pre-bid_meeting_notes.pdf

Pre-bid Meeting Notes

Attendees:

Karie Linn, Forest Service, 715-362-1321

Matt Bushman, Forest Service, 715-373-2667

Tom Wenger, CK Invasives, 906-395-4483

Questions:

For sites that are cut, would the timing of treatment be coordinated with the cutting? Yes, we would make every effort to coordinate that.

Is the contractor expected to GPS every occurrence? Yes, but for dense sites we would expect a polygon around it, not each individual plant.

Can we use ATVs in the wilderness area? No. No motorized vehicles are allowed in the wilderness area.

Other items discussed:

Minimizing drift and overspray is a priority and it is important to choose the correct application method.

Contractors may need to walk through wetland when applying treatment.

There is variability in the density of invasive plants in treatment areas.

In the wilderness area only Glossy Buckthorn has been identified, so contractors can focus the treatment.

Question received by email:

For the pricing you have it by Acre. Is that for treated acre or area covered? If it is for treated acres, who makes the determination how many aces are treated? If it we go into an area to treat and we only find 30 plants or if we go in to the same size treatment area and find 300 plants? The Forest Service estimates the % infested of a known area of infestation (gross acres outlined in a polygon). For example an infestation of buckthorn may be distributed over 10 acres, but it only covers 10% of this 10 acres. This means the infested area (the area that is to be treated) is 1 acre. This is a neat and tidy example, but isn’t necessarily how it plays out on the ground, often there are thicker pockets of infestation and less dense pockets. As we (the FS) survey known NNIS sites, we update and change the gross and infested acres from year to year depending on NNIS treatment, NNIS population expansion, and feedback from contractors. If a site is labelled as having a certain amount of infested acres, but after review it is found to have a higher or lesser % infested than previously recorded (as determined by the Contracting Officer Representative) we would change the % infested to reflect this new in-field monitoring.