Statement_of_Work_sol_final_0002.pdf

NEW RIVER GORGE NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE

BLUESTONE NATIONAL SCENIC RIVER

STATEMENT OF WORK

INVASIVE PLANT TREATMENT SERVICES

1. INTRODUCTION

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (NERI) and Bluestone National Scenic River (BLUE) require Invasive Plant Treatment services in up to five (5) locations – four (4) in NERI and one (1) in BLUE. Invasive plant species include kudzu, tree-of-heaven, autumn-olive, multiflora rose, bush honeysuckles, Japanese hops, Japanese knotweed. The guidelines and methodology to achieve this objective shall be reviewed during the kick-off meeting.

2. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Work shall be conducted between approximately July 11, 2022 and October 25, 2022.

3. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Invasive Plant Treatment services shall be performed within Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, West Virginia, at Nuttallburg, Keeney’s Rapid River Right Scour Zone, and Terry in NERI, and Bluestone Wildlife Management Area in BLUE (maps provided).

Project sites are accessible by foot from:

• Nuttallburg 38° 2' 59.97" N, 81° 2' 23.82" W

• Beauty Mountain Wildfire 38° 3' 29.68" N, 81° 2' 4.30" W

• Keeney’s Rapid River Right Scour Zone 38° 2' 13.96" N, 81° 1' 43.81" W

• Terry 37° 51' 41.30" N, 81° 5' 28.90" W

• Bluestone Wildlife Management Area 37° 36' 8.08" N, 80° 56' 46.49" W

4. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

Contractor shall be authorized to apply pesticide/herbicide in the state of West Virginia, and registered with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA). The Contractor’s lead applicator shall have successfully completed the WVDA General Standards and Forest Pest Control exams. The Contractor shall have demonstrated experience in applying herbicide and treating non-native invasive plants, recording treatment data and the use of GPS equipment to record point data with relevant metadata.

5. SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide all labor, transportation, equipment, tools, pesticides, supervision, and administration services needed to complete Invasive Plant Treatment and related data collection in the specified locations.

5A. TREATMENT

Treatment shall be conducted using herbicide applied via foliar, frill-cut, and cut-surface techniques depending on species. Kudzu shall be treated with Transline using a foliar application. Other invasive plant treatments shall be conducted using Vastlan, Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4 Ultra, Roundup, or Clearcast.

Total treatment area is estimated at 79.6 acres - 54.3 acres in NERI and 25.3 acres in BLUE, as referenced in Section 9, Attachments 1 - 4. All work shall be performed in accordance with pesticide labeling and the COR’s instructions. Treatment will include some or all of the following invasive plant species:

• Autumn-Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)

• Bush Honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.)

• Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

• Japanese Hops (Humulus japonica)

• Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica)

• Kudzu (Pueraria montana)

• Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)

• Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa)

• Privets (Ligustrum spp.)

• Tree Of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)

The Contractor shall review all provided maps, treatment guidance materials, and manufacturer’s directions for the use of herbicides and related application hardware. Additional project area information may be requested from the COR as needed.

5B. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING

The Contractor shall provide records of GPS location data to indicate extent of treatment. Herbicide use data shall be recorded on data sheets provided by the COR (see Attachment 5, Contractor Herbicide Use Log).

5C. Required Treatment Areas

Invasive Plant Treatment shall be performed in the following areas as described below. Note that invasive species coverage levels are estimates based on the best information available as of Spring 2022.

I. Nuttallburg

Located at 38°02'59.9"N 81°02'22.4"W, invasive species coverage in this 19.6 acre area estimated to be approximately 2/3, comprising Kudzu and other invasive plant species (see pink polygon on Attachment 1, Nuttallburg Beauty Mt Treatment Area).

Kudzu shall be treated with a foliar application of Transline, (clopyralid: 3,6-dichloro- 2pyridinecarboxylic acid, monoethanolamine salt) mixed with dye and adjuvant. Any kudzu vines encountered that have climbed too high onto shrub or trees shall be cut with saws or loppers. Application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers and/or a tank sprayer following all instructions on the pesticide specimen label. Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied.

Treatments for additional invasive species shall be conducted using Vastlan, Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4 Ultra, Roundup, or Clearcast. Herbicide application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers and/or a tank sprayer following all instructions on the herbicide specimen label.

Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied. Contractor shall treat the following invasive plant species throughout the delineated area:

• Multiflora Rose • Tree Of Heaven • Japanese Barberry

• Autumn-Olive • Princess Tree • Japanese Knotweed

• Bush Honeysuckles • Privets

II. Beauty Mountain Wildfire

Located at 38.053234°, -81.041885°, the treatment area is just upslope of Nuttallburg and is approximately 15.0 acres along trails and historic infrastructure. Invasive plant coverage in this area is estimated to be less than 1/3. The site can be accessed through the trail system in the Nuttallburg Treatment Area or can be accessed from the Short Creek Trailhead located at 38° 3' 29.682" N, 81° 2' 4.3044" W. From this parking area, roughly 0.5 mi of trail can be driven with a UTV if desired (see Attachment 1, Nuttallburg Beauty Mt Treatment Area). UTV Treatment will require coordination with the NPS to close the trail and grant gate access.

Treatments shall be conducted using Vastlan, Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4 Ultra, Roundup, or Clearcast. Herbicide application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers and/or a tank sprayer following all instructions on the herbicide specimen label. Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied. Contractor shall treat the following invasive plant species throughout the delineated area:

• Multiflora Rose

• Autumn-Olive

• Bush Honeysuckles

• Tree Of Heaven

• Princess Tree

• Privets

• Japanese Barberry

• Japanese Knotweed

5D. Optional Treatment Areas (Bid Additives)

Invasive Plant Treatment shall be performed in the following areas as described below.

I. Keeney’s Rapid River Right Scour Zone (Bid Additive 1)

Located at 38°02'18.7"N 81°01'48.6"W, the 7.8 acre river scour zones along Keeney’s Creek Rapid contain rare species threatened by sparse, but encroaching invasive plants (see Attachment 2, Keeney Rapid Treatment Area), Invasive plant coverage in this area is estimated to be less than 1/3.

Treatments shall be conducted using Vastlan, Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4 Ultra, Roundup, or Clearcast. Herbicide application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers for foliar applications and hand sprayers for frill-cut and cut-surface treatments. The Contractor shall follow all instructions on the herbicide specimen label. Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied. The Contractor shall treat the following invasive plants throughout the delineated area.

• Multiflora Rose

• Autumn-Olive

• Bush Honeysuckles

• Tree Of Heaven

• Princess Tree

• Privets

II. Terry (Bid Additive 2)

Located at 37°51'39.5"N 81°04'29.9"W, the riparian area near the town of Terry (see Attachment 3, Terry Treatment Area), has a small infestation of Kudzu and other invasive plant species in an 11.9 acre area.

Invasive plant coverage in this area is estimated to be less than 1/3.

Kudzu shall be treated with a foliar application of Transline, mixed with dye and adjuvant. Any kudzu vines encountered that have climbed too high onto shrub or trees shall be cut with saws or loppers.

Application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers following all instructions on the herbicide specimen label. Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied.

Treatments for additional invasive species shall be conducted using Vastlan, Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4 Ultra, Roundup, or Clearcast. Herbicide application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers and/or a tank sprayer following all instructions on the herbicide specimen label.

Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied. Contractor shall treat the following invasive plant species throughout the delineated area.

• Multiflora Rose

• Autumn-Olive

• Bush Honeysuckles

• Tree Of Heaven

• Princess Tree

• Privets

III. Bluestone Wildlife Management Area (Bid Additive 3)

Located at 37°35'31.9"N 80°56'59.2"W, the 25.3 acre floodplain along the Bluestone River, invasive plant coverage in this area is estimated to be between 1/3 and 2/3 (see Attachment 4, Bluestone WMA Treatment Area). Access is available from a parking area located at 37°36'08.3"N 80°56'46.7"W. Access via UTV may also be granted.

Treatments shall be conducted using Vastlan, Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4 Ultra, Roundup or Clearcast. Herbicide application shall be done with the use of backpack sprayers and/or an ATV/UTV-mounted tank sprayer following all instructions on the herbicide specimen label. Contractor shall erect caution signage at each site while herbicide is being applied. Contractor shall use a combination of foliar application, cut-surface, and frill-cut treatments to treat the following invasive plants throughout the area.

• Multiflora Rose

• Autumn-Olive

• Bush Honeysuckles

• Tree Of Heaven

• Princess Tree

• Privets

• Japanese Barberry

• Japanese Hops

GPS point data shall be recorded for Japanese knotweed encountered/treated in BLUE.

5E. Performance Measurement Treatment outcomes shall be surveyed via spot checks of representative portions of the treatment areas, with choice of sampling and methodology at the discretion of the COR. Treatment shall be considered successful and complete upon elimination of specified invasive species to the following extents:

• Nuttallburg 80%

• Beauty Mountain Wildfire 90%

• Keeney’s Rapid River Right Scour Zone 90%

• Terry 90%

• Bluestone Wildlife Management Area 90%

6. PROJECT ADMINISTRATION

The Contractor shall provide ongoing project administration and project management throughout the period of performance to coordinate logistics, planning, schedule tracking, implementation, delivery of project data, invoicing, and all other activities relating to performing the services described in this Statement of Work with the COR. The COR shall be the Contractor’s primary point of contact unless otherwise specified by the Contracting Officer.

6A. POINTS OF CONTACT

Contracting Officer’s Representative Bryan Wender 304-719-5984 bryan_wender@nps.gov

Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) Doug Manning 304-719-7886 doug_manning@nps.gov

6B. TIMELINE

Refer to the table below for details on scheduled milestones and deliverables submissions.

DELIVERABLE DESCRIPTION DUE

Project Kick-off Meeting In-person or virtual meeting to review the contract objectives, scope, and schedule; NPS park resources;

and data/documents listed under Data and Materials Furnished by the Government.

Due within 14 days of POP start, to be scheduled at the Park’s discretion.

Invasive Plant Treatment

See section 2A Due 11 days before end of POP

Herbicide Reporting MS Excel format Data Sheets Due 11 days before end of POP

GPS Data Files in .shp, .kmz, or .kml format Due 11 days before end of POP

7. CONFIDENTIALITY

All data, information and deliverables provided to or developed by the Contractor in relation to the services described in this Statement of Work are the property of the Government and shall be kept in strict confidence.

8. GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP

All notes, reports, GPS data, and other documents produced as a result of performing the services described in this Statement of Work shall be and remain the sole property of the Government and may be used on any other work at no additional compensation to the Contractor. The Contractor may retain copies of all such materials.

9. ATTACHMENTS

# NAME

1 Nuttallburg Beauty Mt Treatment Area.pdf 2 Keeney Rapid Treatment Area.pdf 3 Terry Treatment Area.pdf 4 Bluestone WMA Treatment Area.pdf 5 Contractor Herbicide Use Log.xlsx

5E. Performance Measurement