Contract_specs.doc

CIM-2423-01W-NRS-0919-01_Noxious_weed_treatment

Contract Specifications

1.1 INTRODUCTION

It is the intent of this contract to conduct manual and/or mechanical treatment of Invasive Plants within the Allegheny National Forest. Treatments will be conducted and documented using protocols/forms established by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Techniques used to accomplish treatment consist of pulling, cutting, and/or digging by hand and/or machinery as specified by location and/or plant species being treated.

1.2 BACKGROUND

Non-native invasive plant species (NNIP) have become established within the project area and there is a need to implement treatment activities that will limit the further introduction and/or spread of these species and conserve forest resources in a manner that presents the least hazard to humans and maintains or restores forest resources.

An “invasive species” is defined as a species that is 1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and 2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health (Executive Order 13112).

1.3 SCOPE

The contractor will furnish all materials, equipment, labor, supervision, transportation, operating supplies and incidentals necessary to safely conduct manual and/or mechanical treatment of invasive plants and disposal of plant material.

There are seven sites along/adjacent to Forest Service Roads: FR185, FR302, FR185, and FR123. Infested area is approximately 1 acre (see attachment 6 for further discussion of infested area). Target plant species to be treated include: multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis), and periwinkle (Vinca minor). Treatment at each site will occur twice – spring 2010 and late summer 2010.

1.4 LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION:

Contract activities take place on Forest Service administered lands.

Specific sites to be treated are listed in Map Attachment 1: CIM-2423-01W-NRS-0919_Noxious_weed_treatment_Attachment_1.pdf

1.5 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Expertise needed by contractor is the ability to identify plant species to be treated from surrounding vegetation so that disturbance to non-target vegetation is minimized.

Work to be performed by the contractor includes:

a) Contractor is responsible for contacting PA 1 call and National Fuel gas for underground lines within treatment sites and obtain clearance before treatment begins.

b) Inspection and searching for the presence of target species within seven sites along/adjacent to Forest Service road corridors.

c) Treating the target plant species. Contractor shall manually and/or mechanically (see Attachment 4 for definitions) remove the entire plant, including the roots.

d) Plant phenology, (stage of plant growth) and other conditions at the work site, for example snow cover, wet/impassible road conditions, will dictate the performance elements and/or performance periods in this contract Table 1).

e) The Forest Service may, during the administration of this contract, direct the Contractor to temporarily halt treatment when: vehicles are rutting up (greater than 6 inches) roads and/or work areas their use shall be discontinued until ground conditions improve.

f) Treatment Performance Elements are in the following table:

Table 1. Treatment Performance Elements

g) When treatment timing requires plants to be bagged and burned off-site, plant material shall be placed in paper yard waste bags and must be sealed via rolling down ends, and or taping so that berries/seeds are not dispersed during transport.

h) Contractor shall provide a site that follows local zoning laws for open container burning on non-Forest Service administered lands for plant disposal.

i) Burning shall commence after removal from site at the first time frame when climate conditions allow – a period when it is not currently raining and/or there is a fire danger/ban during dry windy conditions.

j) Contractor shall record the date of removal and date material was burned on Attachment 2 – Documentation of treatment form.

k) Contractor shall provide copy of local ordinance stating open burning is allowed and/or open burning has not been specifically prohibited.

l) If no target species are found to be present when arriving on site, the Contractor shall document the date and time that the site was visited along with a statement that no target species were present for treatment. If follow up inspections by the Forest Service show that invasive plants are present within 14 days of the date that the Contractor inspected the site, the Contractor shall be required to revisit the area for treatment.

m) The contractor will remove all trash/litter, from the sites that are either generated during completion of the contract or is currently on-site. Trash/litter posses a tripping hazard if it is covered with vegetation. The contractor shall look for and remove these hazards before treatment begins on the site.

n) Equipment Cleaning - Contractor shall ensure that prior to moving any equipment to a work site, between work sites, and from the Allegheny National Forest, all manual/mechanical equipment such as but not limited to: shovels, picks, mattocks are free of soil, seeds, vegetative matter or other debris that could contain or hold plant propagules. Equipment shall be considered free of soil, seeds, and other such debris when a visual inspection does not disclose such material. Disassembly of equipment components or specialized inspection tools are not required. Initial cleaning prior to ANF arrival of equipment may entail brushing or hosing off. The use of detergents or other cleaning agents are not to be used unless they are used at car wash or other facility equipped for water catchment and treatment. Equipment is not to be cleaned in streams, ditches or other waterways on the ANF. Cleaning between sites and prior to leaving the ANF shall consist of techniques such as but not limited to brushing, scraping, air-blasting, where water is not needed unless wash water can be collected and disposed off at a treatment facility.

o) Contractor shall document treatment via:

1. Submitting legible Hard copy and electronic copy(ies) of ‘Documentation of Treatment Forms’ (Attachment 3: CIM-2423-01W-NRS-0919-01_Noxious_weed_treatment_Attachment_3.xls ).

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The period of contract performance begins after signing of contract and shall remain in effect until September 30, 2010.

Treatment may commence when plants are visible (see Table 1. Treatment Performance Elements under Technical specifications), if surrounding herbaceous vegetation is impeding the view/ability to conduct treatment, that site may be deferred until conditions dictate.

The Forest Service shall deliver to the Contractor, upon request, any of the following listed materials, supplies, property or services hereinafter referred to as Government-Furnished Property:

A. The Forest Service will provide the contractor with Forest Service keys for road gates. They will be furnished at the pre-work meeting to the contractor. The contractor shall return keys at the completion of the contract in person at the close-out meeting.

B. Copy of the Allegheny National Forest Non-native Invasive Plant Field Guide (2009 Field Season Version 1.0).

C. Map of project area with treatment sites labeled.

D. Electronic copies of Attachments.

1.6 PURCHASER FURNISHED ITEMS:

Equipment and Personnel Needed:

1. All materials, equipment, labor, supervision, transportation, operating supplies and incidentals to conduct treatment.

2. Motor vehicles in proper repair and properly licensed for transportation of equipment and personal to and from treatment sites.

3. Hand tools for hand digging of target plant species.

4. Mechanical equipment for digging/removal of target plant species.

5. Heavy duty paper yard waste bags (to securely carry out any hand pulled or dug target species plants).

6. Safety items/equipment.

1.10 SAFETY.

A. The Forest Service is not responsible for the safety of the Contractor nor any operators or assistants. Safety is the Contractor’s responsibility. The Contractor shall provide and maintain work procedures which will safeguard the public and Government personnel, as well as the Contractor’s own personnel. The Contractor shall be expected to use comply with OSHA standards for this type of work.

B. The contractor shall use road signs such as flag stanchions and/or flag persons for alerting traffic when conducting treatment along State, Township, and Forest Service roads. Flag stanchions and/or flag persons shall bracket the area being treated. Workers shall wear a minimum of an ANSI class 2 standard reflective vests, work gloves, long-sleeves (multiflora rose, Japanese barberry and Canada thistle have thorns/barbs) and a hard hat.

C. Treatment sites occur within and/or adjacent to areas with wind damage from the July 2003 storm tree hazards/dense growth may be present within/adjacent to treatment areas.

D. There is extensive oil and gas developments adjacent to and within the treatment areas. Site map notes known well locations and roads. Heavy truck traffic may occur within the treatment areas.

Performance Measures

Positive – target plants species removed = payment.

Negative – target plant species not removed contractor required to rework areas if within contract performance period, if rework cannot be accomplished during contract performance period payment shall be reduced accordingly.

Attachment 1 Treatment Sites Map

Separate electronic version provided for the contractor with the file name = CIM-2423-01W-NRS-0919_Noxious_weed_treatment_Attachment_1.pdf

Attachment 2: Treatment Sites Descriptions and Pictures Separate electronic version provided for the contractor with the file name = CIM-2423-01W-NRS-0919-01_Noxious_weed_treatments_Attachment_2.ppt Attachment 3 Documentation of Treatment Form (Electronic Version Microsoft Excel): Separate electronic version provided for the contractor with the file name = CIM-2423-01W-NRS-0919-01_Noxious_weed_treatment_Attachment_3.xls Attachment 4. Literature Cited – For Informational Purposes Only

Executive Order 13112 of February 3, 1999. Federal Register. Vol. 64 Number 25. http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/laws/execorder.shtml Attachment 5: Select Glossary of Terms – For Informational Purposes Only Canopy cover - Canopy cover is the percent of the ground, covered by foliage of a particular invasive species. Percent cover is obtained by projecting the outline of the foliage or surface feature to a horizontal plane and then determining the percent of the fixed area covered, also known as the ‘foot-print’ of the plant.

Gross Area – intended to show general location of an invasive species. Like Infested Area it is the area of land occupied by an invasive species. Unlike Infested Area, the gross area is defined by drawing a line around the general perimeter of the infestation not the canopy cover of the plants. The gross area may contain significant parcels of land that are not occupied by weeds.

Habit - growth form of a plant – tree, shrub, grass, etc.

Infested Area – This is the area of land containing a single weed species. An infested area of land is defined by drawing a line around the actual perimeter of the infestation as defined by the canopy cover of the plants, excluding areas not infested. Areas containing only occasional weed plants per acre do not equal one acre infested.

Infestation – Area occupied by an invasive species.

Invasive Species - is defined as a species that is 1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and 2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health (Executive Order 13112).

Manual treatment – is defined as hand pulling, hand cutting (for example hand pruners, lopers, saw), hand digging plant material (for example using shovels, mattocks, picks, rakes).

Mechanical treatment – is defined as cutting, pulling, digging with auxiliary powered machinery. Cutting for example with a chainsaw, weed-eater (string or brush blades); pulling by wrapping a metal chain/cable around the base of a plant and pulling with a piece of equipment such as a winch, truck, dozer, excavator; digging with an excavator, back-hoe for example.

Node – the point of leaf or stem attachment.

NRCS – Natural Resource Conservation Service PLANTS database - Most codes are less than 8 characters long and usually includes the first two letters of the genus and the first two letters of the species, when duplicates arises numbers are then added. http://plants.usda.gov Propagule - any plant material used for the purpose of plant propagation. In asexual reproduction, a propagule may be a woody, semi-hardwood, or softwood cutting, leaf section, or any number of other plant parts. In sexual reproduction, a propagule is a seed or spore.

Root – a part of the body of a plant that develops, typically, from the radicle and grows downward into the soil, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutriment and moisture.

Rhizome – an underground stem, usually horizontal and rooting at nodes.

Species – A common definition is that of a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and separated from other such groups with which interbreeding does not (normally) happen.

Stolon – specialized root that runs vertically above ground, that is capable of producing a plant.

Attachment 6: Species information.

Attachment 6: Calculating Gross and Infested Area

Infested Area

This is the area of land containing a single invasive plant species. An infested area of land is defined by drawing a line around the actual perimeter of the plant and/or infestation (group of plants) as defined by the canopy cover of the plants, excluding areas not infested. Areas containing only occasional invasive plants per acre do not equal one acre infested. The smallest area or infestation mapped will be 1/1000th (.0001) of an acre or 2.2’ X 2.2’

Infested Area

Gross Area This field is intended to show general location and population information. Like Infested Area it is the area of land occupied by an invasive plant species. Unlike Infested Area, the area is defined by drawing a line around the general perimeter of the infestation not the canopy cover of the plants. The gross area may contain areas that are not occupied by invasive plants.

For example, the rectangle below is 10 gross acres with 4 acres of land infested with invasive plants (not drawn to scale).

Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

NRCS code: BETH

Habit: dense, deciduous shrub that grows 2 – 8 feet tall.

Leaves: ½ - 1 ½ inches long and shaped like small spatulas or narrow ovals, margins entire, with a color ranging from green to bluish-green to dark reddish purple.

Flowers: Apr – May, abundant pale yellow flowers occur along the entire length of the stem. Flowers are in clusters of two to four.

Fruits: mature Jul – Oct, persist through winter. Bright red berries 1/3” long.

Stems: branches are deeply grooved, brown and usually have single spines.

Habitat: forests and open woodlands, wetlands, pastures, meadows and wastelands. Highly shade tolerant.

Common horticulture plant invading ANF forests.

Shrub

Richard Webb, Self-employed horticulurist, Bugwood.org

April Moore, USFS

Native of Japan this dense, thorny shrub grows 2 to 3 feet tall with abundant red berries.

Leaves are semi-evergreen, grow in alternate clusters, and range in color from from burgandy to bright green.

Yellow flowers bloom in May, are about one third of an inch wide, and are solitary or in small clusters of 2-4 blossoms.

The bright-red fruits mature in mid-summer and hang from the bush during autumn and into winter.

image1.jpeg image2.jpeg

Common periwinkle, myrtle (Vinca minor)

NRCS code: VIMI2

Habit: vine or subshrub, evergreen groundcover.

Leaves: dark green, opposite, egg-shaped, cultivars can be varigated.

Flowers: blue, lilac or white, solitary in the leaf axils, on long stalks.

Stems: smooth.

Habitat: forests, roadsides, wet areas, shade tolerant, lawns, waste places.

Common horticulture plant invading ANF forests.

Vine

James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org

Japanese Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis)

NRCS code: PATE11

Habit: Perennial evergreen ground cover, ½ to 1 foot tall.

Leaves: dark green oval leaves (2-4" long) appear primarily in whorls at the stem ends.

Flowers: April, tiny white flowers in 1-2" long, terminal spikes.

Habitat: Part shade to full shade, moist soil.

Common horticulture plant invading PA forests.

Vine

Jil M. Swearingen, USDI National Park Service, Bugwood.org

Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)

NRCS code: ROMU

Habit: Medium sized bush, erect branches arching back to ground, branches bear thorns, reaching heights up to 13’

Leaves: pinnately compound divided into 7 – 9 leaflets, finely serrate. Bristle located on leafstalk where leaf connects to branch.

Flowers: May – Jun, white – pinkish white.

Fruits: Jul – Dec, rose hip, spherical, and fleshy, green to yellow and ripening to glossy red.

Plant Resembles native roses: Carolina rose, swamp rose, and climbing rose, however, all have pink flowers in spring and non-bristled leafstalk bases, also none forming extensive infestations except swamp rose in wet habitat.

Shrub

John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org

April Moore, USFS

Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

NRCS code: CIAR4

Habit: Erect, forming large colonies from creeping rhizomes.

Leaves: alternate, dark green, with irregular spiny lobes.

Flowers: Jul – Sept, flower head flat-toped and clumped together, spineless, rose pink to purple in color and flowers are relatively small compared to other thistles.

Stem: smooth.

Habitat: Occurs in a wide array of habitats if there is enough sunlight. Roadsides disturbed sites, marginal forests, waterways, agricultural fields, railways.

Herb

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org