Attachment_1__1.pdf

140L0623Q0007

SOURCES SOUGHT

BILLY CREEK FOREST HEALTH STEWARDSHIP

I. INTRODUCTION:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is conducting a Sources Sought, pursuant to FAR Part 10—

Market Research. This Sources Sought is in support of Market Research being conducted by the BLM to identify potential sources capable of providing forest health stewardship services to meet BLM needs.

Interested vendors must have specialized capabilities to provide such services at the required complexity and magnitude, as identified in internal Attachment 1—Synopsis of Requirements. The applicable North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code expected to be assigned to this requirement is

115310, Support Activities for Forestry. Reference Attachment 1—Synopsis of Requirements, for an overview of the requirement.

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. This notice shall NOT be considered a request for proposal, quotation, or an invitation for bid nor does responding to this RFI guarantee or exclude your participation in the forthcoming acquisition process. Any information provided by the

Government under this notice is preliminary and may be updated or changed prior to release of the solicitation. The Government will NOT award a contract solely on the basis of this notice, nor will it be liable for any costs associated with preparing and submitting a response to this notice.

Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become

Government property and will not be returned. All government personal reviewing responses understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information as described 41 USC 423. The Government shall not be held liable for any damages incurred if proprietary information is not properly identified.

II. SUBMITTAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS:

The Government will not review general capability statements. Please ensure submissions are tailored to this requirement and information requested below. There is no page limit. Potential sources shall provide detailed responses on their ability to deliver/perform all of the services listed below. If the potential source is not currently capable of meeting all or a portion of the above requirements but is planning to have these service capabilities in the future, the sources can provide information on the future capabilities of their business. Vendor responses shall be submitted in PDF or MS Word Format.

Responses must include a cover page with the following information:

Vendor Name:

Mailing Address:

Point of Contact (POC)/Title/Phone/Email:

UEI:

Size status of Business (i.e., large business, small business, small disadvantage business, 8(a) firm, etc.):

Submission Instructions: Interested parties who consider themselves qualified are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought by 06/02/2023 3:00pm Mountain Standard Time, 2023. The response consists of your answers to the capability Questions, listed below in Section III. Your responses must be emailed to the Contracting Officer Brittney Linford (blinford@blm.gov). Any questions concerning this

Sources Sought must be submitted through email to Brittney Linford.

III. CAPABILITY QUESTIONS

1. Describe your firm's experience with providing Stewardship Services.

2. Describe your firm’s capabilities as the prime contractor to complete all stages of the project. If not possible, please explain how you will meet requirements of the stages you are unable to respond to as the prime contractor and how you will ensure quality and coordination of the stages with potential subcontractors included.

3. Describe your firm’s approach to providing the Stewardship Services listed in Attachment 1—

Synopsis of Requirements. Please Include the following:

a. Labor

b. Equipment and materials

c. Proposed method to successfully perform the work. This shall include a plan and destination for wood product removal.

Attachment 1—Synopsis of Requirements

C.1.0 GENERAL

Billy Creek Forest Health Stewardship project is designed to decrease stand thickness and promote the growth of Ponderosa Pine. This project targets cutting Douglas Fir to decrease the activity of

Western Spruce Budworm in the area. The goal is to restore forest health while preparing the site for future fuels reduction treatments. Contract work will be performed over the course of 36 months.

Description – The Billy Creek project area is part of a large piece of BLM surface in the

Bighorn Mountains. The project area is heavily stocked stand of Douglas Fir, Lodgepole

Pine, and Ponderosa Pine. The goal is to mechanically treat the area to thin the overstory and set the stand up for future fuels reduction treatments. There are several cabins upslope from the project area and this project will create defensible space to help stop future wildfires from destroying several cabins. The total volume for removal is estimated at 21,862 tons of sawlogs.

Location/Access - The project area is located within the Buffalo Field Office administrative boundaries of BLM, Wyoming State Office, approximately 19 miles SW of Buffalo, WY.

Project area(s) are normally accessible by a standard pickup on forest roads June - October.

November – May expect heavy snow accumulation and difficult access.

C.2.0 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS

The Contractor shall furnish all personnel, labor, supervision, equipment with qualified operators, transportation, supplies (other than Government furnished property), and incidentals required to finish the project.

Equipment and Materials

The Contractor shall provide traffic control signs to provide for the safety of the public along existing roadways in the project area.

The Contractor shall provide any labor and materials to meet or exceed Wyoming Best

Management Practices (BMP’s).

The Contractor shall provide native grass seed for use in erosion control.

C.3.0 SPECIFIC TASKS

Road Work

i. Construction and Reconstruction of High Meadows Road will be complete before any trees are severed.

ii. BLM has a Timber Management Easement on High Meadows Road and has the authority to improve it as needed for timber management. Contractor is also authorized to use this road to remove Government Timber sold under this contract.

a. New construction

• Equipment will scrape vegetation and organic material and create a road bed wide enough to support 10 foot drivable width road.

• Contractor will then apply 1 lift of gravel with a height of 3 – 4 inches (3”- material), a drivable width of 10 feet (approximately 12 feet with taper), and a full length of the new construction section, 928 feet.

b. Reconstruct existing road

• Equipment needs to shape and scrape all vegetation and organic material on existing road to create a roadbed wide enough to support 10 foot drivable width road.

• Contractor will then apply 1 lift of gravel with a height of 3 – 4 inches (3”- material), a drivable width of 10 feet (approximately 12 feet with taper), and a full length of the reconstruct section, 4400 feet.

c. Purchase and Deliver gravel – 800 cubic yards of 3 inch minus (3”-) gravel.

• Contractor will provide receipts and/or load tickets for proof of volume purchased and hauled.

d. Road Repair and Maintenance

• Contractor is required to grade/maintain Billy creek road to the condition at the start of the contract. Contractor must also grade/maintain High Meadows Road to the condition of road after construction and reconstruction is complete.

• Final road maintenance on all roads constructed or used under the terms of this contract shall be done with a grader following completion of logging. The

Contracting Officer Representative (COR) must be notified prior to the performance of the final maintenance and shall notify the Contractor in writing when the final road maintenance is complete and accepted.

iii. If the Contractor chooses to winter log, all plowing and snow removal is on the contractor, and rock lost from plowing shall be reclaimed once spring thaw allows a grader to do such.

iv. All roads must remain open to traffic year-round. Billy Creek Road has no winter maintenance but needs to remain open for tracked vehicles in the winter.

v. Active operations should be conducted when ground is frozen, firm, or reasonably dry.

No trucking operations during spring break-up (est. late May-Middle of June), and contractor must also follow all county restrictions enroute to any destination during thaw/breakup. Any damage to county roads is the sole responsibility of contractor.

vi. The BLM does not guarantee access into the contract area other than on the Timber

Management Easement on High Meadows Road. Other access to and from the contract area is the sole responsibility of the Contractor. The BLM assumes NO responsibility or authority for access across private lands and is not responsible to reimburse the

Contractor for any costs or extra work required by the private landowner for access privileges.

vii. USFS, WYSF, State or county permits for hauling logs or heavy equipment is the sole responsibility of contractor. The Contractor is responsible for any delays in contract performance due to access into the contract area.

Commercial Material Removal

i. No trees will be severed until High Meadows road is constructed and approved by COR.

ii. All bearing trees or any tree blazed or tagged to mark the line of any Government survey, or trees with reference tags or posters identifying BLM projects shall not be cut or damaged.

iii. Hazardous trees that are within the road prism of haul roads shall be felled and removed.

No designated trees or snags shall be felled unless considered to be a safety hazard

(OSHA requirements) to landings, riggings or work areas or needed for a yarding corridor. Contractor shall contact COR prior to processing and hauling these hazard trees.

Forest Health Improvement

002A – 002C: Commercial Thin, Harvest Designation by Description (DxD):

Units Acres Prescription (see below)

1-A 13.3 CT Rx1

1-B 44.4 OSR DF

1-C 28.5 CT Rx1

1-D 121.2 CT Rx2

1-E 345.3 CT Rx1

2 19.2 CC AspRegen

3 6.6 ST FB

3-A 20.4 CT Rx2

Total 598.9acres

i. CT Rx 1 (Commercial Thin) –

Ponderosa Pine (PP) and Lodgepole Pine (LP) greater than 7 inches DBH, commercial thin from below to 40 BA. Remove all Douglas Fir (DF) greater than 7 inches DBH. Prefer leave species in this order: PP>LP>Engelmann Spruce (ES)

ii. CT Rx 2 (Commercial Thin)

PP and LP greater than 7 inches DBH, commercial thin from above to 30 BA.

Remove all DF greater than 7 inches DBH. Prefer leave species in this order:

PP>LP>ES. Leave trees may include regeneration from 2 to 7 inches DBH and will count to 30 BA leave.

iii. OSR DF(Overstory Removal)

Unit 1-B that is primarily Douglas Fir (DF) with advanced regeneration, remove all

DF greater than 7 inches DBH to restart stand to early successional structure.

iv. CC AspRegen (Clearcut)

In the aspen stand in BCTS, clear-cut all conifers greater than 7 inches DBH to release advanced regeneration of aspen clone from shade and conifer competition.

v. ST FB (Shaded Fuel Break)

Unit Along property boundaries with cabins, cut shaded fuel breaks, leaving 20-30 trees per acre of healthy form. Prefer leave species in this order: PP>LP>ES>DF

Products Other Than Log (POL)

vi. Contractor must cut and process POL to the specs and deck this material.

vii. POL will be decked directly adjacent, within reach of a self-loading log truck, to roads that preexisted before the start of the contract.

viii. POL decks will not be located closer than 50 feet from slash piles.

Utilization Specifications

i. General prescription that applies to all thinning units – leave trees defined in Section

C will be dominant/codominant and of healthy form with at least three sides of full crown and no sign of disease or damage. Sound standing dead trees may be salvaged but must have bark retention and must not have cavity nests. Up to 2 wolf trees (open grown/poor form/low crown) may be retained per acre for wildlife and stand diversity to count toward target basal area.

ii. Harvest Units which do not present a safety hazard as determined by the Contracting

Officer Representative (COR) shall be reserved from cutting. Limber pine approved by COR to be felled for safety reasons shall be retained on site.

iii. Contractor must cut and remove from federal lands all live and dead trees that are designated for cutting within all treatment units which are not reserved from cutting as defined in Section C. See merchantability standards below for each species sawlog and POL size classes.

iv. Merchantability Standards

a. Ponderosa and Lodgepole Pine Sawlogs

• Minimum log length of eight feet (8’)

• Minimum small end diameter outside bark six inches (6”)

b. Douglas Fir Sawlogs

• Minimum log length of eight feet (8’)

• Minimum small end diameter outside bark 8 inches (8”)

c. Product Other Than Log (POL)

• Pine: 4” – 5.9” diameter outside bark, small end

• Douglas Fir: 4” – 7.9” diameter outside bark, small end

• Minimum POL length of eight feet (8’)

Cutting and Yarding Requirements

i. If the COR decides proper basal area in the harvest designation by description is routinely not being followed, the contractor will be required to paint cut and leave trees to prescription prior to cutting at no cost to the government.

ii. All trees designated for cutting shall be cut so that the resulting stump height shall not exceed 12” measured on the uphill side for sawlog material.

iii. All reserved non-merchantability trees damaged by timber harvest operations within all harvest units shall be felled concurrently with all other trees designated for cutting in all harvest units. These trees will be treated as slash as defined in Section C. Slash

Disposal.

iv. All operations shall be conducted in such a way as to avoid damaging reserved merchantable trees. Reserved merchantable trees with 144 square inches of damage will be cut and yarded by the contractor.

a. Removed damaged trees will count against prescription Basal Area.

v. Whole tree, tree length or log length yarding with in-woods processing is authorized within all harvest units.

vi. Harvesting and yarding (skidding) will be limited to periods when soil conditions are dry, frozen or snow covered as determined by the COR.

vii. Yarding within all harvest units shall be done with tractors, rubber-tired skidders, or other logging system approved by the COR and in accordance with the following specifications:

• Any temporary skidder trails or jump spurs constructed on BLM surface must be to WY State Forestry BMP’s, fully abandoned to WY State Forestry BMP’s.

• Minimum spacing of skid trails is 100 feet, unless a reduced spacing is approved by the COR.

• Priority shall be given to existing skid trails.

• The Contractor shall scarify or rip compacted skid trails and landings upon completion of use as directed by the COR.

Slash Disposal

i. The term slash shall be defined as residual woody debris not reserved under Section

C, which remain after yarding, including treetops, limbs, un-merchantable portions of the bole, and trees damaged by logging.

ii. If whole tree yarding; Pile all slash generated from processing and slash located within 50 feet on each side of the landing. Slash shall be piled by a grapple loader to a minimum of 10 feet in height and shall be tight and free of dirt and located as far as reasonable from leave trees surrounding landing.

iii. If processing in place within unit; slash is to be machine piled within unit 50’ outside of the dripline of residuals trees. Machine piles should be concentrated to same specifications as slash piles made on log decks in above mentioned for whole tree yarding. Openings within unit should be utilized for slash pile construction or trees harvested to make small woods landing that accomplishes keeping slash pile 50 feet from leave trees. Landing areas will not be counted against residual Basal area.

iv. Slash piles shall be located no less than 50 feet from any live reserve tree.

v. The government shall be responsible for the burning of slash.

Log Landing and Loading

i. Landing shall be cleaned up in accordance with the instructions of the COR, and the landing/skid trails will be scarified and seeded when road is put to bed or when use of landing is completed.

ii. The Contractor shall furnish and apply grass seed to all skid trails/landing areas where soil disturbance occurs, and as directed by the COR. Grass seed shall be applied immediately upon completion and approval of final inspection. The Contractor shall apply the seed uniformly on the designated areas at a rate of 20 pounds per acre. Seed which has become wet or moldy or otherwise damaged will not be accepted.

iii. All seed used shall meet all requirements of the Federal Seed Act (7 U.S.C., Section 551-

1610) and the seed laws and noxious weed laws of Wyoming. Evidence of the seed certification shall be furnished at the request of the COR.

Species Pounds per Acre Slender Wheat Grass 8

Green needlegrass 4 Mountain Bromegrass 4

Idaho Fescue 3 Western Yarrow 1

Total 20