specifications.docx

WFM-0900-9-HFR-679-0910-03

Activity Fuel Treatment

DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS / SCOPE OF WORK

Scope The intent of this solicitation and any resulting contract is to secure services for mechanical site preparation for natural and artificial tree regeneration on upland sites (Item 1), and services for mechanical site preparation for natural and artificial tree regeneration on wetter sites (Item 2). All work is on the east side of the Hiawatha in Chippewa County, Michigan.

For All Items The Contractor shall progressively accomplish the work at a rate that will result in completion of the contract within the time specified. The Contractor shall furnish all labor, supervision, transportation, equipment/supplies (except those designated as Government-furnished property) and incidentals.

Substitutions The Government reserves the right to substitute and change sites within a reasonable area with similar conditions, as desired. Services are to be accomplished in accordance with the specifications herein.

Operative Period April 26 through November 14, 2010, unless otherwise specified in writing by the COR.

Prework Meeting Prior to starting work, the COR will coordinate a pre-work meeting with the Contractor identifying which sites to treat first, coordinate what equipment will be used, etc. At this meeting, the Contractor will supply 3 copies each of the following submittals printed on Contractor’s company letterhead. Work will not start until all submittals are received and approved.

1. Safety plan including but not limited to emergency numbers (fire, hospital, 911, point of contacts for workers, company phone number, etc.).

1. All pertinent phone/page/cell numbers for workers on project, superintendents, foremen, office, etc.

Safety All work will be done in a safe manner, minimizing risk to workers and users of National Forest System lands. Personal protective equipment should be worn by all workers. See also “Accident Prevention” and “PPE” FAR clauses referenced elsewhere in this contract.

Equipment Cleaning In order to prevent the spread of non-native invasive weeds, all off-road equipment (including skidders, trucks, personal vehicles, etc.) must be cleaned prior to moving. Equipment shall be cleaned using a stiff, dry brush or broom, or by other method approved by the COR, with the goal of removing all seeds, soil, vegetative matter, and other debris that could contain or hold seeds. Prior to moving any/all off-road equipment subject to the cleaning requirements set forth above, Contractor shall advise Forest Service of its cleaning measures and make the equipment available for inspection. Equipment shall be considered clean when a visual inspection does not disclose seeds, soil, vegetative matter, and other debris that could contain or hold seeds. Purchaser shall not be required to disassemble equipment unless so directed by the Forest Service after inspection.

Sanitation and Servicing Contractor shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent pollution of air, soil, and water by Contractor’s Operations. In the event that Contractor’s Operations or servicing of equipment result in pollution to soil or water, Contractor shall conduct cleanup and restoration of the polluted site to the satisfaction of Forest Service. Contractor shall maintain all equipment operating on site in good repair and free of abnormal leakage of lubricants, fuel, coolants, and hydraulic fluid. Contractor shall not service tractors, trucks, or other equipment on National Forest lands where servicing is likely to result in pollution to soil or water. Contractor shall furnish oil-absorbing mats for use under all stationary equipment or equipment being serviced to prevent leaking or spilled petroleum-based products from contaminating soil and water resources. Contractor shall remove from National Forest lands all contaminated soil, vegetation, debris, vehicle oil filters (drained of free-flowing oil), batteries, oily rags, and waste oil resulting from use, servicing, repair, or abandonment of equipment.

Prevention of Oil Spills If Contractor maintains storage facilities for oil or oil products on site, Contractor shall take appropriate preventive measures to ensure that any spill of such oil or oil products does not enter any stream or other waters of the United States or any of the individual States. If the total oil or oil products storage exceeds 1,320 gallons in containers of 55 gallons or greater, Contractor shall prepare a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Plan. Such plan shall meet applicable EPA requirements (40 CFR 112), including certification by a registered professional engineer. Contractor shall notify Contracting Officer and appropriate agencies of all reportable (40 CFR 110) spills of oil or oil products on or in the vicinity of Sale Area that are caused by Contractor’s employees agents, contractors, Subcontractors, or their employees or agents directly or indirectly, as a result of Contractor’s Operations. Contractor will take whatever initial action may be safely accomplished to contain all spills.

Hazardous Substances Contractor shall notify the National Response Center and Contracting Officer of all releases of reportable quantities of hazardous substances on or in the vicinity of Sale Area that are caused by Contractor’s employees, agents, Subcontractors, or their employees or agents, directly or indirectly, as a result of Contractor’s Operations, in accordance with 40 CFR 302.

Site Cleanup Contractor shall collect and properly dispose of all waste generated by the Contractor’s operations including lunch bags, bottles and cans, paper, fuel, equipment waste, etc. All waste shall be removed from National Forest System lands.

Fire Prevention During fire season, contractor shall comply with the following fire regulations: 1) A shovel, axe or Pulaski, 10-quart pail which is full of water for immediate use, and fire extinguisher is required; 2) All fuel will be stored in UL approved flammable storage containers and be located at least 50 feet from any open flame or other source of ignition; 3) Contractor shall, both independently and in cooperation w/ the Forest Service, take all reasonable and practicable action to prevent and/or initially suppress fires resulting from Contractor’s operations and/or to suppress any forest fire in the work area; 4) Forest Service may require the necessary shutting down of equipment under emergency fire conditions.

Evaluation of Quotations and Basis of Award The Government may issue more than one contract as a result of the Request for Quotation to the responsive and responsible responders whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government. All mechanical site preparation on upland sites (Item 1) will be included on one contract, and all mechanical site preparation on wetter sites (Item 2) will be included on one contract. These separate items may be covered in separate contracts, or in a single contract. Award will be made on a best value basis considering past performance, experience, capability, capacity, price and overall cost to the Government. Only one award will be made for each item. Any contract(s) will be for one year.

Item 1: Mechanical site preparation on upland sites for natural and artificial tree regeneration

Site preparation is to be done utilizing skidder (or other suitable machinery), roller chopper, and anchor chain (or other suitable equipment) on three sites totaling approximately 153 acres. Site preparation is intended to provide ground scarification to prepare the seed bed; help distribute the natural seed source in on-site slash; reduce competing vegetation; break up slash concentrations and reduce potential fire hazards.

Site preparation is to be done utilizing skidder (or other suitable machinery), rollerchopper and Bracke scarifier (or equipment to produce an equivalent scalp) on one site of approximately 48 acres. Site preparation is intended to create suitable conditions for planting seedlings by scarifying / scalping planting spots with a Bracke scarifier or equivalent; reduce competing vegetation; break up slash concentrations; and reduce potential fire hazards.

Location and Description All sites are located on the east side of the Hiawatha National Forest in Chippewa County, Michigan. A list of sites and maps is included in this request for quotations. Sites will be worked on in the order specified by the COR. Sites will be grouped as much as possible to maximize efficiency.

Red pine reserve trees in prepped clearcut.

Heavy snags and slash in jack pine clearcut.

)All sites are jack pine clearcuts in the Reef Salvage Timber Sale. Harvest is currently in progress and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2010. Slash will be generally moderate to heavy. Terrain is generally flat to gently rolling. All sites have snags and marked live reserve trees within the areas to be treated. Marked reserve trees must be protected and some snags must be left standing. Access is good.

Responders are urged to inspect the work areas prior to submission of a proposal. It is impossible to fully describe the areas, work problems, and other conditions that may be factors in submitting a proposal. Only by physical inspection can the prospective responder be assured of the existing conditions.

Site Access Open roads are to be kept open and free of any debris that may occur as a result of the work. Damage to roads that may occur during loading/unloading of equipment or crossing to gain access to another area will be returned to the original condition or better.

Specifications Prescriptions call for use of rollerchopper and chains, or rollerchopper and Bracke. Other types of contractor-owned equipment will be considered if goals described here can be met successfully.

For rollerchopper and chains units:

1. Slash will be spread evenly over the area with a brush rake or skidder blade.

1. The roller-chopper and drag chains will pass over all slash twice. The goal is to break up the slash and scarify the soil to expose at least 60% bare mineral soil. If 60% bare mineral soil is not exposed after two passes, a third pass will be made if the COR determines that a third pass is likely to increase the percent of bare mineral soil exposed.

1. The second pass of the roller chopper should be at right angles to the first pass. All piles of top soil will be spread out.

For rollerchopper and Bracke unit:

1. Slash will be spread evenly over the area with a brush rake or skidder blade.

1. One pass will be made with the rollerchopper only, to break up and spread the slash. This will be followed by one pass with the Bracke scarifier only.

1. The Bracke (or equivalent equipment) shall be set so scalps will be made at the rate of 600 to 800 per acre.

1. Scalps shall peel back the sod layer to leave mineral soil exposed.

For all units:

1. All equipment will stay out of areas marked as reserves areas (RA) on maps.

1. Retain 5-10 larger (greater than 7 inches in diameter) snags per acre. If there are not enough large snags to meet this requirement, smaller snags should be retained. (Fewer large snags is better than more small snags.) .

1. Some units will have live, large reserve trees marked with orange paint. These will be left standing and the operator will take care not to scuff the bark on these trees. The operator should NOT avoid chopping slash in areas that have reserve trees.

1. Stems of unmarked oak, white pine and red pine should be retained as much as possible. Other species should be knocked over with the equipment.

1. Delays may occur if conditions are very dry and fire hazard is too high for safe operations, or if heavy rains saturate the soil beyond its ability to hold up under machine traffic. The COR will make these determinations.

Equipment Item 1 of this Request for Quotations offers the option of using contractor-owned equipment or a combination of government-owned and contractor-owned. (i.e., Contractor-owned roller chopper and Government-owned anchor chains or Bracke scarifier).

If Government and Contractor agree that Government-furnished equipment will be used in Item 1:

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

The Contractor shall perform routine maintenance, as described below.

Single Drum Roller Chopper: The roller chopper will be operated partially-filled or full of water, depending on the site (to be determined by COR). The roller chopper generally requires weekly grease/lube maintenance.

Anchor Chains: Visual inspection of anchor chains shall be performed daily, to make sure teeth are not broken.

Bracke scarifier: Visual inspection of Bracke scarifier shall be performed daily, to make sure teeth are not broken.

Hitches for roller chopper and anchor chains: Visual inspection for unusual wear.

All equipment: Regular maintenance of all equipment will be the responsibility of the contractor. This includes grease/lube/fluid levels/etc. Lubrication charts shall be provided to the Contractor at the start of work. All equipment will start fully greased/lubed. Thereafter, the Contractor will be responsible for furnishing grease, oil, and other regular maintenance supplies.

Major repairs to Government-furnished equipment due to ordinary wear and tear shall be paid for by the Government. Damage that is the result of negligence or imprudent operation by the Contractor shall be paid for by the Contractor.

Contractor is responsible for picking up any Government-furnished equipment at the Raco workcenter, moving equipment to all subsequent sites, and returning all equipment to the Raco workcenter at the conclusion of this contract. Roller chopper and chains will require a trailer for transport.

Contractors equipment:

The Government recommends a minimum of 180 flywheel horsepower rating to pull a water-filled single drum roller chopper. Equipment must be sufficient to perform adequate scarification requirements, as described under “Specifications” for this item. Skidder/tractor must be equipped with a canopy, fire extinguisher, and spark arrester. Skidder/tractor shall also possess a front-mounted brush rake.

All equipment shall be the proper type and size to perform the tasks indicated, and shall be in good mechanical condition. Necessary maintenance and repairs shall be made with the least possible delay to the work program and will be at the contractor’s expense. Skidders must be kept free of brush and oil spills to minimize fire danger.

Inspection and Acceptance The Contractor is responsible for quality control on the work performed. The Contractor shall give the COR weekly notification of progress. Inspection may be made by the COR at any time. The contractor will take prompt corrective action for any deficiencies or deviations that occur. Work to correct unacceptable areas will be done at the Contractor’s expense.

1. Reserve Trees: The inspector will walk through each unit and keep count of damaged trees that were marked with orange paint as reserve trees. No more than 5 damaged marked reserve trees per stand is allowed. Damage is all bark missing for a 2- inch by 2-inch or greater area. For every damaged marked reserve tree greater than 2, payment will be reduced by1%. There will be no reduction in payment for damage to unmarked reserve trees of any species.

1. Snags: The inspector will walk through the unit and keep count of snags. There should be an average of at least 2 per acre, spread out across the stand, though some may be clumped together. For every tree less than 2 per acre 0.5% will be deducted from payment. For example: The unit is 30 acres so there should be a minimum of 60 snags. The inspector thinks there are not enough snags left and counts them. The resulting count is 57 snags, payment = 98.5%.

1. Scarification (Rollerchopper and Chains Units): The inspector will determine by looking at a site whether two passes were made and a rough estimate of the percent scarification. If the contractor disputes this ocular estimate, the following reinspection method shall be used:

1) Establish one north-south transect for every 10 acres, with at least one transect per unit.

2) Establish 10 points along each transect, at approximately equal distances from each other.

3) Using a one-half-meter square frame with 10-cm segments, count each smaller square that is exposed soil.

If the scarification percent is less than 50%, the contractor will pay the government’s costs incurred during re-inspection.

1. Scarification (Rollerchopper and Bracke Unit): The inspector will determine by looking at a site whether the rollerchopper pass was made and will estimate the number of Bracke scalps per acre. If the contractor disputes this ocular estimate, the following re-inspection method shall be used:

1) Establish a one-hundredth-acre plot for every 10 acres, with at least one plot per unit.

2) Count the Bracke scalps that lie within the plot and multiply by 100 to estimate the number of scalps per acre. Results from all plots within a given unit will be averaged to determine the average plots per acre for the whole unit.

If the number of scalps per acre in a given unit is not between 600 and 800, the contractor will pay the government’s costs incurred during re-inspection.

1. Windrows: If windrows are found, the contractor will be required to go back and spread them out before the unit will be accepted.

Measurement and payment

A. METHOD OF MEASUREMENT

1. Area measurements required under this contract will be measured on the horizontal plane.

2. Remeasurement of acres or survey results.

(a). Remeasurement of the acreage or survey results under this contract will be made upon the written request of the Contractor. Request for remeasurement must be made in writing within 5 days after work has been completed on the unit.

(b). If remeasurement indicates a difference of not more than 5 percent from the original measurement, the Contractor shall bear the actual costs of the remeasurement. Payments will be based on the second measurement. No adjustment will be made for a difference of one acre or less.

B. METHOD OF PAYMENT

Upon satisfactory completion of work, the Contractor will submit an invoice.

Additional Information For information on past Forest Service experience with this equipment and this type of work, contact Marjorie Allmaras at 906-643-7900, ext. 125.

Item 1: Mechanical site preparation on upland sites available in 2010

Unit Acres Planned

TOTAL ACRES PLANNED

201*

*Total acreage treated through contract will depend upon accepted quotation prices. The Government reserves the right to substitute and change sites within a reasonable area with similar conditions, as desired.

Item 2: Mechanical site preparation on wetter sites for natural and artificial tree regeneration

Site preparation is to be done using a dozer (or other suitable machinery) with a brush rake or Salmon blade on three sites totaling approximately 166 acres. Site preparation is intended to provide ground scarification to prepare the seedbed; help distribute the natural seed source in on-site slash; reduce competing vegetation; break up slash concentrations and reduce potential fire hazards.

Location and Description Heavy snags and slash in jack pine clearcut .

)All sites are located on the east side of the Hiawatha National Forest in Chippewa County, Michigan. A list of sites and maps is included in this request for quotations. Sites shall be worked on in the order specified by the COR.

Red pine reserve trees in prepped clearcut.

)Harvest in the Lorna Dune Timber Sale was completed in August 2009. Harvest in the Reef Salvage Timber Sale units was completed in January 2010. The Lorna Dune units are jack pine clearcuts, and the Reef unit is a shelterwood. Slash will be moderate to heavy in all units. Terrain is generally flat to gently rolling. All sites have snags and marked live reserve trees within the areas to be treated. Marked reserve trees in Lorna Dune must be protected; marked reserve trees in Reef must be protected as much as possible. Some snags must be left standing. Access is good.

Site Access Open roads are to be kept open and free of any debris that may occur as a result of the work. Damage to roads that may occur during loading/unloading of equipment or crossing to gain access to another area will be returned to the original condition or better.

Specifications

1. Slash will be spread evenly over the area with a brush rake or dozer blade.

1. The goal is to break up the slash and scarify the soil to expose a minimum of 60% bare mineral soil. Two passes are expected to be needed to achieve this level of scarification.

1. The second pass shall be at right angles to the first pass. All piles of topsoil will be spread out.

1. No more than 10 percent of the stumps are to be uprooted.

1. All equipment shall stay out of any areas marked as reserve areas (RA) on maps

1. Retain 5-10 larger (greater than 7 inches in diameter) snags per acre. If there are not enough large snags to meet this requirement, smaller snags should be retained. (Fewer large snags is better than more small snags.) .

1. Some units will have live, large reserve trees marked with orange paint. These will be left standing and the operator will take care not to scuff the bark on these trees. The operator should NOT avoid chopping slash in areas that have reserve trees.

1. Stems of unmarked oak, white pine and red pine should be retained as much as possible. Other species may be knocked over with the equipment.

1. Delays may occur if conditions are very dry and fire hazard is too high for safe operations, or if heavy rains saturate the soil beyond its ability to hold up under machine traffic. The COR will make these determinations.

Equipment Item 2 of this Request for Quotations requires the use of Contractor-owned equipment only.

The Government recommends a John Deere 450 or equivalent. Equipment must be sufficient to perform adequate scarification requirements, as described under “Specifications” for this item. Dozer must be equipped with a canopy, fire extinguisher, and spark arrester. Dozer shall also possess a front-mounted brush rake or a Salmon blade or equivalent.

All equipment shall be the proper type and size to perform the tasks indicated, and shall be in good mechanical condition. Necessary maintenance and repairs shall be made with the least possible delay to the work program and will be at the contractor’s expense. Dozers must be kept free of brush and oil spills to minimize fire danger.

Inspection and Acceptance The Contractor is responsible for quality control on the work performed. The Contractor shall give the COR weekly notification of progress. Inspection may be made by the COR at any time. The contractor will take prompt corrective action for any deficiencies or deviations that occur. Work to correct unacceptable areas will be done at the Contractor’s expense.

1. Reserve Trees: The inspector will walk through each unit and keep count of damaged trees that were marked with orange paint as reserve trees. No more than 5 damaged marked reserve trees per stand in Lorna Dune is allowed, and no more than 10 in Reef is allowed. Damage is all bark missing for a 2- inch by 2-inch or greater area. For every damaged marked reserve tree greater than 2 (Lorna Dune)/ 4 (Reef), payment will be reduced by1%. There will be no reduction in payment for damage to unmarked reserve trees of any species.

1. Snags: The inspector will walk through the unit and keep count of snags. There should be an average of at least 2 per acre, spread out across the stand, though some may be clumped together. For every tree less than 2 per acre 0.5% will be deducted from payment. For example: The unit is 30 acres so there should be a minimum of 60 snags. The inspector thinks there are not enough snags left and counts them. The resulting count is 57 snags, payment = 98.5%.

1. Scarification: The inspector will determine a rough estimate of the percent scarification by looking at a site. If the contractor disputes this ocular estimate, the following reinspection method shall be used:

4) Establish one north-south transect for every 10 acres, with at least one transect per unit.

5) Establish 10 points along each transect, at approximately equal distances from each other.

6) Using a one-half-meter square frame with 10-cm segments, count each smaller square that is exposed soil.

If the scarification percent is less than 50%, the contractor will pay the government’s costs incurred during re-inspection.

Measurement and payment

A. METHOD OF MEASUREMENT

1. Area measurements required under this contract will be measured on the horizontal plane.

2. Remeasurement of acres or survey results.

(a). Remeasurement of the acreage or survey results under this contract will be made upon the written request of the Contractor. Request for remeasurement must be made in writing within 5 days after work has been completed on the unit.

(b). If remeasurement indicates a difference of not more than 5 percent from the original measurement, the Contractor shall bear the actual costs of the remeasurement. Payments will be based on the second measurement. No adjustment will be made for a difference of one acre or less.

B. METHOD OF PAYMENT

Upon satisfactory completion of work, the Contractor will submit an invoice.

Additional Information For information on past Forest Service experience with this equipment and this type of work, contact Marjorie Allmaras at 906-643-7900 ext. 125.

Item 2: Mechanical site preparation on wetter sites available in 2010

TOTAL PLANNED ACRES

166*

*Total work awarded through contract will depend upon accepted quotation prices. The Government reserves the right to substitute and change sites within a reasonable area with similar conditions, as desired.

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