formed and largest pine tree on a pre-determined spacing. Cut all other trees greater than one-half inch in diameter at ground level. Fusiform infected pine stems, which have a canker on the main stem or on branch within 12 inches of the main must be cut. Sever trees no higher than 6 inches above the ground and leave the stems lying flat on the ground. This may vary depending on the district that will be requesting the work.