Aquarius Timber Sale_Prospectus_20260818.docx

AQUARIUS GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY

POL DATA

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Aquarius Good Neighbor Authority Timber Sale Prospectus

1. INTRODUCTION

This prospectus is intended to provide information to interested person which, as a supplement to the information from the published advertisement, and personal inspection of the sale areas, will enable them to prepare bids for the purchase of this timber. Please read it carefully.

1.1 SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

2. TOUR

A tour of the sale area has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 20, 2026 at 10:00am. The tour will meet at the gravel parking loop located on the West side of I-90 at the Tilford exit, South of Sturgis Rd. From there attendees will consolidate vehicles and we will proceed to the sale area. The tour will last no later than 12:00 noon. Questions or inquiries about the tour can be directed to Amanda Morrison at (605) 510-8334 or at Amanda.morrison@state.sd.us.

3. SALE AREA

A detailed Timber Sale Area Map, attached, describes the location of and the method in which timber sale and unit boundaries are marked, or otherwise identified. The sale area is located within the Northern Hills Forest Service District, approximately 11 miles South of Sturgis, SD. The legal description is portions of Sections 7, 12, 13, 18, 19 & 24; Township 4 N, Range 5 E of the Black Hills Meridian, Meade County, South Dakota

The sale area consists of 4 units, encompassing 134 acres. Unit 1 is 42.2 acres, approximately 71.5% is required, the remaining acres are being offered as Optional Areas (see below for details). Units 2 & 4 are required units. Unit 3 is Optional.

Rubber-tired skidder operability is defined as slopes less than or equal to 50% slope and free of excessive rock. The Purchaser will be required to harvest all designated timber on required acres meeting the operable definition.

Timber on terrain exceeding 50% slope, or within areas identified as Optional Areas, may be harvested at the Purchaser’s option as the capabilities of the equipment and personal permit, subject to approval by the Contract Administrator. Any timber harvested from optional areas will be paid for at bid rates.

Unit boundaries are identified using a combination of virtual boundaries and marking with paint. Boundaries adjacent to private are marked with 3 vertical BLUE stripes Two extend from the ground to DBH marking the boundary line. A middle mark faces into the sale unit. Boundaries adjacent to Forest Service Property are virtual. The Purchaser is responsible for obtaining a GPS that is capable of determining the location of the true virtual boundary +/- 30 feet.

4. ACCESS

Access to the timber sale area is only available via private property. Access has not been acquired and is not guaranteed.

The Purchaser is responsible for securing access to the sale area.

Any prospective bidder who wishes to inspect the sale area at any time other than the scheduled field tour must arrange access from the private landowner directly.

5. TIMBER

Minimum specifications for sawtimber are 9.0 inches diameter breast height (DBH), 10.5-foot scaling length, 6-inch diameter inside bark (DIB) top, 10.67 merchantability factor with a minimum of one piece per tree.

Minimum specification for POL are 7.0 – 8.9 inches diameter breast height (DBH), 10.5- foot scaling length, 4 inch top diameter inside bark (DIB).

Cutting, skidding, decking, hauling and purchase of included sawtimber is required.

Total estimated net sale volume is 1,002.5 CCF of sawtimber and 41.5 CCF of optional POL. A unit breakdown of volume is provided in the table below:

Estimates of volume, average diameter, etc. are based on a tree measurement variable plot cruise of 10 points. Standardized volume tables, Bell-Dilworth Log Scaling and Timber Cruising were used to calculate ponderosa pine sawtimber volume on this timber sale. See Table 1 below.

6. OPERATIONS

The operating schedule for this sale will be as follows:

A maximum of three units will be open for logging at any time. Additional units will be released as earlier units are closed out.

Special yarding requirements, protection of residual stands, and improvements are discussed below.

7. LOGGING PROVISIONS

Winch assisted logging is required on major pitches of slopes exceeding 50% and continuous slash or ground cover on skid trails is required.

No operations are allowed in Botany Areas. Within Unit 2; skidding will be allowed through the botany area located along the northern border of the unit, to allow access of the existing two-track. Use of the two-track is allowed for Unit 2 operations only.

For Unit 3: No operations are allowed within streamside management zones (SMZs), though reuse of existing logging features is permitted for skidding.

For Unit 3: No road maintenance activities are allowed along the road adjacent to the protected water pipeline. No operations will be allowed within 15 feet of the pipeline, and must be protected from all operation activities.

For Unit 4: No operations are allowed within the adjacent cave area to protect or the adjacent botany area to protect.

For Units 1, 2 & 4: There is a wildlife timing restriction and no operations are allowed from January 15 thru July 31.

All Units are Designation by Prescription and Yarding Method is Whole Tree Preferred where feasible. Where Whole Tree operations are not feasible, lop & scatter cut-to-length will be allowed. Slash cannot exceed 18” in depth.

8. ROADS

There is no associated road work or road maintenance activities required for this timber sale. Skid trails and decking/landing locations will be required to be closed out to South Dakota Best Management Practices guidelines and seeded.

9. APPRASIAL AND MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE BID

The minimum acceptable bid is:

· $5.00 per CCF of ponderosa pine sawtimber and

· $0.25 per CFF of ponderosa pine POL.

10. PAYMENT

Sawtimber on this sale will be weight scaled and paid for in units of CCF. Each 75.11 pounds of sawtimber hauled will equal one (1) cubic foot of timber volume. Scaling arrangements will comply with contract specifications.

POL on this sale will be weight scaled and paid for in units of CCF. Each 75.29 pounds of POL hauled will equal one (1) cubic foot (cf) of volume.

An advance payment of 25% will be required at the time of contract signing. The advance payment will be made available for draw down once 50% of the sale has been completed. Monthly invoices will be billed out on the 15th of every month during harvest operations and will be based on the previous months scaled timber.

This is a flat rate sale with no escalation or de-escalation provisions.

11. DEPOSITS AND PERIODIC PAYMENTS

A performance bond of 10% of the total estimated sold stumpage value will be required at the time of contract signing, or a minimum of $100, whichever is greater.

Brush Disposal: Should the Purchaser opt for whole tree operations, and logging slash is piled and left in the unit; a brush disposal deposit of $4.50 per CCF will be collected. Should the Purchaser opt for cut-to-length operations, and no slash piles are created this deposit will be waived.

There is no road maintenance deposit.

12. STANDARD CONTRACT TERMS

Any contract or agreement resulting from this prospectus will include, at a minimum, the substance of the contract terms and conditions set forth in Appendix A. However, as part of the negotiation process, the language of a specific term or condition listed in Appendix A could be modified upon agreement between the State and the bidder. Additional terms and conditions may be required.

13. LENGTH OF CONTRACT

This is a 3-year timber sale contract and will terminate on December 31, 2029.

14. BIDDING PROCEDURE

All sealed bids must be completed and received to Amanda Morrison, 3305 West South Street, Rapid City, SD 57702 by the date and time indicated in the Schedule of Activities.

Bids received after the deadline will be late and ineligible for consideration.

A $500.00 bid guarantee in the form of a certified check, bank draft, money order, bid bond, irrevocable letter of credit or cash must accompany all sealed bids.

Bids should be addressed and labeled as follows:

TIMBER – SEALED BID

AQUARIUS GNA TIMBER SALE

Amanda Morrison 3305 West South Street Rapid City, SD 57702

No proposal shall be accepted from, or no contract or purchase order shall be awarded to any person, firm or corporation that is in arrears upon any obligations to the State of South Dakota, or that otherwise may be deemed irresponsible or unreliable by the State of South Dakota.

By bidding on the Optional POL, the bidder is committing to removal and payment of that material from the Required Acres and Units.

Commitment to the Optional Areas or Units is not required at the time bids are submitted and can be opted for, at a later date. Sawtimber and POL harvested from Optional Areas will be paid for at bid rates.

Should a bidder bids on POL, and commits to harvesting the Optional Areas, at that time POL will become required for removal.

15. MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS

Bids may be withdrawn by the offeror prior to the established Bid due date and time.

No oral, telephonic, telegraphic or facsimile responses or modifications to informal, or formal bids will be considered.

16. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION

The proposal of the successful offeror(s) becomes public information. Proprietary information can be protected under limited circumstances such as client lists and non-public financial statements. An entire proposal may not be marked as proprietary. Offerors must clearly identify any specific proprietary information they are requesting to be protected. Bids may be reviewed and evaluated by any person at the discretion of the State. All materials submitted become the property of the State of South Dakota and may be returned only at the State's option.

17. GOVERNING LAW

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of South Dakota, without regard to any conflicts of law principles, decisional law, or statutory provisions which would require or permit the application of another jurisdiction’s substantive law. Venue for any lawsuit pertaining to or affecting this Agreement shall be in the Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Pennington County, South Dakota.

18. BID REQUIREMENTS AND COMPANY QUALIFICATIONS

18.1 The offeror is cautioned that it is the offeror's sole responsibility to submit information related to the evaluation categories and that the State of South Dakota is under no obligation to solicit such information if it is not included with the proposal. The offeror's failure to submit such information may cause an adverse impact on the evaluation of the proposal.

18.2 Offeror's Contacts: Offerors and their agents (including subcontractors, employees, consultants, or anyone else acting on their behalf) must direct all of their questions or comments regarding the Prospectus, the evaluation, etc. to the points of contact identified herein. Offerors and their agents may not contact any state employee other than the points of contact identified herein, regarding any of these matters during the solicitation and evaluation process. Inappropriate contacts are grounds for suspension and/or exclusion from specific procurements. Offerors and their agents who have questions regarding this matter should contact the buyer of record.

19. TIMBER SALE AWARD PROCESS

19.1 The Timber Sale will be awarded to the highest value bid, as determined by the State, but not less than the minimum stated bid.

19.2 In the case of a tie, the tying bidders will be notified and allowed the option to submit a revised bid.

19.3 The State reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, waive technicalities, and make award(s) as deemed to be in the best interest of the State of South Dakota.

TABLE 1:

1,002 CCF Total Volume Required

NOTES: Sawtimber defect is average observed defect. Total Net CCF includes volume of landings and roads.

TABLE 2:

TABLE 3:

SAWTIMBER VOLUME PER DIAMETER CLASS

Totals rounded

AQUARIUS GOOD NEIGHBOR AUTHORITY

SAWTIMBER DATA

TABLE 1a.

NOTES: Optional POL defect is average observed defect. Total Net CCF includes volume of landings and roads.

TABLE 2a:

TABLE 3a:

OPTIONAL POL VOLUME PER DIAMETER CLASS

Totals rounded