Attachment 1 Statement of Work.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK/SPECIFICATIONS

Woody Vegetation Control

Scope of Work:

The contractor shall provide all labor, equipment, materials, supervision, etc, needed to complete the work as described herein, in accordance with federal, state, industry and commercials standards.

1. Woody Vegetation Control:

All woody vegetation 6” dbh and under will be cut to within 4” of the ground surface. The cut material should be slashed so that the material doesn’t extend beyond 6” off the ground and the area is drivable. A forestry type mower will be used.

Evaluation of satisfactory work completeness will be judged by visual inspections of the project area. One hundred (100) percent of the target area free of obstacles is required to be mowed.

2. Area Description:

The projects areas consist of approximately 700 acres of dense to scattered shrubs and medium sized trees. Some vegetation within the tracts will be retained for bird habitat and/or desirable vegetation. This vegetation will be flagged with blue flagging before project initiation.

Specific instructions/precautions for individual tracts:

Grant Creek Unit 2:

• Cutting with a mower should be conducted when conditions are either dry or frozen to prevent resource damage.

• Equipment needs to be cleaned thoroughly after work is complete before moving to another tract to prevent tracking of birdsfoot trefoil and leafy spurge.

Tract 128A:

• Due to desirable wetland vegetation, mowing must be conducted when the ground is dry or frozen to prevent resource damage.

• Due to high probability of cultural resources within this area, ground needs to dry or frozen to prevent resource damage.

• The 5-strand barbed with fence is the perimeter of a cattle grazing allotment and must not be damaged during activities associated with this contract. Andy damage to the fence will be repaired by the contractor at the contractor’s expense.

Tract 208 Unit 3:

• Desirable species of American plum and Iowa crabapple marked with blue flagging as save trees.

Tract 82:

• Desirable species of American plum and Iowa crabapple marked with blue flagging as save trees.

Tract 5A

• To protect wildlife habitat, work within this tract must begin after October 1.

• The 5-strand barbed with fence is the perimeter of a cattle grazing allotment and must not be damaged during activities associated with this contract. Andy damage to the fence will be repaired by the contractor at the contractor’s expense.

Tract 42/6

• Equipment needs to be cleaned thoroughly after work is complete before moving to another tract to prevent tracking of teasel.

Contractor must notify the COR of which tract they intend to begin work, so that ground conditions can be monitored before work begins. Contractor must familiarize themselves with the site before work can begin.

3. Time Allowed for Performance:

Work can start after August 15, 2021 and must be completed by February 28, 2022.

The performance period is 197 working days.

General Specifications:

Equipment suitable to fulfill the Contract shall be furnished on a fully operated basis, of modern design and in good operating condition, with a competent qualified operator. Exhaust stacks on all engines, except those with exhaust-driven turbo-chargers, shall be equipped with spark arrestors that will prevent the expulsion of sparks from the engine into the atmosphere. All fuels, supplies, repairs and incidentals shall be furnished by the Contractor.

The Contractor and any employees and subcontractors shall comply with all State and local safety requirements and will be thoroughly familiar with the Forest Service Safety Code for work of this type. This code is available for review at the nearest Forest Service office. Protective devices such as hard hats shall be worn at all times according to Federal, State and local safety regulations.

Contractor shall avoid using heavy equipment during times when the soil is soft. Contractor may enter project areas when ground is dry or frozen or with vehicles that have ground pressures of 4 pounds per square inch or less. Work shall be halted if thawing or heavy precipitation occurs. Operation of heavy equipment in creek beds or within creek channels is not allowed. Soil ruts deeper than 2 inches or covering more than 10% of the designated work area must be avoided or mitigated by the contractor. Mitigation will include filling the ruts with soil approved by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and planting an appropriate seed mix approved by the COR.

Prior to starting work the FS will inspect the contractor’s equipment (heavy equipment or off-road equipment) to be sure that it meets fire and safety requirements including spark arrestors and fire extinguishers. All equipment must be steam cleaned or run through a car wash prior to coming on site to remove any invasive plant species seeds. Compressed air cleaning may be an adequate cleaning method but must be approved by the COR. COR or designated Inspectors will inspect equipment upon being brought onto Midewin for the first time, or subsequent returns if the equipment is taken off site and returned. If equipment is taken off Midewin and brought back it must be cleaned in a similar fashion as when first brought on Midewin.

Any spill of fuel or hydraulic fluid greater than one (1) pint must be immediately reported to the COR or PM. Contractor personnel must have training to ensure they are qualified to identify such releases and are competent to provide proper cleanup and reporting. All spilled materials and impacted soils will be removed and properly disposed as necessary.

Sensitive areas, cultural resource sites, wetland species habitat and native vegetation may exist within the project area. These areas will be marked by Midewin staff as needed and avoided by the contractor or performed only with and appropriate Midewin staff member on site.

In areas which will be open to the public the contractor may be required to put up warning signs in ingress and egress lanes to the work area. Equipment ingress and egress lanes for equipment will be approved by the COR in advance of work in each area. Some access points to Midewin may be unavailable for contractor access.

Archery and firearm deer hunting and turkey hunting may occur in some work areas. The contractor should make themselves aware of these times. This information is available at the Midewin Office.

Wet weather may preclude the use of vehicles or ATVs on portions of the tract or possibly the entire tract at certain times. The USDA Forest Service COR and/or Ecologist will determine in conditions warrant cession of vehicular traffic.

During times of high fire danger the contractor may be required to suspend work temporarily or avoid driving or parking off road with some types of equipment. Ingress, egress, parking areas and equipment storage areas may have to be modified during high fire danger.

Midewin is closed to vehicular traffic except for administrative purposes. Contractors will be given keys and placards for use on site. Loss of keys may result in charging the contractor with replacing all locks which could amount to several thousand dollars. The placards must be in plain view while working on Midewin. Keys and placards are for official use on Midewin. The keys and placards don’t allow the contractor to take tours throughout Midewin by vehicle. The keys and placards allow the contractor to egress and ingress the work area only. Contractors and their employees must follow all rules and regulations that the general public must follow. These rules and regulations are post at trailheads or are available at the Midewin Office. The speed limit at Midewin is 35 MPH, unless otherwise posted. Contractors and their employees must follow the speed limit. If the contractor or their employees notice rules and regulations being broken they should contact the COR. Failure to follow these rules and regulations could result in citations and fines.

It is the responsibility of the bidder to examine the specific tracts and work areas. Each tract may have different conditions (thicker brush, larger trees, etc.) and may vary from year to year. The bidder can’t assume a new project will be similar to a previous project.

Arrange site visits through Joseph Parr at (779)233-7688.

Performance Requirements Summary

Performance Objective

Quality Standard Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)

Surveillance Method

Incentive/Disincentive

Heavy Brush Removal

Cut all brush, saplings, seedlings, woody vines, woody vegetation and trees up to 6” dbh, 100% of the area (obstacle free) mowed to the quality standard.

Random Visual Re-work at contractor expense. Missed tracts will be re-worked at no expense to the Government.