appendix_A.doc

PAGE

AG-84NA-S-09-0150 Ferron Fuels

Appendix A Fuels Reduction

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

The objectives of yarding non-merchantable trees is to reduce hazard fuels around the Ferron summer homes. Trees to be removed have a dot of blue paint. The trees are to be cut, skidded to a landing and decked. The objectives of weeding are to remove the damaged, diseased or other competing non commercial species from healthy conifer stands. Weeding also includes the remove of invading conifers from aspen clones in order to promote the growth and retention of aspen within treated stands. The objectives of thinning are to remove excess trees to promote growth and increase resilience of leave trees to fire, insects, and disease. The objective Fuel Rearrangement is to lower fuel height and reduce fuel concentrations to minimize intensity and severity to surrounding leave trees. Lopping is the cutting of limbs off of the cut tree boles to a designated top diameter and severing the top. The maximum fuel depth will be no greater than 24 inches. Fuel rearrangement is the slash resulting from thinning, weeding, and lopping will be pulled away from live trees and scattered.

The technical specifications are based on the overall composition and condition of the stand, and are intended to be guidelines for achieving a high quality final product in a professional manner. Contractor is expected to use silvicultural knowledge to identify and adjust to variations within the stand.

Measurable Performance Standards

The performance standards are listed for each work item, these standards and specifications will be used in the inspections to measure contractor compliance.

Item Number 1.1 - Fuels Reduction / Units 1 and 2

1. Cut, skid and deck all designated dead non-merchantable timber after removal of the sawlog timber; the non-merchantable timber is designated with a blue dot of paint at DBH and a stump mark, cruise trees will be marked with a band of paint and a number at DBH. This timber consists of the following species: Dead spruce 10 inches DBH down to a minimum diameter of six inches; dead sub-alpine fir down to a minimum diameter of 6 inches.

2. The maximum stump height is 12 inches.

3. The minimum log length is 12 feet to a 3 inch top.

4. Whole tree skidding allowed if limbed prior to skidding.

5. Limbs and tops less than 3 inches in diameter returned to the unit and scattered.

6. Non-merchantable logs to be decked in an orderly manner with the logs decked parallel to each other by a loader. Decks to be less than 12 feet in height and 20 feet from any green trees.

Item Number 2.1 - Weed and Thinning / Units 1 and 2 (See Map)

1. Weed and thin all conifers, over 2 feet in height and less than 7 inches in diameter, to an average of 360 trees per acre (11 by 11 foot spacing). Spacing for healthy trees of the preferred species can be varied by + or – 50 percent while maintaining the average trees per acre. All of unit 1 is to be thinned and the portion of unit 2 identified on the ground with paint and flagging is to be thinned.

2. Cut all conifers less than 7 inches in diameter from the pockets of aspen and for at least 1 tree height or 66 feet from the nearest live aspen within the pocket.

3. Cut all conifer trees less than 7 inches in diameter and over 2 feet in height which have more than minor damage or any diseased conifers.

4. Cut trees will be fully severed from the stump and all live limbs ¼ inch in diameter on the stump to be cut.

5. Stump height for the thinning is 8 inches.

6. Thinning species preference for leave is as follows: Engelmann spruce, limber pine, and sub-alpine fir.

Item Number 3.1 - Lopping/ Slash Pullback– Units 1 and 2 Cutting of all limbs (dead or live) shall be cut from the trunk of all felled trees to a slash depth not greater than 24 inches from the ground and tops cut off at 3 inch diameter. Slash pullback of all cut material from thinning, weeding, and lopping (including logging slash in all units) will be placed a minimum of 8 feet away from the trunk of any live leave tree and snags over 12” DBH. Large concentrations of slash that cannot be spread in a manner that will minimize intensity and severity of fire to surrounding trees should be scattered in an opening, on skid trails, temporary roads. Trees felled within aspen clone will be lopped but not required to be moved away from the live aspen trees.

1. Lopping requires that all limbs (dead or live) shall be cut from the trunk of all felled trees to a slash depth not greater than 24 inches from the ground and the tops cut off at 3 inches.

2. All cut material from thinning, weeding, pruning and lopping (including logging slash in all units) will be placed a minimum of 8 feet away from the trunk of any live leave tree and for snags over 12” DBH.

Tree thinning, weeding

Acceptance will be determined based on the Contractor’s quality control inspection and verified by the Government monitoring and will be based on adherence to the specifications stated in the contract.

If Category B excess trees (refer to Inspection Plot form, R4-2400-4) contribute to the deficiency, acceptance and payment will not be made until the deficiency has been corrected unless the Contracting Officer determines excess tree deficiency to be minor or an isolated situation that will not result in any material differences in the total number of trees to be left.

Yarding, Lop and Scatter, Piling.

Acceptance will be determined based on the Contractor’s quality control inspection and verified by the Government monitoring and will be based on adherence to the specifications stated in the contract. Noncompliance with any of the specifications will classify the treatment as unsatisfactory and rework will be required to bring the treatment up to specification standards.

Acceptance

Acceptance will be determined based on compliance with the contract specifications. Noncompliance will result in non-acceptance of the work. If the Contractor’s work is determined to be unacceptable, the Government may initiate any remedies described in FAR 52.246-4 Inspection of Services.

If the initial work is unacceptable to the Government, the Contractor may re-work the area if deficiencies can be corrected. The Government will assess the re-work after receiving the Contractor’s inspection records which reflect that all work meets specification standards.

The Government will assess the Contractor the actual costs of conducting the additional quality assurance after rework. Items that may be included in the actual damages includes but is not limited to: wages of the COR and Government inspector(s), costs of vehicles, meals and lodging that are incurred during the additional quality assurance.

Inspections The COR or a designated representative shall make inspections. For contract compliance the government will conduct visual inspections, with random plots, on each unit to determine compliance with work specifications. Initial inspection of thinning and weeding will consist of a review of the trees cut, leave trees, trees condition and spacing. All slash work of piling, lopping, scattering and pull back will be either acceptable or unacceptable. When all work appears satisfactory at the 90% level, it will be accepted. When work appears unsatisfactory, the contractor will be responsible for rework to correct the problem. The Contractor and or their representative are encouraged to observe the inspection process and will receive inspection summaries upon request.

If the contractor disagrees with the random walk thru results of the Forest Service, the contractor may request a formal systematic sample across the unit. The following inspection method will be used.

b. Inspection Plot Size and Sample - A series of 1/50th acre circular plots distributed over the entire unit sufficient to yield at least a 1 percent sample of each unit shall be taken. Plot centers shall be marked and numbered.

c. Inspection Quality Evaluation- Each plot shall be examined to record findings on Form 2400-4 (Exhibit A) for the items listed below:

1. ACCEPTABLE TREE AND TREES ABOVE MAXIMUM DBH (Columns 3 and 4) -

Includes acceptable leave trees and trees above the maximum DBH designated for not cutting.

The total of Columns 3 and 4 must not exceed the maximum acceptable trees per plot (S1 and

S2).

2. CREDIT FOR NONSTOCKED SPOTS (Column 4) -

Includes the number of spots nonstocked on individual plots that are not stocked due to in-sufficient original stocking or a missing tree cut because of insects and disease or other damage. (S3 and S4).

3. SURPLUS TREES AND TREES SPECIES IGNORED (Column 5) -

Includes surplus of acceptable trees above the maximum allowable tree per plot. (S2 and **).

4. CATEGORY "A" TREES (Columns 6 and 7) -

Includes leave trees cut and leave trees left not meeting contract specifications. (A1-A5).

5. CATEGORY "B" TREES (Column 8) -

Includes excess trees that should have been cut and stumps with live limbs. (B and B1).

6. CATEGORY "C" TREES (Column 9) -

Includes trees not completely severed from stump, hang-up trees, high stumps, trees left with excess damage and disease). (C1 - C7).

d. Thinning Quality Calculation- Upon inspection of all plots for a unit, the quality of thinning shall be calculated as follows:

1.00 - | Col. 6 + Col. 7 + Col. 8 | X 100 = Percent Quality

| Col. 3 + Col. 4

e. Category "B" Trees- When inspection results are below 90 percent and category "B" TREES constitute any part of the deficiency, Stewardship Credits will not be credited to the account until excess tree deficiency has been corrected. Inspections after rework shall be made in the same manner as the first inspection but on different plot lines.

f. Category "C" Trees- The total number of CATEGORY "C" TREES shall not exceed 6 trees per acre. Stewardship Credits will not be credited to the account until the deficiency has been corrected. The Category "C" Trees are not included in the thinning quality calculation because these deficiencies are generally not critical to the primary stocking objectives for the thinning project.

g. Re-inspection - If the original inspection results are unacceptable to the Contractor and a second inspection is requested without rework, the same inspection procedure shall be used. However, the inspection pattern shall be shifted. If the second inspection shows an acceptable result, the work will be considered accepted and appropriate credit will be entered into the account.

h. Acceptance of Slash Treatment- Acceptance for slash treatment shall be determined by inspections of the area and shall be based on adherence to the specifications. Non-conformance with any of the specifications shall classify the treatment as unsatisfactory and rework shall be required to bring the treatment up to specification standards.