Attachment 2 - Statement of Work v2.pdf

0412 SIL SERV 2024 Non-Commercial Thinning Statement of Work

Project Acres:

- Brush/Rapid River Project Area – 1,469 acres o Thin - Scatter – 1,037 acres o Thin - Pile – 432 acres

- Huckleberry Project Area – 2,406 acres o Thin - Scatter – 2,049 acres o Thin - Pile – 357 acres

- Huckleberry Project Area – 1,050 acres (OPTIONAL) o Thin - Scatter – 905 acres o Thin - Pile – 144 acres

- Robinson Project Area – 425 acres (OPTIONAL) o Thin - Scatter – 425 acres

- Railroad Saddle Project Area – 1,109 acres (OPTIONAL) o Thin - Scatter – 961 acres o Thin - Pile – 148 acres

Total Mandatory: 3,875 acres Total Optional: 2,584 acres

Slash Prescription and spacing described below.

Scope of Contract

The Forest Service proposes to contract technical forestry services for

- Hand Thinning

- Pruning

- Slash Treatment

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, transportation, supervision, supplies (except those designated as government-furnished), incidentals, and perform all work necessary to complete the project in compliance with terms, specifications, conditions, and provisions of this solicitation.

It is the responsibility of the Contractor to be familiar with access to all units, additional cost for walk in access will not be approved.

Camping is allowed but must be approved by District Ranger and in compliance with Payette NF camping provisions.

No off-road vehicle use; the contractor shall follow the Payette National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM).

Access on roads not identified on the MVUM may be provided by Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or Inspector.

The government may award up to 2 different task orders for this work under the R1/R4 Hand Thinning IDIQ contract, and bids will be accepted for 2 different geographic areas (area 1 includes Brush/Rapid River and Railroad Saddle; area 2 includes Huckleberry and Robinson). Please designate the maximum and minimum acreage you are willing to accept. We will not break apart the project areas specified in the tables and maps. Note that if you are interested in bidding on all project areas the work must be completed by November 30th, 2025.

Location and Description

The work is located on the Council, Weiser, and New Meadows Districts of the Payette National Forest.

Unit boundaries are not marked (no flagging or cutting unit boundary signs). The contractor will be provided georeferenced PDF maps that can be utilized through Avenza Maps on a smart phone or tablet. To request these maps or additional unit and area maps, please contact the Contracting Officer’s Representative (Mike Elles – michael.elles@usda.gov). Contractor shall have maps loaded on a device prior to arrival at the contract site. The contractor may flag the units but must remove flagging once the unit is complete. Note: Georeferenced map boundaries may not be fully representative of on the ground boundaries. In the event of boundary discrepancies, inspector or COR will determine appropriate boundary prior to the contractor cutting.

Scheduling of Operations

All units must be completed by November 30, 2025; work will be allowed from July 1 to November 30 each year. Any work outside these dates must be approved by the COR. Order of Unit completion will be coordinated with the COR or designated inspector.

The contractor should notify the Forest Service of the expected work start date as early as possible, preferably at least two business days prior to arrival to ensure the COR or inspector is available.

Technical Requirements

Before work begins, the contractor shall designate, in writing, the person, or persons who shall represent the contractor during any absence from the project site. In the designation, the contractor shall describe the areas of responsibility assigned to the representative. Designated representative(s) shall be fully conversant in the English language and shall be able to fully communicate with all parties.

No work will be conducted on private property; all units stop at the Forest Service boundary. Permanent boundary placards denote the boundary, and boundary units should be discussed with an inspector or COR prior to commencing work to ensure boundaries are known. Private boundaries will be identified with flagging.

No work is to be conducted within riparian conservation areas (RCA) unless otherwise specified. If unmapped stream channels, springs, or seeps are encountered, contractor will avoid cutting within RCA until inspector or COR is consulted.

RCA boundary distances are determined by whether the stream is perennial (120-foot buffer) or intermittent (60-foot buffer). Perennial streams are defined as generally having year-round flow except in periods of extreme drought.

Intermittent streams are defined as a stream or portion of a stream that flows in response to seasonal runoff and unlike ephemeral streams have well-defined channel bed and banks. RCA buffers are 120-feet for springs and 30-feet for seeps.

COR will make final determination of RCA status for any unmapped potential RCAs. Drainage ditches along road prisms are not identified as RCAs.

There may be areas of historical significance in the project area. Treatments will be performed as listed in the table and shown on the map; if structures or ruins are encountered they shall be left as they are found. No objects shall be removed and hand piles will be placed as to not affect the site. See hand piling specs below. Parking or driving off the hardened road surface is not allowed to protect natural and cultural resources.

If mineral licks or elk wallows are found in units, a 400-foot buffer is required. Notify COR or designated inspector of their location immediately.

Contractor will follow unit specifications noted in the attached tables to the nearest road or property line. Consult inspector or COR if uncertain about boundary location.

No vegetation shall be cut or vegetation activities conducted in the roadbed or travel ways that are indicated on the maps as “ML 1/ATS.”

Do not cut previously marked trees without prior consultation with the COR or designated inspector.

During all operations, care shall be taken to minimize damage to leave trees. Damage to leave trees by the contractor’s operations shall be counted as a deficient tree.

Contractor will notify COR or designated inspector upon completion of each unit. If inspectors deem unit to be deficient, work will be completed prior to moving into additional units.

Non‐Commercial Thinning

C. 5.2 – Tree Thinning (Hand Thinning) In all units, thin such that the following conditions are met:

A. Thin, prune, and scatter/pile trees from a minimum of 18-inches tall up to the 10-inch diameter at breast height

(DBH), or DBH specified in tables below.

B. Cut all trees within the dripline of trees larger than 10-inch DBH (or DBH specified in table). Do not cut whitebark pine or aspen. Prior to cutting western larch, consult with inspector or COR.

C. Cut the remaining trees less than 10-inches DBH (or DBH specified in table) to a spacing between boles specified in treatment tables below. Do not include trees greater than DBH specified in tables in leave tree spacing.

D. Cut all conifers less than 10-inch DBH (or DBH specified in table) except whitebark pine within 40-feet of aspen greater than 1-inch DBH or aspen clumps. Aspen clumps are defined as 10 or more aspen trees grouped closely together (within 25-feet), greater than 4-feet in height. In aspen clumps greater than 1/3-acre, cut 10% of aspen stems.

If whitebark pine is observed within any units, the following requirements apply:

1. Do not cut or limb whitebark pine of any age/size class, dead or alive.

2. Felling of trees will be directional away from any whitebark pine.

3. Damage will not occur to whitebark pine including from the movement of slash, marking of any kind, parking or any other equipment or vehicle use.

4. Piles will be arranged to avoid scorching any whitebark pine trees. Piles can be arranged to target species competing with whitebark pine such as subalpine fir.

5. Slash would be removed and scattered to a distance greater than 33-feet from the dripline of whitebark pine trees of all age classes. Windrowing slash is not acceptable unless it is the only option for meeting pullback standards. In this circumstance slash will be piled or windrowed to avoid damage to leave trees to the extent possible with prior approval of the COR.

E. Favor to leave healthy trees in order of preference: whitebark pine, western larch, Ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine, grand fir, subalpine fir except when thinning would create near monocultures greater than 1-acre in size. In these instances, leave 20-30% of residual trees as trees of a lower species preference. Leave trees of lower species preference if they are healthier or better formed than trees ranking higher on the species preference (for example, it is ok to leave a healthy grand fir over a diseased western larch).

Healthy trees are described as trees not diseased or damaged, with good form and with a crown ratio of 30% or greater in Ponderosa pine, western larch, and lodgepole; and 50% or greater crown ratio in Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, grand fir, and subalpine fir.

F. Spacing on individual trees may be varied up to 25% to select the most desirable leave tree.

G. Trees selected as cut trees shall be cut at or below 4-inches above ground level. If natural obstacles prevent severing the bole at that point, stump height shall not exceed 4-inches above the obstacle. All live limbs shall be removed from the stump. Stumps shall be cut horizontally.

H. Trees shall be directionally felled away from residual trees, improvements, or private property. Such directional felling shall not be required when in the faller’s judgment it is unsafe to do so, and the tree shall be left standing.

C. 5.5 – Pruning In ALL units, prune such that the following conditions shall be met:

A. All residual live conifer trees greater than 4-inches DBH shall be pruned to a height of 6-feet or 1/3 of the tree height, whichever is less. This is measured on the uphill side of the tree.

B. Limbs shall be cut within ½-inch of the limb collar and completely severed from the tree.

C. Live and dead limbs need to be pruned.

D. Pruning may be completed with a chainsaw, pruning saw, or shears. Caution shall be taken to minimize damage to the bole of the tree.

E. If damage from pruning removes portions of the bark greater than 4-inches in length or more than 25% of the circumference (whichever is less), the damaged tree shall be cut, and a different leave tree shall be selected in its place.

C. 5.9 – Slash Treatment

C. 5.9.1 – Standard Slash Treatment (Scatter) In blocks with slash treatment designated as “Scatter” in the tables below, the following conditions shall be met:

A. Contractor shall lop the top 4-feet of felled trees and limb cut tree boles greater than 4-inches diameter. Contractor shall lop and scatter all slash resulting from contract activities. Units to be scattered are shown in the treatment tables.

B. Resulting slash will not extend over 2-feet in height above the ground. Slash, including boles, will be evenly scattered beyond the drip line. If residual tree crowns are touching, slash will be distributed evenly between boles, but not touching the boles. Slash will be scattered in a manner so as not to create a berm. If open areas exist, slash will be pulled up to 50-feet and scattered into these areas.

C. Boles of cut trees do not need to be bucked unless it is necessary to facilitate lopping and scattering of limbs, or to fulfill dripline requirements in “B” above.

D. All slash created by operations performed under this contract which falls outside the unit boundaries shall be pulled back into the unit and treated with the applicable slash treatment.

E. Lop and scatter treatments shall be concurrent with thinning.

F. All slash created by operations performed under this contract shall be:

Pulled back at least 10-feet from the top of road cuts and at least 5-feet beyond the traveled surface of the road prism on the fill side, for all roads shown on the contract maps. No cut material is to be left within the road prism, including cutbanks.

Pulled back at least 15-feet from all culvert intakes and fences.

F. Pulled back at least 5-feet from signs and the traveled portion of any trails, ditches, fireline, footpaths used by cattle, or channel bottoms above culvert intakes.

C. 5.10 – Hand‐Piling (Pile and Cover) In blocks with slash treatment designated as “Pile” in the tables below, the following conditions shall be met:

A. Slash to be Hand Piled

For all units, pile 90% of slash material created from this contract between 1- and 4-inches in diameter.

Material greater than 4-inches in diameter should be limbed, with the limbs being piled and boles left as whole as possible.

B. Location of Piles The minimum spacing of pile edges to the residual tree canopy edge will be 8-feet. In closed canopy stands, make piles between trees if no openings exist within 50-feet.

No piles are to be made within 20-feet of roads, trails, signs, fences, ditches, fireline, footpaths used by cattle, outside the unit, or within channel bottoms above culvert intakes without prior written approval of the COR.

Slash shall be moved up to 50-feet, if necessary, to protect residual trees or meet minimum pile size requirements. In areas where slash amounts are not sufficient to meet pile requirements contractor may lop and scatter material to “Scatter” specifications above, with prior COR approval.

C. Construction and Size of Piles All piles shall be as compact as possible. Minimum pile size is 6-feet in height and 6-feet in diameter.

Maximum pile size is 8-feet in height and 8-feet in diameter. Pile height is measured from the uphill side.

All piles shall have a good base to keep the pile from toppling. Larger material shall be placed in the upper portion of the pile to aid in compaction of the pile. This may be accomplished by either teepee stacking or parallel stacking material.

Jack-strawed piles, crisscross piles and poorly compacted piles will not be accepted. All material in excess of 6-feet in length shall be cut before placing in the pile. Material protruding out beyond the compact portion of the pile shall be bucked off and added to the pile to facilitate a clean burn.

One larger pile is preferred to multiple small piles.

D. Covering of Piles

Piles must be constructed with a 3-foot by 5-foot (or larger) sheet of wax coated kraft paper placed on the pile when it is approximately ¾ of the finished height of the pile. The remaining slash is to be piled on top to prevent the paper from blowing away. Paper shall not be folded over. The contractor shall supply the paper.

Treatment Tables:

Brush/Rapid River Hand Thinning Spacing

Slash Treatment

Prune Acres

Unit name DBH limit 25 ft 35 ft Scatter Pile and

Cover

01 P Brush Mt 10" X X X 59.3

02 P Brush Mt 10" X X X 21.9

03 P Brush Mt 10" X X X 6

04 P Brush Mt 10" X X X 241

05 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 13.6

06 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 16.4

07 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 39

08 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 11.9

09 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 40.7

10 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 10.6

11 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 15.8

12 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 4.3

13 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 35.8

14 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 62.3

15 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 32.5

16 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 7.2

17 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 26.6

18 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 21

19 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 74.6

20 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 52.4

21 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 30.6

22 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 6.7

23 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 11.5

24 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 13.9

25 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 9.1

26 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 22.2

27 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 33.6

28 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 33.1

29 S Brush Mt 10" X X X 190.8

01 P RR 8" X X X 49.9

02 P RR 8" X X X 53.9

03 S RR 8" X X X 11.2

04 S RR 8" X X X 11.7

05 S RR 8" X X X 3.9

06 S RR 8" X X X 16.6

07 S RR 8" X X X 22.7

08 S RR 8" X X X 11.5

09 S RR 8" X X X 26.7

10 S RR 8" X X X 41.3

11 S RR 8" X X X 56.6

12 S RR 8" X X X 18.5

Total Acres Thin and Pile 432

Total Acres Thin and Scatter 1036.9

Brush/Rapid River Total Acres 1468.9

Huckleberry Hand Thinning Spacing

Slash Treatment

Prune Acres

Unit name DBH limit 25 ft 35 ft Scatter Pile and

Cover

01 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 34.2

02 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 22.2

03 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 18.9

05 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 18

07 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 5.1

08 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 23.4

09 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 58.1

12 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 65.5

13 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 1.5

14 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 16.5

15 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 22.5

16 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 71.1

18 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 63.6

19 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 40.7

20 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 12.3

27 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 19.7

30 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 50.6

32 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 54.1

34 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 7.2

35 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 36.8

36 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 2.4

37 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 44.6

38 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 23.3

46 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 76.4

47 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 292.4

48 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 35.8

49 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 41.3

50 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 233.5

51 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 28.9

52 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 6.7

53 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 128.4

54 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 5.4

55 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 7.1

56 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 12.5

57 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 53

58 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 53.2

59 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 39.9

60 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 35.6

61 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 14.8

62 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 64.5

63 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 15.5

64 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 166.6

65 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 30.7

66 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 24.3

67 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 3.8

68 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 84

69 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 13.4

70 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 18.9

71 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 22.7

72 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 81.7

73 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 39.7

74 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 63.4

Total Acres Thin and Pile 357

Total Acres Thin and Scatter 2049.4

Huckleberry Total Acres 2406.4

Robinson (Optional) Hand Thinning Spacing

Slash Treatment

Prune Acres

Unit name DBH limit 25 ft 35 ft Scatter Pile and

Cover

01 S Robinson 10" X X X 18.3

02 S Robinson 10" X X X 20

03 S Robinson 10" X X X 118.9

04 S Robinson 10" X X X 113.8

05 S Robinson 10" X X X 41.3

06 S Robinson 10" X X X 13.9

07 S Robinson 10" X X X 9.7

08 S Robinson 10" X X X 68.8

09 S Robinson 10" X X X 20.3

Total Acres Thin and Pile 0

Total Acres Thin and Scatter 425

Robinson (Optional) Total Acres 425

Huckleberry (Optional) Hand Thinning Spacing

Slash Treatment

Prune Acres

Unit name DBH limit 25 ft 35 ft Scatter Pile and

Cover

04 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 65.5

06 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 7

10 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 4.5

11 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 43.3

17 P Huckleberry 10" X X X 24.1

21 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 47.4

22 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 8.9

23 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 9.9

24 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 41.5

25 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 55.6

26 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 11.4

28 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 4

29 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 4.7

31 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 22.5

33 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 49.1

39 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 76.6

40 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 107.9

41 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 101.4

42 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 81

43 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 38.6

44 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 4.6

45 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 43.8

75 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 35.6

76 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 24.6

77 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 14.7

78 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 19.3

79 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 21.9

80 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 29

81 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 3.5

82 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 8.7

83 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 27.4

84 S Huckleberry 10" X X X 11.6

Total Acres Thin and Pile 144.4

Total Acres Thin and Scatter 905.2

Huckleberry (Optional) Total Acres 1049.6

Railroad Saddle (Optional) Hand Thinning Spacing

Slash Treatment

Prune Acres

Unit name DBH limit 25 ft 35 ft Scatter Pile and

Cover

01 P RRS 10" X X X 25.4

02 P RRS 10" X X X 39.7

03 P RRS 10" X X X 49.7

04 P RRS 10" X X X 12

05 P RRS 10" X X X 21.2

06 S RRS 10" X X X 6.4

07 S RRS 10" X X X 19.1

08 S RRS 10" X X X 37.7

09 S RRS 10" X X X 34.8

10 S RRS 10" X X X 53.7

11 S RRS 10" X X X 39.5

12 S RRS 10" X X X 32

13 S RRS 10" X X X 46.3

14 S RRS 10" X X X 63.3

15 S RRS 10" X X X 32.6

16 S RRS 10" X X X 9.2

17 S RRS 10" X X X 23.6

18 S RRS 10" X X X 41.9

19 S RRS 10" X X X 8.2

20 S RRS 10" X X X 24.9

21 S RRS 10" X X X 17.6

22 S RRS 10" X X X 10.1

23 S RRS 10" X X X 7.3

24 S RRS 10" X X X 22.5

25 S RRS 10" X X X 8.5

26 S RRS 10" X X X 20.7

27 S RRS 10" X X X 32.1

28 S RRS 10" X X X 6.5

29 S RRS 10" X X X 7.7

30 S RRS 10" X X X 10.3

31 S RRS 10" X X X 10.1

32 S RRS 10" X X X 31.1

33 S RRS 10" X X X 11.8

34 S RRS 10" X X X 14.4

35 S RRS 10" X X X 19.6

36 S RRS 10" X X X 30.6

37 S RRS 10" X X X 22.7

38 S RRS 10" X X X 5.9

39 S RRS 10" X X X 16.6

40 S RRS 10" X X X 34.2

41 S RRS 10" X X X 42.2

42 S RRS 10" X X X 3

43 S RRS 10" X X X 15

44 S RRS 10" X X X 5.2

45 S RRS 10" X X X 7.8

46 S RRS 10" X X X 39.6

47 S RRS 10" X X X 1.4

48 S RRS 10" X X X 4.6

49 S RRS 10" X X X 1.8

50 S RRS 10" X X X 6.3

51 S RRS 10" X X X 20.5

Total Acres Thin and Pile 148

Total Acres Thin and Scatter 960.9

Railroad Saddle (Optional) Total Acres 1108.9