Attachment_1_-_Specifications.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS

Supply of a Custom Native Seed Mix for Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge PR Number: 0040622768

1. Product Features:

Item: The contractor shall supply a sufficient quantity of the following custom native seed mixture to apply at 30 lbs. Pure Live Seed (#PLS) per acre to 167 acres:

Upper Guano Juniper Mix:

Species #PLS/acre California brome (Bromus carinatus) 2 Mountain brome (Bromus marginatus) 2 Bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus elymoides) 4 Blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus) 2 Thickspike wheatgrass (Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus) 2 Slender wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus) 1.5 Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) 3 Prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha) 1 Basin wildrye (Leymus cinereus) 2 Western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) 2 Muttongrass (Poa fendleriana) 2 Sandberg’s bluegrass (Poa secunda) 4 Bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) 2 Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) 0.25 Blue flax (Linum lewisii) 0.25

Mix Total: 30 #PLS/acre (167 acres)

Salient Characteristics:

1.1. This mix shall be referred to as the “Upper Guano Juniper” Mix, such as in labeling.

1.2. The “Upper Guano Juniper” mix is intended to be applied by hand to ash piles and any related ancillary burn areas following prescribed burning of previously piled encroaching juniper materials. The mix is intended to provide competition against invasive annual grasses in fire-denuded microsites in otherwise relatively intact landscapes.

1.2.1. The targeted project areas are highly varied in elevation, aspect, slope, and associated vegetative cover types, though all are broadly sagebrush-steppe habitats. The most common vegetative communities are mountain big sagebrush, mountain shrub, and low sagebrush-dominated types, with many ridge areas dominated by islands of mountain mahogany and lower elevation areas dominated by Wyoming big sagebrush. Grass and buckbrush-dominated snow pockets and catch basins, as well as xeric and mesic meadows, are also common. Many of these communities are literally only feet apart, necessitating a fairly broad seed mix (i.e., community-targeted seed mixes would be logistically and financially impractical).

1.2.2. The intended target areas for this mix lie between 5,900 – 7,550 feet ASL elevation. The project areas have a generally overall SE aspect; have rocky/basaltic and variably silt loam/fine sandy loam/clayey loam soils, ranging from extremely shallow on ridges and rock outcroppings to fairly deep in drainage and meadow margins; and receives 12-18+ inches of precipitation per year on average.

1.3. Seed material shall meet the following requirements:

1.3.1. Native seed will be required to be “source identified.” The source for native plant material should be as close to Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge as possible, to include (but not necessarily limit to) geographic location, elevation, and climactic conditions. Seeds must have their origin in this area, unless otherwise cleared through the Technical Coordinator(s). Per US Fish & Wildlife Service policy (601 FW 3), unless sufficient justification can be provided to counter the policy at the Service’s discretion, all plant materials must be adapted to the conditions of the site and it is necessary to acquire seed that has the best chance of germinating to achieve rehabilitation goals.

1.3.2. Seed shall be certified “weed free”, indicating there are no noxious weeds in the seed.

1.3.3. Seed supply should be based on pure live seed (PLS) per pound, based upon purity and germination testing.

1.3.4. All species provided through this contract will be from the harvest year of 2023. All seed will be required to have been tested within 120 days of sale for purity, germination, and noxious weed content. Seed certification tag without testing documentation will not be accepted. Inert matter will not exceed 10%.

1.4. The seed mix shall be supplied in individually labeled 50-pound sacks (standard poly, cotton, or heavy paper), for material handling/storage by the Complex, and eventual field transport of seed and hand-loading of chest-mounted spreader hoppers and similar.

1.5. Prior to mixing for delivery, contractor shall provide to the Technical POC electronic copies of the results of purity, viability (germination and/or TZ test(s)), weed test (including all-states noxious weed analysis), and crop and weed test(s), for review and approval. Information is required for all seed lots. Allow up to 3 days for Technical POC review and approval.

2. Delivery:

Prices quoted must be FOB Destination.

“FOB Destination” means: Free of expense to the Government, delivered on board the carrier’s conveyance, at a specified delivery point where the consignee’s facility (plant, warehouse, store, lot, or other location to which shipment can be made) is located; and

Supplies shall be delivered to the destination consignee’s wharf (if destination is a port city and supplies are for export), warehouse unloading platform, or receiving dock, at the expense of the contractor. The Government shall not be liable for any delivery, storage, demurrage, accessorial, or other charges involved before the actual delivery (or “constructive placement” as defined in carrier tariffs) of the supplies to the destination, unless such charges are caused by an act or order of the Government acting in its contractual capacity. If rail carrier is used, supplies shall be delivered to the specified unloading platform of the consignee. If motor carrier (including “piggyback”) is used, supplies shall be delivered to truck tailgate at the unloading platform of the consignee, except when the supplies delivered meet the requirements of Item 568 of the National Motor Freight Classification for “heavy or bulky freight.”

When supplies meeting the requirements of the referenced Item 568 are delivered, unloading (including movement to the tailgate) shall be performed by the consignee, with assistance from the truck driver, if requested. If the contractor uses rail carrier or freight forwarder for less than carload shipments, the contractor shall ensure that the carrier will furnish tailgate delivery when required, if transfer to truck is required to complete delivery to consignee.

Contractor responsibilities. The contractor shall:

(1)(i) Pack and mark the shipment to comply with contract specifications; or

(ii) In the absence of specifications, prepare the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements;

(2) Prepare and distribute commercial bills of lading;

(3) Deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the contract;

(4) Be responsible for any loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the contract;

(5) Furnish a delivery schedule and designate the mode of delivering carrier; and

(6) Pay and bear all charges to the specified point of delivery, including unloading.

3. Delivery Location:

Product shall be delivered to the following location:

Sheldon-Hart Mountain NWR Complex headquarters 20995 Rabbit Hill Road Lakeview, OR 97630

Map coordinates are 42° 15.375’ N and 119° 22.489’ W (WGS84).

4. Installation:

Not Applicable

5. Technical Point of Contact (POC):

TBD

6. Delivery Instructions:

No later than three days prior to delivery, please contact the Technical Point of Contact listed above, to arrange a specific time for delivery. Unloading the product is the sole responsibility of the delivery carrier.

No labor or equipment will be provided by the government to unload the supplies.

7. Customer-Specific Delivery requirements:

7.1. Seed delivery is anticipated to be on or about October 30, 2023, but no later than November 30, 2023.

Actual delivery date(s) for seed will be dependent upon local weather conditions and availability of Complex personnel; contractor shall coordinate actual delivery dates with the Technical POC.

7.2. The Complex headquarters is in a gated area. The gate is open from ~8:00 AM to ~4:30 PM.

7.3. Loading docks are not available. Seed shall be loaded to account for this unfortunate fact. This will also likely slow offloading, so the contractor and/or their delivery agent will need to accommodate within their schedule(s) the extra time needed to safely offload.

7.4. Seed shall be delivered between Monday thru Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (PST), except Federal Holidays.

7.5. Contractor shall contact the Technical POC at least 72 hours prior to delivery to ensure Government staff and equipment will be available to receive and inspect delivery.