TO_2016-02_Atch6Rev.docx

Shoshone/Bighorn National Forest – Timber Sale Field Preparation IDIQ

Shoshone National Forest - Task Order No. 2016-02

B.5 BREAKDOWN OF SCHEDULE OF ITEMS

B.5.1 SHOSHONE NATIONAL FOREST (SHO)

Required Items:

A detailed list and description of units is included in task order Section J for these sub-items. Sub-items are based on desired completion date.

Base Year – Award through August 31, 2017

Sub-Item 1: Middle Fork and West Fork of Long Creek (Completion Date 8/1/2017)

Sub-Item 2: East Fork of Long Creek (Completion Date 8/1/2018)

Optional Items: Base Year – Award through August 31, 2017:

Award of Optional items will be determined at the time of task order award pending contract/task order unit pricing and available funding. Sub-items are based on desired completion dates. A detailed list of optional units by desired completion date is included in task order Section J; all or a portion of these optional items may be awarded.

For any option item that was not awarded and funds become available the government will modify the contract to award those option items based upon the desired completion date and available funding. Option items will remain available for award through August 31, 2017.

Sub-Item 3 – Completion Date 11/30/2016

Sub-Item 4 – Completion Date 8/1/2017

Sub-Item 5 – Completion Date 8/1/2018

C.1.1.1 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Completion dates for each sub-item are listed in task order Sections B and J. Work shall commence after contract/task order awards are made and a Notice to Proceed (NTP) is issued around the end of September, 2016. Actual number of days allocated on this task order will be determined at the time of contract/task order award. Work in 2016 may continue as long as weather/snow depth/roads conditions permit access. A Notice to Suspend (NTS) shall be issued in fall, 2016, when weather/snow/road conditions are no longer favorable for work. A Notice to Resume shall be issued in the spring/summer, 2017, when weather/snow/road conditions are again favorable for work.

C.1.12 LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION

C.4.1.1 ACCESSIBILITY

C.4.1.3 ADMINISTRATIVE USE ROADS

C.4.1.4 CLOSURES

This project area is located on the Shoshone National Forest, Wind River Ranger District, in the West, Middle, and East Fork of the Long Creek drainage. The project area is located approximately 20-25 miles northwest of Dubois, WY, and is accessed by Highway 26/287 and NFSRs 513, 513.2A, 513.2E, 513.2F, 513.2G, 513.2H, 513.3B, 513.3C, 513.3E, 513.1D, 548, 548.1D, 548.1F, 549, 549.1C, 549, 551, 552, and 552. 2H.

All roads shown on attached maps are open to the public with the exception of those labeled as ‘Roads Open to Administrative Use.’

NFSR 513 is seasonally closed between April 1 and June 30.

With the exception of NFSR 513 (which is graveled), all Forest Service are native surface on volcanic soils that can be impassable after rain or snow events. Best access into these areas is with the use of UTV/ATV.

Several roads are available to administrative use only (see maps in Section J). A gate is located at the junction of NFSR 513 and NFSR 513.3B and 513.3E. An interlocking mechanism will be placed on this gate to allow Contractor access. Best access on roads behind this gate is with ATV/UTV as several culverts have been removed from these roads systems making them impassable to 4WD vehicles.

Other tracks or trails not on the Forest Service road system may exist on the ground. Use of these tracks/trails by UTVs may be allowed on a case-by-case basis by the COR.

This project area has been heavily impacted by bark beetles; dead trees may have fallen across any of the access roads. The Contractor may need a chain saw to open roads for his use.

C.2.2 TECHNICAL DEFINITIONS

Merchantability Standards: The merchantability standards for all of the Long Creek projects are listed in the table below. Hardwoods will not be counted as merchantable timber.

Tree DBH Minimum Piece Length Minimum Small End DIB Merchantability Factor

Non-Sawtimber[footnoteRef:19] (Firewood) [19: Non-sawtimber is defined as bole material that does not meet sawtimber utilization standards but meets forest non-sawtimber utilization standards. Trees equal to or larger than 7.0 inches DBH for lodgepole pine or 8.0 inches DBH for all other conifer may be included as non-sawtimber if they do not meet the utilization specifications for sawtimber. All live and dead white pines will be included as non-saw firewood and post and pole. This applies here and throughout this table.]

Non-Sawtimber (Post and Pole)[footnoteRef:21] [21: Marking in all units will be done to a minimum five inches DBH for all product types. This applies here and throughout this table.]

C.3 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY

SHO: Wind River Ranger District, Dubois, WY.

$100.00/quart

SHO: Wind River Ranger District, Dubois, WY.

If cans are missing, $50.00/quart

SHO: Wind River Ranger District, Dubois, WY.

$20.00/quart

SHO: Wind River Ranger District, Dubois, WY.

If cans are missing, $10.00/quart

C.4.1.7 UNIT BOUNDARIES

For required items/sub-items, all unit boundaries will be identified with Blue Glo flagging.

C.4.1.8 STANDARD COLOR SCHEMES

For optional items/sub-items 3, 4 and 5 (S1), the Government will use Orange Glo flagging to identify unit boundaries.

All tracer paint to be used for required items/sub-items S2 and S5 shall utilize primary colors.

C.4.2 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

All cruising handbook direction stated in the master contract is current except for merchantability standards for the Shoshone national forest, which are supplemented in Section C.2.2 of this task order.

C.4.2.1 TASK NUMBER S1 – UNIT BOUNDARY LAYOUT

Unit boundaries may be adjacent to other timber sale or other units, whether included on this task order or not. All unit boundaries shown on attached maps and on environmental analysis shapefiles are approximate; the Government is conducting these layout activities in the summer, 2016, concurrently with contract/task order writing and solicitation period. Do not overlap boundaries with adjacent units. Adjacent units may be flagged with Blue or Orange Glo flagging. The Government will provide updated shapefiles around the time of task order pre-work meeting to avoid this situation.

Thinning Unit Boundary posters will be placed where unit boundaries cross roads open to the public and open to administrative use. Where a unit boundary is co-located with a road open to the public, the Contractor shall place Thinning Unit Boundary Posters instead of hanging flagging.

Unit names and numbers are included in Section J.

For optional items, general layout considerations are as follows:

Soils:

· Tractor logging would be limited to slopes less than 35%.

· Operation of heavy equipment for land treatments only allowed when soil moisture is below the plastic limit or protected by at least 12” of snow or two inches of frozen soil. Plastic limit is when the water content at which soil begins to break apart and crumble when rolled by hand into threads 3 mm in diameter.

· Avoid soil-disturbing actions during periods of heavy rain or wet soils. Apply travel restrictions to protect soil and water.

· Off-road vehicles and equipment used for project activities shall not occur in meadows when soil conditions are wet or moist (but are permitted in dry conditions).

Hydrology/Fisheries

Water Influence Zone ((WIZ) - 100 feet from edge of water next to perennial and intermittent streams, lakes, and wetlands)

· Keep heavy equipment and off-road vehicles out of filter strips except to do restoration work or build hardened stream or lake approaches. Yard logs up out of each filter strip with minimum disturbance of ground cover.

· Maintain the organic ground cover within activity areas. Effective ground cover is defined as 70% of the original perennial ground cover vegetation.

· Keep heavy equipment and off-road vehicles out of streams, swales, and lakes, except to cross at designated points, build crossings, or do restoration work, or if protected by at least one foot of packed snow or two inches of frozen soil.

· Keep heavy equipment out of streams during fish spawning, incubation, and emergence periods.

· Ensure at least one-end log suspension in the WIZ. Fell trees in a way that protects vegetation in the WIZ from damage. Keep log landings, slash piles, and skid trails out of th WIZ, including swales.

· Lop and scatter treatments shall not be practices in the WIZ.

· Protect and sustain channel banks and the floodplain by maintaining healthy streamside vegetation.

Landings & Slash Piles

· Locate and construct log landings in such a way to minimize the amount of excavation needed and to reduce the potential for soil erosion. Design landings to have proper drainage. After use, treat landings to disperse runoff and prevent surface erosion and encourage revegetation.

· Keep log landings, slash piles, and skid trails out of the WIZ, including swales.

· Restrict roads, landings, skid trails, concentrated-use sites, and similar soil disturbances to designated sites.

Stream Crossings

· Limit the number of stream crossings to the minimum number, width, and length needed.

· Minimize discharge of material (sediment) into streams, floodplains, and wetlands.

· When installing crossings, prevent channel flow restrictions.

· Minimize encroachment of heavy equipment into streams, floodplains, and wetlands.

· Minimize disturbance to vegetation.

Springs

· Springs will be protected by total avoidance. Minimum buffer distance of 50 feet suggested where adjacent slopes are less than 35%.

Wetlands

· Keep ground vehicles out of wetlands unless protected by at least one foot of packed snow or two inches of frozen soil. Do not disrupt water supply or drainage patterns into wetlands.

· Keep roads and trails out of wetlands unless there is no other practicable alternative. If roads or trails must enter wetlands, use bridges or raised prisms with diffuse drainage to sustain flow patterns. Set crossing bottoms at natural levels of channel beds and wet meadow surfaces. Avoid actions that may dewater or reduce water budgets in wetlands.

General

· Disturbed ground shall not drain into stream networks to water features.

Transportation

· All roads, temporary or permanent, shall be located sufficiently far from streams or other water bodies (except for portions of such roads which must cross water bodies) to minimize discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States.

· Permanent roads (for farming or forestry activities), temporary roads (for mining, forestry, or farm purposes) and skid trails (for logging) in waters of the United States shall be held to the minimum feasible number, width, and total length consistent with the purpose of specific farming, silvicultural or mining operations, and local topographic and climatic conditions.

· Construct roads on ridge tops, stable upper slopes, or wide valley terraces if feasible.

· Construct roads where feasible, with rolling grades instead of ditches and culverts.

· Retain stabilizing vegetation on unstable soils. Avoid new roads or heavy equipment use on unstable or highly erodible soils.

· Use existing roads unless other options will produce less long-term sediment. Reconstruct for long-term soil and drainage stability.

· Design all roads, trails, or other soil disturbances to the minimum standard for their use and to ‘roll’ with the terrain as feasible.

· Restrict roads, landings, skid trails, concentrated-uses sites, and similar soil disturbances to designated sites.

Timing Restrictions

· Winter harvest all or portion of Middle Fork Unit 26 due to the amount of WIZ and wet soil conditions. The frozen or wno packed conditions mitigate sediment deposition into the channel, floodplain, riparian, and wetland area compaction, and the overall amount of ground disturbance. Winter operations would not begin until frozen conditions are persistent.

Slash

· Decks, piling of slash, or accumulations of slash shall not occur in non-forested openings, scablands, meadows, wetlands, and rock outcrops.

C4.2.2 TASK NUMBER S2 – BOUNDARY TREE MARKING

Unit boundaries may be adjacent to other timber sale or other units, whether included on this task order or not. All unit boundaries shown on attached maps and on environmental analysis shapefiles are approximate; the Government is conducting these layout activities in the summer of 2016 concurrently with contract/task order writing and solicitation period. Do not overlap boundaries with adjacent units. Adjacent units may be flagged with Blue or Orange Glo flagging. The Government will provide updated shapefiles around the time of task order pre-work meeting to avoid this situation.

Utilize method A (Dash/Dot/Dash Option) to mark boundary trees.

Cutting Unit Boundary posters will be placed where unit boundaries cross roads open to the public and open to administrative use. Where a unit boundary is co-located with a road open to the public, the Contractor shall place Cutting Unit Boundary posters instead of marking the boundary.

No Visual Boundary Tree Marking shall be utilized.

Unit names and numbers are included in Section J.

C4.2.4 TASK NUMBER S4 – GPS TRAVERSING

For required items/sub-items, the Government will provide updated unit shapefiles around the time of the task order pre-work meeting.

For optional items/sub-items, inspected and accepted unit boundaries from items/sub-items S1 will be the basis for traverse.

For both optional and required items, the Direction-Distance (Two Trail) Method shall be utilized.

C.4.2.5 TASK NUMBER S5, S6 – TREE MARKING

General marking guides for each unit are included in Section J. Units will be marked utilizing either LTM or DxD/DxP. The Government will provide updated shapefiles, detailed unit marking guides, and marking type around the time of the task order pre-work meeting.

No Visual Marking shall be utilized.

C.1 SUBMITTALS

The Contractor shall provide a QCP, work plan, and safety plan for this task order.

H.9 CAMPING AND WORKSITE CONDITIONS

Hard sided camping only is required in areas specified by Shoshone National Forest Special Forest Order 15-001 in the vicinity of Brooks Lake. This special order can be found at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3831379.pdf.

SECTION J

ATTACHMENT 6

AG-67T0-S-16-0021 Bighorn and Shoshone National Forests – Timber Sale Field Preparation IDIQ

Page | 21

UNIT LISTS – REQUIRED ITEMS/SUB-ITEMS

Sub-Item 1: Middle Fork and West Fork of Long Creek (Completion Date 8/1/2017)

Sub-Item 2: East Fork of Long Creek (Completion Date 8/1/2018)

UNIT LISTS – OPTIONAL ITEMS/SUB-ITEMS

Sub-Item 3 – Completion Date 11/30/2016

Sub-Item 4 – Completion Date 8/1/2017

Sub-Item 5 – Completion Date 8/1/2018

GENERAL PRESCRIPTION INFORMATION – MARKING GUIDELINES

For all units, Conifer Encroachment Control (from aspen) will occur wherever aspen clones are present >1/4 acre in size or when aspen seedlings/sapling (of any size) are present under an understory of conifers.

Pre-commercial Thinning

A combination of Aspen Enhancement (Conifer Encroachment Control) and Pre-commercial thinning. Use general marking guides elsewhere in this table for these marking guidelines.

Include sanitation with thinning to remove any trees that are infested with bark beetles or infested with diseases, including dwarf mistletoe, comandra blister rust, and white pine blister rust (for pines present in the stand), as well as physical damage as evidenced by:

· Snowbend or other physical damage

· Bole cankers

· Bole cankers with dead tops above cankers

· Numerous branch brooms, dwarf mistletoe plants, branch swellings or branch cankers.

· Numerous branch swellings, rodent chewing, or branch flagging.

Species to leave (in order of preference and where they are present) are Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, then subalpine fir. White pines should be preferentially left where they are healthy and cone producing and do not contain white pine blister rust. Trees with blister rust will either have limbs with rust removed, if feasible, or will be removed in the case of excessive infection indicated by the presence of numerous cankers, particularly bole cankers.

Tree health is more important than species preference or spacing for leave trees; for example if all spruce trees are deformed in an area, but there are lodgepole pine trees in excellent condition, leave the lodgepole pine.

“Target” spacing varies by unit; unit-specific information will be updated around the time of task order award. In general, maximum spacing should be no greater than 12 x 12 foot to minimize windthrow hazard in stands.

· All lodgepole and white pines with current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by those trees with green needles, pitch tubes, frass and/or beetle galleries and/or larvae under the bark, will be removed.

· All lodgepole with bole cankers will be removed.

· All lodgepole with bole cankers and dead tops above the bole cankers will be removed.

· All lodgepole pine with any signs of dwarf mistletoe will be removed.

· All conifers that are dead or red-needled will be removed.

· All Engelmann spruce trees showing evidence of current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by bark flaking, green but fading crowns, and beetle galleries/larvae under the bark, will be removed.

· All subalpine fir trees showing evidence of current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by green needs, pitch streaking, frass, and/or beetle galleries and/or larvae under the bark.

· All Douglas-fir trees showing evidence of current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by dead, red, or fading crowns, pitch streaking evident on trees boles.

Do not high grade stand. Leave the healthiest conifers with good foliage, stem form (single leader), that are insect, disease, and damage free and free from physical deformities. Retain any live, cone bearing white pines (both whitebark and limber) that are healthy and cone bearing. Other species to leave, in order or preference and where they exist are Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, then subalpine fir. These leave trees will serve as seed trees to reforest the stand where an understory is not present.

Most of the stands receiving this treatment have a well-developed understory; whole-tree harvesting will be required on any timber sale contract to protect existing regeneration. Protect and retain any healthy seedlings, saplings, or pole timber where they exist. Sanitize any seedlings, saplings, or pole timber by removing any trees that are infested with diseases, including dwarf mistletoe, comandra blister rust, white pine blister rust (for pines present in the stand), as well as other physical damage as evidenced by:

· Snowbend or other physical damage

· Layering in subalpine fir

· Bole cankers

· Bole cankers with dead tops above cankers

· Numerous branch swellings, rodent chewing, or branch flagging.

Post-harvest reforestation will be applied where necessary on a unit-by-unit basis.

Aspen Enhancement (Conifer Encroachment Control) A combination of Sanitation/Salvage and Aspen Enhancement (Conifer Encroachment Control). Use general marking guides elsewhere in this table for these marking guidelines.

Aspen Enhancement (Conifer Encroachment Control) Pre-commercial Thinning A combination of Sanitation/Salvage, Aspen Enhancement (Conifer Encroachment Control), and Pre-commercial thinning. Use general marking guides elsewhere in this table for these marking guidelines.

Group Selection All conifer species that are dead or red-needled from bark beetles or other causes shall be cut. All conifers species that are dying from or that are live and are infected or infested with bark beetles, dwarf mistletoe, comandra blister rust, or from any other cause, as described below, will be cut:

· All lodgepole and white pines with current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by those trees with green needles, pitch tubes, frass and/or beetle galleries and/or larvae under the bark, will be removed.

· All lodgepole with bole cankers will be removed.

· All lodgepole with bole cankers and dead tops above the bole cankers will be removed.

· All lodgepole pine with any signs of dwarf mistletoe will be removed.

· All Engelmann spruce trees showing evidence of current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by bark flaking, green but fading crowns, and beetle galleries/larvae under the bark, will be removed.

· All subalpine fir trees showing evidence of current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by green needs, pitch streaking, frass, and/or beetle galleries and/or larvae under the bark.

· All Douglas-fir trees showing evidence of current bark beetle infestation, as evidenced by dead, red, or fading crowns, pitch streaking evident on trees boles.

Do not high grade stand. Leave the healthiest conifers with good foliage, stem form (single leader), that are insect, disease, and damage free and free from physical deformities. Retain any live, cone bearing white pines (both limber and whitebark) that are healthy and cone bearing. Other species to leave, in order or preference and where they exist are Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, then subalpine fir. These leave trees will serve as seed trees to reforest the stand where an understory is not present.

Cut all live, dead, or dying conifers stems that are successsionally replacing aspen. Cut dead aspen. Treatment should apply to all size classes of conifers.

Sanitation/salvage could have the appearance of a group selection where all dead/dying trees in an area are removed, where dead, dying, or infested trees are removed in groups. If live, healthy trees above the maximum diameter listed in the tables below are present in the stand, they should be left as seed sources, particularly if they are adjacent to openings created from the removal of dead/dying trees. The tables listed below should be used for guidance for trees below merchantability specifications between ‘groups’, or in the matrix of the stand, as described below.

Unmerchantable Diameter Classes: Stands receiving this treatment has a well-developed understory; whole-tree harvesting will be required on any timber sale contract to protect existing regeneration. Protect and retain any healthy seedlings, saplings, or pole timber where they exist. Review the ‘Matrix Objectives’ in the table below. In the columns 1st TPA Cut, 1ST BA cut, the negative signs indicate the approximate number of trees per acre and/or basal area per acre to be cut in each diameter class in the first entry for anything under the merchantability specifications listed below; the majority of trees to receive this this treatment will be in the 0 to 2-inch DBH class, so treatment will be very similar to a precommercial thin. During this treatment, do not high grade stands; leave the best dominant/codominant trees with good foliage and stem form (single leader) that are insects, disease, and damage free.

Include sanitation with this treatment; remove seedlings, saplings, or pole timber that are infested with diseases, including dwarf mistletoe, comandra blister rust, white pine blister rust (for pines present in the stand), as well as other physical damage as evidenced by:

· Snowbend or other physical damage

· Layering in subalpine fir

· Bole cankers

· Bole cankers with dead tops above cankers

· Numerous branch swellings, rodent chewing, or branch flagging.

Matrix Objectives (individual tree selection) for Middle Fork Unit 2 (EA Unit T7.13 (UW0108-0241):

Pre-commercial Thinning A combination of Sanitation/Salvage and Pre-commercial Thinning. Use general marking guides elsewhere in this table for these marking guidelines.

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