SOW_CSE.doc

Osceola NF Stand Exam contract

1/24/2017

SECTION C—DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

SCOPE OF CONTRACT

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, transportation, supervision, supplies (except those designated as Government-furnished), incidentals, and perform all work necessary within the areas identified on Government-furnished documents and maps or photographs to perform approximately 1000 stand examination plots including locating, establishing, measuring and recording data for sample plots. Data will be collected using the latest version of Forest Service Common Stand Exam (CSE) found at http://fsweb.nris.fs.fed.us/documentation/index.shtml#fsveg. The CSE Field Guide (March 2009 version) and R8 Appendices can be found at www.fs.fed.us/emc/nris.

The contract pre-work conference will include a discussion of the proposed project work schedule and inspection activities.

The Contracting Officer reserves the right to delete plots or to substitute at the contract price the same type and amount of work (+/- 50 plots) in other areas similar in topography and conditions within the Osceola National Forest boundaries, in lieu of the original areas when it is determined by the Contracting Officer that the original areas or portions thereof are unsuitable or unavailable for performance of the specified work.

LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION - All work is on Osceola National Forest within Columbia and Baker Counties, Florida. Sample blocks are subject to change but will remain within forest boundaries.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Work will consist of locating an estimated 1000 total sample points (re to: Table 1-4) within pre-defined stand areas, establishing those points by physical marker following preset latitude and longitude geo-reference, then measuring and recording individual stem data around those points using the Common Stand Exam protocols of the Forest Service FSVeg program. References used in this contract to the “Users Guide” or the “Field Guide” are to version dated March 2009.

Each data collection point will consist of a variable radius 10 Basal Area Factor (BAF), 1/100(fixed radius), and 1/1000(fixed radius) acre plots. Stand data collected is tree species, dbh, height (generally one site tree every 3 plots, atleast 2 per stand), and tree count. Site tree requires coring for age as well.

A. Accessibility The Forest Service warrants that all stands are accessible by foot travel from public roads or across National Forest land and do not require access across private land. Foot travel to and from stands of 0.1 to 0.5 miles will be common.. There is the possibility that a four-wheel drive vehicle may be necessary to travel on some FS roads. The use of ATVs requires safety training prior to pre-work meeting and clearance by contracting officer representative (COR) before use on-site. The Government will need documentation of safety training from commercial sources or other government agencies.

B. Performance Period An average workday production per field data collector is estimated at 15-20 plots/day. The Contractor shall maintain progress at a rate that shall assure completion and acceptance of work within the contract time frame. The Contractor will provide information on progress weekly. Similarly, the Contractor shall not withhold data from submission to the Forest Service such that available inspectors cannot complete the timely inspections as provided for in this contract.

C. Government-Furnished Property

The Government will provide the following item(s) of Government property to the Contractor for use in the performance of this contract. This property shall be used and maintained by the Contractor in accordance with the provisions of the “Government Property” FAR clause contained elsewhere in the contract.

1. One Forest Visitors Map or transportation map per field crew. (return not required).

D. Personnel Qualifications The persons performing the work must hold a minimium of a two year degree in forestry and three months prior experience in collecting data for forest inventory, stand examinations, or timber cruises. Twelve months verifiable technical experience in collecting field data for timber inventories, stand examinations, or timber cruises may be substituted for the education requirements.

In addition, each person must also be able to demonstrate the following:

a. Proficiency in the interpretation of aerial photography.

b. Proficiency in the use of GPS to locate prescribed plot locations.

c. Ability to accurately identify local tree and shrub species, generally to the species level, including listed non-native invasive species.

d. Proficient in the use of forest measurement equipment.

e. Knowledge of common forest insects and diseases.

If person cannot demonstrate these qualifications, then replacement of that person may be required.

E. Distribution and Location of Plots

Plot locations are pre-defined by latitude and longitude (WGS84). Travel routes are not pre-defined. Motor vehicle access is shown on maps.

F. Plot Center Field Identification

In addition to required latitude and longitude co-ordinate data collected by GPS unit, the Contractor shall mark sample plot centers on the ground with materials and methods that ensure they can be recovered for a minimum of one year from the date established. The plot center marker shall not be permanent and shall be of organic or biodegradable materials that will decompose naturally. In addition, a free-hanging piece of flagging a minimum of 18” long and of a color to be highly visible shall be suspended no less than 4 feet nor more than 8 feet high as near as practicable over the plot center. Flagging will be marked with the compartment number, stand number, the plot number, and the date the plot was taken with waterproof ink near the free end of the flagging.

G. Plot Center Co-ordinates

The latitude and longitude co-ordinates of each plot will be retaken at each plot with a GPS unit and those co-ordinates entered in the data as a 3-digit degree entry, a 2-digit minutes entry, and a 3-digit seconds entry. The ‘seconds’ entry shall have the form ‘XX.X’. Decimal degree entries are not acceptable.

The datum for GPS co-ordinates will be WGS84. Other datums are not acceptable.

Prior to using GPS units, the Forest Service may require a field check of each of them for their resolution in comparison with Forest Service-established points of known location which will be used as actual locations. GPS units that fail to locate these points within 20 feet of the established location will not be acceptable.

H. Plot Data Recording Requirements

The Contractor shall bring data recorders with the latest version of CSE software installed. The Forest Service will set the sample design form requirements. Modifications of the forms or sample design shall be made by the Forest Service, only when necessary. Examples of the data settings in CSE are found in Attachment C.

Data recorded on the variable radius plot shall comply with the techniques in “Appendix K: Variable Radius Plot” of the current (March 2009) “Common Stand Exam Users Guide”.

I. Sample Design Form (CSE)

For each stand in the contract, the contractor shall record the number of plots installed on the Sample Design Form. The Forest Service will set the Sample Design Form of EXAMS CE to inventory plots with a BAF 10. The BAF will remain the same throughout all stands of the contract and are not to be changed by the contractor.

J. Plot Data Form (CSE)

The following items are required to be recorded at each plot on the Plot Data Form (see Attachment D: Example Plot Data Form). Detailed information and lists of valid codes for each data item are found in the Common Stand Exam Users Guide and Appendices and are available as ‘Help’ on the PDR within the software. The contractor shall be responsible for collecting and filling out the Plot Data Form for all data items that are set to “YES” in the “Required” column of the table below.

Plot Data Form

Source Comments

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

Not collected

All plot data fields, whether required by this contract or not, are included on the plot data form provided in Attachment C: Example Plot Data Form.

K. Tree Data Form (CSE)

Data will be collected the same in all Blocks.

FOR ALL BLOCKS: Begin recording standing tree data on the Tree Data Form (Attachment E: Example Tree Data Form) at azimuth 360 (North), progressing in a clockwise direction around plot center. Trees shall be recorded in the following order:

1. All trees counted in the variable radius (BAF 10) plot first.

2. Field 9: Height -- Total height in feet from the ground to the tip of the terminal leader will be required for one operable pine tree per plot. An operable tree must be a pine species and at least 5.0 inches in DBH. If an operable sized tree is not present in the plot then no height needs to be collected on that plot.

3. Field 8: DBH – Collect data on all trees to the nearest 1 inch using the table below.

One-Inch Diameter Classes

Additional 1” classes as needed

YP = yellow pine

Details of tree data collection are in Common Stand Exam User Guide, Chapter 4 “Tree Data” on pages 4-66 through 4-99.

The following items, except as noted, are required to be collected by the Contractor for each tree on the plot, for the specified exam level. Detailed information and lists of valid codes for each data field are found in the Common Stand Exam User Guide and Appendices (see Government Furnished Property). The contractor shall be responsible for collecting and filling out the Tree Data Form for all data items that are set to “YES” in the “Required” column in the following table.

Tree Data Form

*If a woody species occurs on any plot and that species is not on the selection list in the template provided, the Contractor shall; (1) code “species” as “2TD” and, (2) note the species common name in the “Tree Remarks”.

L. Data Transfer

The data will be transferred to the ExamsPC program by the Forest Service. The contractor is responsible for data stored on the PDRs until the data is uploaded. The Contractor shall submit completed stand information in electronic form within seven (7) days after completion of each Inspection Block. If the contractor wants to save the information collected on the PDR to a personal computer at the end of each day as a backup should the battery fail, this may be accomplished using the CSE software for the appropriate PDR provided at the following website: http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nris/products/fsveg/index.shtml#software

M. Inspection and Acceptance

After each Inspection Block is completed, the CO or Contracting Officer Representative will, by formal review, determine if the specified progress and methods of work are being carried out. Failure to comply with specified work standards may be cause for termination of the Contractor's right to proceed.

Inspection of Work Compliance with contract specifications and the basis for payment will be determined by both office and field inspection procedures. Inspection blocks, as established by the Government for payment purposes, are identified on Table 1. An initial inspection may be done on less than 50 plots if requested by Contractor.

Office inspection will cover all required items for which field visits to plots centers are not needed. Office inspection will occur first, both for efficiency in field inspection and to allow the Contractor the opportunity to correct errors detected.

Office inspection procedures will include:

a) Reviewing data in ExamsPC Once the data is error-free according to the ExamsPC program, Forest Service personnel will inspect in the field and re-measure Contractor-established plots on 10% random sample basis. The COR may reduce re-measurements to 5% random sample if inspection results are well above minimums.

The Forest Service is not constraining itself by this contract to any maximum sample. The field inspection will be based on a printout of the appropriate data.

The Government will make the initial office inspection of each Inspection Block without cost to the Contractor within 5 business days of the date that correctly-formatted data has been received by the designated Forest Service Contract Officer’s Representative. Field inspections will be completed within 10 business days after an error-free report has been generated from the data. Should corrections be required as a result of field inspections, no charge will be made for the first rework inspection. Thereafter, any contract re-inspection required will be at the Contractor's expense. Re-inspection charges may include, but are not limited to: inspector's wages for travel time to and from work site; inspector's wages to re-inspect; COR wages; and vehicle use rate and mileage.

Demonstration of Inspection Procedures Upon request from the Contractor, the Forest Service will choose an existing plot established by the Contractor and perform one demonstration inspection at no cost as an example of inspection procedures and demonstration of potential problems. The Contractor shall accompany the Government inspector on the inspection.

Determination of Acceptable Work

The following will be used for determination of acceptable or unacceptable work.

1. Pass-fail check of specified standards and procedures for each Inspection Block.

Data deficient in the following specifications are unacceptable on a "pass-fail" basis and will be returned to the Contractor with the entire Inspection Block for resubmission or rework. The determination of noncompliance with these items may be made during either the office edit or during field inspection. Many of the following items appear on the Inspection Point Score Calculation Form included in Attachment F: Sample Common Stand Exam Inspection Forms.

a. Any sample plot which cannot be located because of incorrect latitude/longitude co-ordinates, improper plot center marking, or for any other reason attributable to noncompliance with specifications.

b. Stands with any required setting, sample design, plot, and tree data missing.

c. Any data with inaccurate stand location and stand number data.

d. Stands where government supplied and required information is incompletely or inaccurately transcribed into the appropriate data field.

e. Tree data incorrectly recorded with an error outside the precision parameters of the CSE protocol (see Attachment F.).

f. Stands with an error or incomplete information in a field designated “Unacceptable” in the Point Value column (A) on the Common Stand Exam Inspection Forms (See Attachment F).

2. Point deduction for each deficient entry or procedure on an inspection site.

The number of errors for each field for the entire inspection/payment block is recorded in column 'B', "Number of Errors". The Point Deduction, column 'C', is calculated by multiplying the number of errors, column B, by the "Point Value", column 'A'. The Point Deductions are then totalled at the bottom of column 'C' in the "Total Deductions" field (D). This is then divided by the number of stands, plots, or tree data records inspected (E) to calculate the "Form Score" (F). If both Plot Inspection form and Tree Inspection form scores are < 5 and the Total Score is <10, then the Inspection Block receives a score of PASS provided no entries that have a point value of UNACCEPTABLE are checked.

N. Correction of Unacceptable Work

The Forest Service reserves the right to require rework of unacceptable Inspection Blocks. Upon written notification by the CO that an Inspection Block is unacceptable, the Contractor may be required to complete and submit rework before continuing work on another Block. The Forest Service will specify rework requirements for each unacceptable Inspection Block. In the case of data errors, the Government can require that they be corrected. In the case of plot location errors, the Government may require that the plots be relocated and measured.

Correction of Data Errors:

1. For failure due to a Form Score: Correct individual items or measurements in the Form that failed. (i.e., if Tree Data Form fails, then only that form would need to be reworked). This may require revisiting all stands and sample plots in the block

2. For failure due to a Total Score: Correct all items and measurements on all forms. This may require revisiting all stands and sample plots in the block. If a block fails due to both a Form score and a Total score, than the rework will be the same as for a Total score failure.

Correction of Plot Location Errors: Incorrectly located plots shall be relocated and measured.

The Government will re-inspect Inspection Blocks that have been reworked to determine compliance using both office and field inspections. Field re-inspections will consist of a mixture of previously inspected and previously un-inspected plots with the selection of plots at the discretion of the Forest Service.

If reworked Inspection Blocks fail during the first re-inspection, additional rework may be allowed at the discretion of the CO or failure to pass re-inspection may result in contract default.

Re-inspection Upon Contractor Request

If initial inspection results are not acceptable to the Contractor, a re-inspection without corrective actions having been taken may be requested, in writing, up to seven (7) days after receiving notification of unacceptable work. If the re-inspection confirms the results of the original inspection, the Contractor shall reimburse the Government for actual costs incurred for performing re-inspection through a contract payment reduction. If re-inspection indicates that work does meet acceptable standards, the Government assumes the cost of only that re-inspection.

O. METHOD OF PAYMENT

Payments

Payments will be made on a work order basis after delivery of electronic data, successfully uploaded into Exams PC, and inspected.

Deductions

Deductions from payments will be made for the following conditions:

The Contractor shall be assessed actual damages, per day, for;

· re-inspections beyond the first one subsequent to Contractor’s corrective actions,

· re-inspection done at Contractor’s request prior to his or her corrective action that subsequently confirms the initial finding of unacceptable.

Actual damages include, but are not limited to, unproductive time spent on the project in an attempt to inspect or re-inspect by Forest Service officials when the cause of loss production was that the areas were not ready for inspection or re-inspection contrary to the written schedule and the Forest Service was not notified that the areas as scheduled were not ready.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A : Vicinity Map

Attachment B : Stand Location maps

Attachment C : Example Design Form

Attachment D : Example Plot Data Form

Attachment E : Example Tree Data Form

Attachment F : Sample Common Stand Exam Inspection Form Attachment A : Vicinity Map

Attachment B: Stand Location Maps Attachment C: Example Setting Form PROJECT NAME: FY12 LONGLEAF PLANTATIONS____________________(25 characters total) Region*

XX

Proc.

Forest*

XX

District*

XX

Location*

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stand # *

XXXX

Owner

XXXX

State

XX

County

XXX

Admin.

Forest

XX

Admin.

Region

XX

Date*

MM/DD/YYYY

Photo ID

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Exam Level*

XXXX

Exam Purpose

XX

Stratum

XXXXXX

Existing Vegetation

XXXXXXXX

Potential Veg. Ref

XXX

Potential Vegetation

XXXXXXXX

Structure

XX

Capable

Growing

XXX

Fuel Model

XX

Elevation

XXXXX

Aspect

XXX

Slope

XXX

Slope

Position

XX

Acres

XXXX

Radial Growth Interval

XX

Radial Growth Interval 2

XX

Height Growth Interval

XX

Fuel Photo Reference

XXX

Precision Protocol

XXXXXX

Examiner

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Remarks

(242 characters)

Attachment D: Example Plot Data Form

Plot Data Form

REGION:___08_____ PROC. FOREST:___17_____ DISTRICT:___02_____

LOCATION:____________________ STAND NUMBER:________

Plot # *

XXX

Lat.

DDDMMSS

Long.

DDDMMSS

Cap Grow Area

XXX

Asp

XXX

Slope

XXX

Slope Pos.

XX

Slope Horz.

Shape

XX

Slope Vert.

Shape

XX

Elev

XXXXX

Existing Vegetation

XXXXXXXX

Hist

XXXX

Plot Remarks

XXXX

User Code

XXXX

Attachment E : Example Tree Data Form Tree Data Form

BAF:__10___

LOCATION:_________ STAND NUMBER:________

Plot

XXX

Ta g

XXXX

Tree

Status

X Species

XXXXXXXX

Tree

Count

XXX

DBH

XXX.X

Height

XXX

Age

XX

Tree Remarks

30 characters max.

ATTACHMENT F: COMMON STAND EXAM INSPECTION FORMS WITH ACCURACY STANDARDS

Common Stand Exam Inspection Form side 1

PROJECT NAME --- CONTRACT NUMBER

FOREST / UNIT

DATE BLOCK RECEIVED

OFFICE INSPECTION

CORRECT NUMBER OF PLOTS COMPLETED IN EACH STAND

PLOTS CORRECTLY LOCATED IN EACH STAND

MIN. NO. OF SITE/GROWTH TREES COLLECTED FOR EACH SETTING

ELECTRONIC DATA COMPLETE AND ACCEPTABLE

FIELD INSPECTION

ALL PLOT CENTERS RELOCATABLE

ALL PLOT LOCATIONS UNBIASED

PLOT DISTRIBUTION IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ENTIRE STAND

ALL INFORMATION ON SAMPLE DESIGN FORMS COMPLETE AND CORRECT

ALL SETTINGS AND PLOTS HAVE CORRECT SETTING ID

TOTAL FORM SCORE CALCULATION

Plot Form Score

Total Tree Form Score

TOTAL SCORE (sum of all scores)

OFFICE AND FIELD INSPECTION

-- ANY UNACCEPTABLE ITEM FAILS INSPECTION BLOCK

INSPECTION BLOCK

TOTAL FORM SCORE CALCULATION

PASS

FAIL

Errors in any field that has a Point Value of "unacceptable" will fail the block

INSPECTION CREW SIGNATURES:

DATE

DATE

COMMENTS AND FOLLOW-UP ACTION on side 2

ATTACHMENT G: COMMON STAND EXAM INSPECTION FORMS

side 2

POINTS INSPECTED

COMMENTS -- OFFICE EDIT:

COMMENTS -- FIELD INSPECTIONS:

FOLLOW-UP ACTION:

ATTACHMENT G : COMMON STAND EXAM INSPECTION FORMS

Plot Inspection Form

Number of Plots Inspected

E

Plot Form Score (D / E)

F

Tree Inspection Form

SAMPLE PLOT for TREES -- Variable Radius

Tree Records Inspected

E

Sample Score (D / E)

F

Glossary of Applicable Terms (from Common Stand Exam Users Guide)