Attachment A - Statement of Work BMERP.pdf

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Work

Contents Project

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

2.0 Background

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Tasks/Work

4.0 Government and contractor-furnished property

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

6.0 Travel

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

8.0 Data Rights

9.0 Contract Compliance Monitoring

10.0 Supplementary information

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Project Permanent plot tree, sapling, and seedling remeasurements at Blocks 2 and 3 of the Blacks Mountain Ecological Research Project

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

The scope of this contract is to secure services for remeasurement of the Blacks Mountain Ecological Research Project. The single element of this contract involves the remeasurement of 391 nested fixed-area tree, snag, sapling, and seedling plots.

The tree plots may contain up to 8 different species but generally will have less than 4 per plot (Attachment 2).

The study site consists of 10 experimental units, the number of remeasurement plots is 391 total (Table 2).

The 391 monitoring plots sum to a total measured area of approximately 78.2 acres.

2.0 Background

Located on Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest on Lassen National Forest, the site lies at an elevation of approximately 6000 feet. Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest is on the Lassen National Forest, located northwest of Poison Lake (north of highway 44) between Old Station and Susanville. See context map in Attachment 1.0. See Attachment 7 - Plot Coordinates.

Numerous roads exist on the Experimental Forest, with best access from April through November. Road condition is generally good, but the contractor may occasionally encounter downed trees. Summers are warm but generally lack rainfall except for scattered thunderstorms. Designated camping is available at the Bogard Campground, while a USFS-PSW barracks at the Bogard Work Station is also available for a small fee per person. Camping is allowed on the experimental forest contingent on following fire restrictions. Soils are rocky, while terrain is flat to gently sloping.

The Blacks Mountain Ecological Research Project began in the late 1990s as a landscape-scale study to inform the ecosystem management of east-side, Sierra-Cascade, mixed conifer forests typical of northern California and eastern Oregon. This study examines the ecosystem effects of manipulating stand structural diversity through a combination of fire and mechanical thinning. Research Natural Areas (RNAs) serve as control units and have the highest densities of live trees and snags. High structural diversity treatments accentuated tree diameter diversity, with the retention of large pines resulting in intermediate density. Low structural diversity treatments removed both small and large trees, resulting in more uniform stands with lower stand density.

Each treated unit was additionally divided into receiving prescribed fire or no fire. Unburned high-diversity plots will have more pole-sized trees than burned ones. A historical grazing component was dropped, effectively increasing the number of units per treatment from 3 to 6. Shortly after establishment, the Cone Fire burned through the northern part of the study with minimal impacts to treated units, providing a key early test of the efficacy of mechanical fuels reduction.

Measurements formerly consisted of a suite of tree, vegetation, and forest fuels variables. Recent measurements have focused on the tree data, including this contract. This study consists of three experimental blocks, each consisting of 4 treated units. In addition, each block has corresponding RNAs serving as untreated controls. This contract will focus on the collection tree measurements for units from Blocks 2 and 3 and two RNAs which were last remeasured in the mid-2010s.

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Tasks/Work

The tasks to be performed by the contractor are to remeasure the grid of nested plots in each of the treatment units described. Tree measurements vary depending on tree size, but they include species, status, size class, damaging agents, total height, breast-height diameter and height to crown base.

The measurement protocol at Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest calls for a nested plot design as shown in the following table showing plot area (Table 1), horizontal distance (radius) and tree size for each of the tree plots.

Table 1. Summary of tree size classes, corresponding annual plot dimensions, and precision requirements.

Please see Table 3 for full details on required measurement precision.

Table 1. Plot descriptions for Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest Ecological Research Project.

Plot Plot Area Plot Radius Tree Size Diameter Measure

Large 0.20 acre 52.66 feet DBH >11.5” Nearest 0.1 inch

Medium 0.05 acre 26.33 feet DBH >3.5” & DBH ≤ 11.5 “ Nearest 0.1 inch

Small 0.01 acre 11.78 feet DBH≤ 3.5” Tally species by DBH class

Note: Please see Section 9 for diameter measurement accuracy standards

Using a staggered pattern (Figure 1), every other permanently-monumented grid point will be the center of three nested circular plots used to measure the characteristics of the trees and snags present. Exceptions are when a sample plot would cross the unit boundary, a road within or adjacent to the unit boundary, or the line dividing the burned and unburned splits (split-line is marked with white blazing). Grid points are already installed on a 100-meter square spacing and each grid point is referenced with a marker that has the unit number and grid location (XXYY) stamped on the aluminum cap marker. The first two numbers of each grid point refer to the east-west line (x coordinate) and the second to the north line (y coordinate). Permanent measurement plots are established on every other grid point (one plot every 2 hectares or 5 acres). There is also a metal stake painted orange within 6 inches of the marker. The stake must not be used as the plot center and is only there to aid in relocating grid point aluminum cap markers. The vicinity of the marker is also flagged with orange flagging on two nearby trees. If the marker cannot be located, PSW must be notified immediately. PSW will relocate and monument the grid point in such cases.

This effort calls for the remeasurement of a total of 391 plots in six units. There are two RNA units with the highest stand densities of live trees and snags >3.5’’ in DBH in the study but smallest number of plots. The two low-diversity units have the lowest stand density, while the high-diversity treatments have intermediate densities. The table below shows summary statistics for the 10 units based on the most recent data (2015 for RNAs; 2016 for others). Please see Attachment 5 for detailed distributions of live tree, snag, and seedling/sapling densities. The number of trees, or breakdown between live and dead trees, is not expected to have changed substantially since the last set of measurements due to slow growth and lack of major disturbances. Seedling/sapling abundances can be expected to be the most uncertain component.

Table 2. Total number of plots and average number of live trees and snags by unit (Research Natural Areas or RNAs, labeled “B” and “C”) and stands managed under low diversity (LoDiv) or high diversity (HiDiv) treatments (2013).

Unit Treatment # plots Tree status

Trees per plot Live seedlings + saplings per plot

2 RNA-B 4 Live 13 2

2 RNA-B Snag 2

3 RNA-C 24 Live 18 1

3 RNA-C Snag 3

40 LoDiv 55 Live 10 1

40 LoDiv Snag 2

42 HiDiv 55 Live 14 6

42 HiDiv Snag 2

44 LoDiv 33 Live 10 3

44 LoDiv Snag 2

45 LoDiv 53 Live 9 1

45 LoDiv Snag 1

46 LoDiv 37 Live 5 1

46 LoDiv Snag 2

47 HiDiv 36 Live 14 4

47 HiDiv Snag 1

48 HiDiv 49 Live 13 1

48 HiDiv Snag 2

49 HiDiv 45 Live 12 2

49 HiDiv Snag 1

Figure 1 – The staggered pattern of nested circular plots used for inventory sampling.

At each measure grid point, the contractor shall refresh flagging by hanging two fresh lengths of orange flagging and shall repaint the metal stake with orange paint. At each measure grid point, three nested plots will be remeasured (see Table 1). Data from previously tagged trees will be recorded and any new (ingrowth) trees > 3.5 inches DBH will be added to the plot.

Large and Medium-Sized Tree Plots All living and dead trees are included in the Large and Medium plots. On each measure tree on the Large and Medium plots all trees are tagged. Tags will be pulled and reset using aluminum nails with the same or similar tag if there is less than ½ inch of the tag nail exposed. Missing tags shall be replaced with one with the same number. Tags should be circular, aluminum, and unnumbered. Nails should be aluminum, 1 ¾ - 2 inch long and have a 0.120 inch diameter shank to match the tree tag 0.125 inch hole diameter. The contractor shall carry blank tags and a stamp for replacing missing tags. In-growth trees will be tagged with a (similar) metal tag number that does not duplicate any existing tag numbers on the plot. On all trees on each Large and Medium plot, the following measurements are recorded:

Table 3. Summary of measurements and reporting precision by tree status and size class. Please see section 9, Contract Compliance Monitoring for allowable tolerances, which scale by tree size for height and dbh.

Diameter tape is required for DBH measurements. Hypsometers are recommended for superior speed for height but tape and clinometer-based height measurements are acceptable.

Trees: Record Instrument Units/Precision

Live and Dead Plot Grid Coordinates (XXYY) Live and Dead Tree Species Codes (Attachment 2) Live and Dead Tree Diameter at breast height Diameter tape 0.1 inch, e.g. 13.2, not

Live and Dead Tree Height Laser/ultrasonic hypsometer

1.0 foot

Live only Height to Base of Live Crown Laser/ultrasonic hypsometer

1.0 foot

Live only Mistletoe Rating Index: 0-6 Live and Dead Damage/cause of death code Codes (Attachment 4) Live>23.5” Risk rating Figures 5 & 6 Dead Snag condition code Figure 7 Dead Broken top indicator 1/0

DBH Measurement- The contractor shall measure dbh with a diameter tape. Breast height is defined as 4.5 feet above ground level on the uphill side of the tree. Unlike some other PSW studies, DBH has not been marked on plot trees with a band of paint. Measure dbh by placing the dbh tape immediately above the tag and extending it around the tree in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the bole. Record dbh to the nearest 0.1” (always include decimal) for all sawtimber-size trees and snags and all pole-size trees and snags. For example, a 20.4-inch dbh tree will be recorded as “20.4” and a 12-inch dbh tree will be recorded as “12.0” (not “12” or “120”). As of 2015-2016, the largest trees exceeded 60 inches DBH. For extremely large trees exceeding dbh tape limits (typically 70-80’’), the contractor may carefully use a standard surveyor’s tape, divide the measured circumference by pi, and then multiply by two to get diameter, making a note in the comments field.

Irregularities at Breast Height - In the case of irregularities at breast height such as swellings, bumps, depressions, branches, etc., diameters were measured immediately above the irregularity at the place where it ceases to affect the normal stem form. Natural swell-butted trees were measured at a point 1.5’ above the end of the pronounced swell or bottleneck if the bottleneck is more than 3’ high. See Figure 2

Leaning Trees - Leaning trees were recorded if the center of the tree at breast height was within the radius of a given plot. Remeasure the tree even though increasing lean over the last 5-years placed the tree center outside the plot. Measure the diameter at 4.5’ from the ground level along the lean on the uphill side. See Figure 2.

Forked Trees - If the tree forked at or above 4.5’ (i.e., open crotch of the fork is ≥ 4.5’) the tree was considered one tree and the diameter was measured below the swell as near to 4.5’ above uphill ground level as possible. Trees of this type are treated as single trees with a total height equal to that of the principal fork. They are considered two separate trees if the stem forked below 4.5’. The diameter of each fork was measured at a point as near 3.5’ above the crotch as can be conveniently reached from the ground. See Figure 2.

Figure 2 – Examples of getting diameter at breast height (DBH) on misshaped trees (images derived from Dunning 1928).

Total Height and Height to Live Crown - Measure the total height from the uphill side of bare ground to the nearest 1’ of all trees > 3.5 inches DBH (dead and live) trees. Exception for this may be made if the tree has severe lean, sweep, or snow bend, if noted in comments. Measure the height from the uphill side ground level to the base of the living crown of all living trees; to get height to live crown. On spike-topped trees height is measured to the top of the live crown. When trees have an irregular crown base visualize moving enough branches from the long side to fill in the void on the short side and measure to this imagined symmetrical crown base (Figure 3). Laser or ultrasonic rangefinders are recommended for speed of use. The contractor may opt for conventional tape-and-clinometer measurements where conditions warrant, such as battery failure, dense brush obscuring laser sighting, or short saplings. When considering what equipment may be the most appropriate, tree height as of 2015-2016 averaged 57 ft but ranged from 9.0 to 140ft. Thus, an ultrasonic hypsometer such as the Haglof Vertex series would generally be appropriate and may offer better accuracy in cluttered conditions, but a laser or clinometer and tape would be better choices for trees exceeding 100ft given ultrasound range limitations.

Figure 3. Examples of measured height to live crown base.

Dwarf Mistletoe Rating - Record the dwarf mistletoe rating (DMR) for all live trees, pole-size and larger. Aerial plant shoots, branch, or stem swelling must be present before mistletoe damage is recorded. Record mistletoe rating (Figure 4) as a one-digit number (0 to 6). Do not leave the field blank for pole-sized or larger trees.

Calculate mistletoe rating following instructions and the example in Figure 4 (Hawksworth 1961).

Any recorded heights or diameters less than the previous measurement should be justified in the comments section, otherwise they will need to be remeasured at the contractor’s expense.

Figure 4. Dwarf Mistletoe Rating (DMR) example

Risk Rating - Rate all live trees ≥ 23.5” dbh on the plot for risk of dying from environmental stresses (Figures 5 and 6).

Firs and Cedars - Rate all live sawtimber-size, white fir and incense-cedar (≥ 11.6” dbh), for risk of dying from environmental stresses (e.g. bark beetles, scolytus, draught, etc.). Record as 1, 2, or 3 according to which of the following three risk classes the tree falls into. Visual depictions of these risk classes can be seen in Figure 5.

Pines - Record as 1, 2, 3, or 4 according to which of the following four risk classes the tree falls into. Use the following written descriptions from Salman and Bongberg's Risk Rating System for Pines (1942) and the illustrations in Figure 6 to determine the risk class for ponderosa and Jeffrey pines.

Figure 5. Risk rating 1-3 for fir or cedar.

Figure 6. Risk rating scheme for ponderosa and Jeffrey pine.

Tree Condition Codes - Each tree may have up to three condition codes. Some trees have no condition codes but should be recorded as “0” with no blanks. For each living pole- and sawtimber-size tree (trees > 3.5” dbh) record the conditions using codes in Attachment 4 (up to 3 condition codes). If the tree is dead, try to determine the cause of death and enter the appropriate 90+ death code before any others. The code 99 is for unknown cause of death.

Snag Condition Rating - For each snag, regardless of dbh, record one of the 90+ codes in the first Tree Condition column and the condition stage as a one-digit number (3 to 7) by comparing the snag to the stages shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 Snag Condition codes for Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest

Small plots

On the 0.01-acre seedling and saplings plot the contractor shall conduct a tally of live trees by size class and species as illustrated in the table below. These trees are not tagged. Seedlings consist of live trees between 1.0 and 4.5 feet in height. Saplings are tallied by DBH class, with class 1 being trees greater than 4.5 feet in height with a breast height diameter less than or equal to 1.5 inches. Class 2 trees have a breast height diameter greater than 1.5 inches and less than or equal to 2.5 inches. Class 3 trees have a breast height diameter greater than 2.5 inches and less than or equal to 3.5 inches. Species not present in a given size class will be recorded as a zero. Although a dot-tally is acceptable, the contractor shall write the actual number on the field form for each cell.

Table 4. Example seedling and sapling (by size class 1-3) tally at Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest.

Species Seedlings 1 2 3

PIPO

PIJE

ABCO

CADE

JUOC

4.0 Government and contractor-furnished property

Government-Furnished Property The government will provide maps and GIS files (shapefile and KML format) showing the location of each experimental unit (See Attachment 1.1-1.7) with numbered grid points. The government will provide field sheets for each plot to be remeasured with trees listed from the previous measurement of the plot. The contractor will be supplied with the latest set of tree measurements for each plot (2015-2016, depending on unit) next to a blank data sheet for new measurements for easy cross-referencing (see Attachment 6 for an example). The government will have a magnetic locator available for the contractor to check out for the purpose of finding plot markers.

Contractor-Furnished Property The contractor will supply all necessary field equipment including diameter tapes (in English units) and laser or ultrasonic rangefinders for measuring heights (also in English units), tags and stamps for creating new tags to replace any missing from previous 2015-2016 measurements, paint for refreshing plot markers, nails and hammers for maintaining tree tags.

Specifications Prior to making any measurements, the Forest Service shall train the contractor’s personnel in the proper procedures for measurements. The contractor shall notify PSW of major changes in field crews so that PSW can assist in training to assure consistent data collection. All tree data will be recorded on a field sheet (provided by PSW) which will key measurements for each tree. Note that that new trees (ingrowth) of all sizes, depending on plot radius, will inevitably have entered the study. Meanwhile some snags will inevitably have fallen and exited the study. Thus, a 100% correspondence between the 2015-2016 sample of trees and the new measurements is not expected. All data will be scanned into a pdf file for delivery to Carol Shestak at the PSW Redding Laboratory within 72 hours. The contractor shall remeasure any trees that are in error as to species, status, risk rating, damage codes, diameter, height or height to base of live crown. This remeasurement will be at the expense of the contractor.

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

5.1 Tasks and associated deliverables

All field completed hard copy field sheets will be delivered to PSW Research Station at Redding within 72 hours of plot observations being made. Hard copy data sheets will be physically delivered to the PSW Research Station, 3644 Avtech Parkway Redding, CA 96002 C/O Carol Shestak, within 2 weeks of collection.

Work will commence no earlier than May 30, 2023, with a substantial amount (3 units) completed by September 30, 2023. While it is desirable to have field work completed by November 1, 2023, fieldwork may be optionally completed by June 30, 2024. If work is going to take two field seasons, the contractor will schedule work such that a given unit is entirely measured with a single field season. The schedule of work will be at the discretion of the contractor but is suggested to conduct the work early in the year to avoid fire season. Snows typically restrict access after November 1.

5.2 Reporting requirements

The contractor will provide biweekly progress reports and supply hard copies of datasheets biweekly. Progress reports should be made by email with no need to arrange in-person meetings. The progress reports shall cover all work completed during the specified period and identify any problems that arose and a statement of how the problem was resolved. This report will also identify any problems that have arisen but have not been completely resolved and provide an explanation.

Item No. Deliverable Objective Due

1 Scanned plot data Furnish scanned copies of paper measurements

Biweekly, every Friday, by 6:00 PM PDT until the contract expires

2 Weekly Status Report

Report documenting tasks & issues weekly. Biweekly, every Friday, by 6:00 PM PDT until the contract expires

3. Hard copies of plot data

Provide hard copies of data sheets Within two weeks of sampling by 5:00 PM PDT until the contract expires

6.0 Travel

All work will be performed in a single location, and no travel is authorized. The nearest major town is Susanville, CA approximately 45 minutes to the east. Distance to the PSW Avtech Parkway Office in Redding is approximately 82 miles or about a 1:30 minute drive.

Dispersed camping is allowed on the Experimental Forest but water sources are limited. Given mid-late summer fire restrictions recent years, the contractor should expect to be subject to not having open campfires, needing a current California campfire permit for operating gas stoves, and potentially needing to operate gas stoves far removed from any flammable material. Generator operation may also be limited for part of the field season. In the event of potentially threatening fire or smoke conditions, PSW will arrange to update the contractor daily on current conditions and help establish a fire evacuation plan. The contractor will monitor and follow and monitor any changes in Lassen NF camping and fire regulations. The contractor may contact Lassen National Forest Eagle Lake Ranger District (530) 257-4188 477-050 Eagle Lake Rd, Susanville, CA 96130) for updated conditions or visit the Lassen NF website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lassen/alerts-notices. Housing can also be arranged at the PSW Bogard barracks after September 2023 for a nightly rate of https://www.google.com/search?q=eagle+lake+ranger+district https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lassen/alerts-notices https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lassen/alerts-notices approximately $11/person for up to 9 crew members. If work extends into 2024, the contractor may ask for priority booking at the Bogard Barracks for that field season.

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

The contractor shall have an on-site project supervisor with English language ability to assure clear communication between the field crew and USFS personnel during training and subsequent contract monitoring.

8.0 Data Rights

The U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station reserves full ownership of data collected from this experiment.

9.0 Contract Compliance Monitoring

The government will establish monitoring plots throughout the work area installed in Spring 2023 prior to the contractor’s arrival. Plots will be established identical to this scope of work using a DBH tape for trees and a Haglof laser hypsometer for tree heights. Prior to making any measurements, the Forest Service shall train the contractor’s personnel in the proper procedures for measurements using the exact same protocol used in setting up check cruise monitoring plots. These training plots will count towards the schedule of items. We expect the basic training period will take approximately 1 day, but PSW will be available on-site in an advisory capacity for up to several days until the contractor feels fully comfortable with the field protocol. Tree diameters must be within the standards below for DBH and height:

Acceptable errors for trees with no observable defect or access issues.

Check Cruise Heights Acceptable Error Exceeds acceptable error

0-50 feet 1 foot < 10 % of the trees

50-100 feet 2 feet < 20 % of the trees

100+ feet 3 feet < 30 % the trees

Check Cruise DBH Acceptable Error Exceeds acceptable error

0-12 inches 0.1 inch < 10 % of the trees

12-24 inches 0.2 inch < 20 % of the trees

24+ inches 0.2 inch < 30 % of the trees

Check Cruise large tree species

Acceptable Error Exceeds acceptable error

All trees <5% of trees misidentified Consistent for all trees

Check Cruise Damages Acceptable Error Exceeds acceptable error

All trees <20% of damages misidentified

Consistent for all trees

Check Cruise Regeneration Acceptable Error Exceeds acceptable error

All seedlings and saplings <5% missed or misidentified by species

Consistent for all seedlings and saplings

Check Cruise Dwarf Mistletoe Rating

Acceptable Error Exceeds acceptable error

0-50 ft total height 1 DMR <10% of trees

50+ ft total height 1 DMR <20% of trees

Field sheets will have room for comments should any unusual circumstances arrive that impact observations.

10.0 Supplementary information

Tree identification

• Ponderosa pine and Jeffrey pine present the biggest chance for confusion. Cones are easily the most diagnostic feature of these two species, but cones will likely not be present for juvenile trees. Please consult Attachment 3 for a guide on distinguishing trees of different ages of these two species.