Statement of Work.doc

Statement of Work Finley Flat – Camp Salvage Hazardous Fuels Reduction Lolo National Forest, Plains Ranger District Sanders County, Montana

Introduction:

The objective of this project is to reduce hazardous fuels on National Forest System lands in order to lower the risk of catastrophic wild fire. Fuels reduction will be accomplished through slashing and pre-commercial thinning treatments and hand piling of slash on approximately 147 acres in the Finley Flat area and the Camp Creek drainage, Sanders County, Montana.

Project Area:

The project is located in two separate areas of the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District.

The first project area is 104 acres in the Finley Flat area, located in Sections 27 and 34, Township 23 North, Range 30 West, P.M.M. Access Finley Flat from Mt. Highway 200 approximately 9 miles northwest of Thompson Falls, Montana.

The second project area is 43 acres in Camp Creek. To access Camp Creek, travel approximately one mile west of Thompson Falls, turn southeast on Prospect Highway #7, then turn on NFSR #352 and go approximately 11 miles to a unit located in the NE ¼ of Section 22, T.20N., R.29W. and the NW ¼ of Section 23, T.20N., R.29W., P.M.M.

Project areas are former cutting units. Unit boundaries will be delineated with flagging by the Forest Service.

Description of Work:

Finley Flat Thinning – The Contractor shall perform pre-commercial thinning of trees less then 6 inch dbh. Species preference shall be given to ponderosa pine, western larch, western white pine, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine and grand fir. Seventy-five percent of the stand shall be thinned to an approximate 10-foot to 12-foot spacing (302-430 tpa). Tighten to 6-foot spacing on the remaining 25 percent of the stand to maintain a clumping effect that will provide vertical screening between future campsites. Clumps shall include from 3 to 12 trees. Leave-trees need not always be the tallest trees. Select varying heights to aid in screening campsites. Remove all submerchantable conifers within 33 feet of live Aspen. Thinned trees shall be cut below the lowest live limb except when prevented by natural obstacles. All live limbs below the cutting point shall be removed. Trees shall be completely severed from the stump. Stump height shall not exceed 2 inches above ground level or 4 inches above natural obstacles. Do not cut brush or hardwood species. All conifer trees 12 inches high or taller not selected for a leave-tree shall be cut.

Finley Flat Plot Inspections - The Contractor shall maintain a plot system that provides an unbiased sample of thinning quality, and that represents the entire area treated. The Contractor shall sample at least 1 percent of the treated area. A 1/50th-acre plot size shall be used during inspection. The Contractor shall provide written inspection data, by unit, that meets requirements of the agreement, and a sketch map with plot locations. To show compliance with the Contract specifications, 65-85 percent of the plots should result in 6-9 trees less than 6 inch dbh. The remaining 15-35 percent of plots should reflect the tighter spaced clumps of trees and have 9-16 trees less than 6 inch dbh.

Finley Flat Piling of Slash - The Contractor shall hand pile pre-commercial thinning slash. The slash shall be piled so when it is burned, it will not damage residual leave-trees. Hand piles shall be located 10 feet or more from individual and groups of live Aspens. All piled material shall be placed parallel in the piles as much as practicable and constructed to facilitate full consumption when burned. Minimum pile size shall be 4 feet high x 4 feet in diameter. Maximum pile size shall be 10 feet high x 10 feet in diameter. Approximately 10% of acreage will involve re-bunching of existing piles.

The Contractor shall cover piles with burnable water-repellent paper, provided by the Contractor. Paper shall be placed within the pile such that ¾ of the diameter of the pile is covered and held firmly in place by heavy slash on top of it. The burnable water-repellent paper to be used for pile covering shall be approved in advance by the Contracting Officer.

Camp Salvage Slashing - The Contractor shall slash all species except western larch to facilitate future underburn. Slash all conifers 5 inches dbh or less. Slashed trees shall be cut below the lowest live limb except when prevented by natural obstacles. All live limbs below the cutting point shall be removed. Trees must be completely severed from the stump. Stump height shall not exceed 8 inches above ground level or 4 inches above natural obstacles. Lop all created slash to within 12” of the ground.

Camp Salvage Plot Inspections - The Contractor shall maintain a plot system that provides an unbiased sample of slashing quality, and that represents the entire area treated. The Contractor shall sample at least 1 percent of the treated area. A 1/50th-acre plot size shall be used during inspection. The Contractor shall provide written inspection data, by unit, that meets requirements of the agreement, and a sketch map with plot locations. To show compliance with the Contract specifications, 90 percent of the plots should show no trees less than 5 inches dbh other than western larch.

Government Quality Assurance

Quality assurance will be performed by the Government during the contract at regular intervals. Methods may include visual survey and review of Contractor quality control documents. Deduction for work may include rework at no cost to the Government or Government acceptance with price reduction.

The Government will evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this contract. A variety of surveillance methods may be used. If any Government action or lack of action was the cause of unacceptable performance, the deficiencies shall not be counted against the Contractor.

Measurement

The area to be treated is stated in the Contract. All linear and area measurements under this contract are measured on a horizontal plane within established boundaries.

Re-measurement:

The Contractor may at any time after award request re-measurement of any sub item. The request must be in writing within 10 days after completion of a unit or pay item. The Government’s re-measurement of the unit/sub item will be made within established boundaries.

If re-measurement indicates a variance of 5 percent or less in acreage stated in the Contract, there will be no adjustment in acres and the Contractor shall pay for the actual cost of re-measurement.

If re-measurement results in a variance greater than 5 percent in the acreage stated in the Contract, payment shall be based on the re-measured acreage and the Government shall pay for the re-measurement.

Acceptance and Payment

For each completed unit, the Contractor’s quality control inspection percentage for tree thinning and slashing will be compared to the Government’s assessment results. If the results differ by 5 percent or less, the Contractor’s inspection will be considered acceptable and the Contractor’s quality percentage will be used as the basis for payment. When the results differ by more than 5 percent, the Government’s inspection percentage will be used as the basis for payment.

Payment will be based on the following methods:

Quality at fully acceptable performance meets or exceeds 90 percent: Whenever the quality of work meets or exceeds 90 percent, based on the results of the Contractor’s quality control inspection and verified by the Government monitoring, the work will be acceptable, and incentive payment will be made that provides payment at the unit price for the sub item.

Example: With a unit price of $100 and a unit size of 40 acres, the bid price would be $4,000. If the Contractor’s work quality is 95 percent, payment would be $4,000.

Quality at unacceptable performance level - less than 90 percent: Whenever the quality of the work is below 90 percent based on the results of the Contractor’s quality control inspection and verified by the Government monitoring, the work is unacceptable and the value of services provided is significantly reduced. Therefore, a deduction will be made for unacceptable performance. For each percentage point that performance quality falls below 90 percent, a 2 percent deduction in unit price will be made. No payment will be made where quality of work is below 70 percent.

Example: With a thinning quality of 85 percent, the deduction would be; 10 percent for quality 85 to 89 percent (5 X 2%), resulting in the Contractor receiving 90 percent of the bid price. With a unit price of $100 per acre and a unit size of 40 acres, the bid price would be $4,000. At 85 percent thinning quality, payment would be $100 x 90% x 40 acres = $3,600.

Unacceptable Work: Any unit, with quality less then 90 percent, is considered unacceptable and may be rejected. For these areas the Government may accept the work at a reduced price require the area to be reworked at no additional expense to the Government, or reject the work in its entirety. If the quality is unacceptable, the Contractor’s right to proceed is subject to immediate termination for default.

When work quality falls below 90 percent in areas of 1 acre or larger and the quality of work can be corrected, the Government may require the area to be reworked.

The Government will document unacceptable work quality in the performance assessment.

Period of Performance:

Work may commence immediately upon approval of the Technical Proposal and Quality Control Plan. All work performed under this agreement shall be completed by September 30, 2010.

Contact Information:

The Forest Service Project Manager for these projects is Rick Cavill. Rick may be contacted at (406) 826-4340, or fcavill@fs.fed.us.

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) on this contract is Valerie Walker. Val may be contacted at 406-826-4343 or vwalker@fs.fed.us.

Additional Information:

Below is a link to where the Government procures barrier material for capping hand piles:

www.GSAglobalsupply.gsa.gov

Product Description: Barrier Material, Heavy-duty type, Product # 8135-00-233-3871, Width 36 inches, Contains 200 YD.

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