B08_Attach_1_Performance_Work_Statement_2024_0329.pdf

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

PWS Page 1

PROJECT TITLE: West Redding Fuel Break Maintenance

Redding Bureau of Land Management (BLM), California Northern Operations District (CA-NOD)

Contents Section 1.0 Background on the Government’s Requirement

Section 2.0 General Scope of Work

Section 3.0 Overall Objective(s)

Section 4.0 Specific Tasks

Section 5.0 Delivery / Performance Schedule

Section 6.0 Government-Furnished Property, Materials, Services

Section 7.0 Security and Administrative Matters

Section 8.0 Technical Exhibits and Definitions

EXHIBIT: Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)

Maps

PWS Page 2

Section 1.0 Background on the Government’s Requirement

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Redding Field Office is requesting hand thinning of hazard fuels within existing fuel breaks near Redding Ca. in Shasta County. Maintenance of established fuel breaks along trails, roadways, and adjacent to infrastructure will ensure access for first responders, evacuation of the public, and maintain tactically viable control features for use in fire suppression or prescribed burning.

This scope of work defines the requirements for the contractor to provide forestry or hazard fuels personnel to cut, prune, lop and scatter vegetation within the project area.

Section 2.0 General Scope of Work

Services include hand cutting and lopping with power equipment, and scattering of cut material, pruning of leave trees on up to 831 acres of public land within Shasta County, CA. The Contractor shall accomplish all cutting, lopping, and scattering, and leave tree pruning within the designated treatment area in accordance with the specification. The contractor shall avoid cutting within designated exclusion areas. The project area is divided into 10 independent units in which contractors will provide a total cost per acre.

Place of Performance

Project Location: The services under this contract will be performed at various fuels project areas which are in Shasta County, CA and contains approximately 831 acres of hand cutting, trimming, lopping, and scattering treatments on public lands administered by the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Redding Field Office (see attached maps below).

Base Contract Line-Item Number (CLIN) 00001

1. Yankee John – 39 acres

a. Township 31N Range 5W Section 17

2. Swasey Recreation Area Phase I – 75 acres

a. Township 31N Range 6W Section 12

3. Middle Creek Trail – 36 acres

a. Township 32N Range 5W Section 29 &30

4. Total acres = 150

Option CLIN 00102 -

1. Rail Trail - 47 acres

a. Township 32N Range 5W Section 18 & 21

2. Westside Trails – 69 acres

a. Township 32N Range 5W Section 33

3. Swasey Recreation Area Phase II – 101 acres

a. Township 31N Range 5W Section 7

4. Total acres = 217

Option CLIN 00103 –

1. Placer West – 133 acres

a. Township 31N Range 6W Section 15, 22, 23, &24

2. Cloverdale Trails – 156 acres

PWS Page 3

a. Township 31N Range 6W Section 35

3. Total acres = 289

Option CLIN 00104 –

1. Salt Creek Trail – 45 acres

a. Township 31N Range 5W Section 32 & 33

2. Princess Ditch Trial – 130 acres

a. Township 31N Range 6W Section 10, 14, 15, 22, & 23

3. Total acres = 175

Driving Directions to project Areas:

1. Yanke John

a. From Redding head west on county road A16 (Placer St.) for 1.5 miles turn left on Simmons Rd. in 1 mile arrive at Yankee John project area.

2. Swasey Recreation Area Phase I

a. From Redding, drive West on county road A16 (Placer St.) for 3 miles, turn right on Swasey Drive, in 1 mile turn left into the Swasey Recreation

Area.

3. Middle Creek Trail

a. From Redding, drive west on Eureka Way (State Hwy 299) for 3.5 miles, turn right onto Middle Creek Rd, arrive at project site.

4. Rail Trail

a. From Redding, drive west on Eureka Way (State Hwy 299) for 2 miles, turn right on Iron Mountain Rd. in 2 mile turn right on Keswick Dam

Blvd., in 1 mile turn left into the Rail Trial parking area.

5. Westside Trails

a. From Redding, drive west on Eureka way. (State Route 299W) 1 mile, turn left on Lower springs rd. drive for 2 miles, turn left on Valparaiso way 1 mile, arrive BLM Westside Trails and Trailhead access point.

6. Swasey Recreation Area Phase II

a. From Redding, drive West on county road A16 (Placer St.) for 3 miles, turn right on Swasey Drive, in 1 mile turn left into the Swasey Recreation Area.

7. Placer West

a. From Redding head west on county road A16 (Placer St.) for 3.5 miles turn

Right on Prospect Drive then go .5 miles and turn left on Equestrian Way.

Go to the end of cul-de-sac to arrive at the project area. For the Mule town units stay on county road A16 for another 2.5 miles and Mule town road will be on the right. Turn there and head up to the Oak Knoll Parking area.

8. Cloverdale Trails

a. From Redding, California drive west on Placer rd. (County rd. A16) 10mi., turn South on Cloverdale dr. for 1mi, arrive BLM Cloverdale recreation area and Trailhead access point.

9. Princess Ditch Trail

a. From Redding head west on county road A16 (Placer St.) for 6 miles turn

Right on Mule town road will be on the right. Turn there and head up to the Oak Knoll Parking area.

10. Salt Creek

a. From Redding, California drive west on Highway 299/ Eureka Way 1mi., the Upper Salt creek Trailhead Parking Area will be on the South side of

299, To get to the Lower Salt Creek Trail head continue approximately ¼

PWS Page 4 mile further along Highway 299 to the west and turn right on Iron

Mountain rd. then your next right on Bakers Hill Rd. continue straight until you arrive at the trailhead on your left.

Hours of Operations

The Contractor will coordinate their hours of operation with BLM, but the Contractor is not restricted to operating during regular BLM office hours. Chainsaw work may not begin until ½ hr after sunrise and must end ½ hr after sunset on any given working day. Other hours of operation restrictions may be implemented during high fire danger or during previously scheduled events.

Security of Equipment and Property

The Contractor may leave equipment at the work site with approval from the COR. The

Contractor shall be responsible for equipment if it should be lost, stolen or damaged. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured. All personnel employed by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, or any representative of the Contractor entering the government worksite, shall abide by all security regulations.

Section 3.0 Overall Objective(s)

The objective of this work is to reduce wildfire threat by maintaining hazard fuel breaks along exiting infrastructure on public land administered by the Bureau of Land

Management Redding Field Office.

• Fuel breaks will be treated by hand severing, leave tree trimming, lopping, and scattering of live standing resprouting vegetation.

• Fuels breaks will focus on breaking continuity of vertical and horizontal fuels stands to limit unchecked fire spread in overstocked stands.

• Trimming of leave trees will occur within the fuel break treatment area.

Special considerations/ modifications will be given to cultural sites, wildlife habitat and riparian exclusion areas.

Section 4.0 Specific Tasks

All tasks will occur through the entirety of the project area, approx. 831 acres total.

Task 1: Hand sever using power equipment (saws, trimmers) resprouting vegetation within the project area. – see treatment map below.

• Selectively hand cut resprouting trees up to 2 inches Diameter at Breast Height

(DBH) to maintain a 30ft stem spacing profile of live standing leave trees less than

2 inches DBH post treatment. Selectively hand cut resprouting shrubs to maintain a

30ft stem spacing profile between live standing leave shrubs post treatment. Stem spacing within riparian buffers is reduced to 15ft for live standing leave trees and shrubs post treatment.

PWS Page 5 o Resprouting trees greater than 2 inches DBH and live standing leave shrubs will not be used to create 30-foot stem spacing profile for live standing tree less than 2 inches.

o Live standing leave trees of any DBH size will not be used to create 30-foot stem spacing profile for live standing shrubs.

o No live or dead limbs/stems shall be left on the stumps after cutting.

Stumps shall be cut level or perpendicular to the vertical angle of the stump and at a height not exceeding 4 inches from ground surface measured on the uphill side.

o All live conifers and hardwoods 2 inches DBH and larger are reserved from cutting or girdling.

o All living deciduous oak trees regardless of diameter will not be cut and may be used in creating post treatment 30-foot stem spacing profile (Black

Oak may be trimmed).

o No riparian vegetation would be cut.

o No fuels reduction cutting will occur in exclusion areas.

o No cutting will occur within flagged exclusion areas.

o Cutting within the fifty-foot riparian area is acceptable but will be limited to cutting only non-riparian vegetation.

Task 2: Trimming of leave trees within the identified treatment area maps below.

• Trim all multi-stem leave trees to three dominant upright leaders at ground level.

o Scarring of leave tree bark or tree bole should not occur.

o No trimming of Blue Oaks. (Black Oak is acceptable) o No trimming of leave shrubs. (e.g., Toyon, Manzanita, Coffeeberry)

Task 3: Lop and Scatter all vegetative material created by treatment activities within treatment area – see treatment map below.

• Lop and scatter all cut and trimmed vegetative material so that all top and side branches are free from the central stem, resulting in slash that is reduced to within the limit of distance to the ground at all points to less than 6 inches.

o Central stem length shall not exceed 6 feet.

o Slash will be kept away, at a minimum distance of 6 feet, from leave trees, trails, fence lines, roadways, powerline drip lines, and unit boundaries.

o All roads, trails and ditches designated on the project map(s) shall be kept free of slash.

o Ground cover from scatter shall not exceed 50%

Task 4: Hand pile cut and trimmed vegetative material created by treatment activities within any 50 foot by 50 foot space of treatment area that exceeds an average of 6 inch depth of cut and trimmed vegetation or 50% ground coverage of cut and trimmed vegetation.

PWS Page 6

• Cut and trimmed vegetation between 1/2 inch and 10 inches in diameter and greater than 2 feet in length will be utilized to construct burn piles. Burn pile dimensions shall range from a minimal footprint of 6 foot by 6 foot to a maximum footprint of

12 foot by 12 foot. Burn piles shall be constructed at a minimal height that is equal to the width the pile footprint.

o Stems and other cut/trimmed vegetative material less than 1/2 inch in diameter or less than 2 feet in length shall be left on the ground. Stems and other cut/trimmed vegetative material left on the ground shall not exceed 6 inches in depth.

o Burn piles will be compact, free of interior open spaces, free of dirt or other non-combustibles.

o Burn piles will be trimmed of any material that protrudes beyond 2 feet from the outermost compacted edge of the burn piles footprint.

o Burn piles will be placed a minimum of 6 feet from leave trees, trails, fence lines, roadways, and unit boundaries.

o Burn piles will be placed a minimum of 6 feet from powerline drip lines.

o All roads, trails and ditches designated on the project map(s) shall be kept free of slash and piled material.

o No hand pilling will occur within flagged exclusion areas.

• Cut and trimmed vegetative material between 1/2 inch and 6 inches in diameter and greater than 2 feet in length from within riparian buffers will be moved and piled outside of riparian buffers and placed within adjacent treatment unit boundaries and will be piled to the specification stated above.

Task 5: Hand pile covering all piles created by treatment activities as described and specified within Task 4.

• All hand piles shall be covered with a minimum of a 6 foot by 6 foot piece of 4-mil thickness black polyethylene plastic or forestry slash paper (Kraft paper). Hand piles shall be covered such that at least 80% of the pile’s surface area is covered.

All four corners and the middle of the cover material shall be anchored with slash and other debris. The cover material must be placed in the top 1/4 of the pile.

BLM will provide pile covering at the onset of project operations. The contractor will request additional pile covering material from the COR as needed to cover piles at prescribed specification.

Criteria for Selection of Leave Trees and Shrubs:

• Considerations on the selection of leave trees shall be based first on the species listed on the prioritized preference list (listed below), second on achieving the 30ft post treatment stem spacing profile for live standing trees less than 2 inch DBH and live standing shrubs, and third based on tree characteristics (listed below). Order of leave species preference:

1. Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii)

2. Black Oak (Quercus velutina)

3. Gray Pine (Pinus sabiniana), Coffeeberry (Frangula californica)

PWS Page 7

4. Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni), Knob Cone (Pinus attenuate), Toyon

(Heteromeles arbutifolia).

• Characteristics used in the selection of leave trees include the following:

o Has no apparent damage to the main bole.

o Is not visibly dead/dying.

o Demonstrates good vigor and is disease/bug free.

o Has at least 40 percent crown ratio or largest crown ratio if none greater than 40 percent are present.

Section 5.0 Delivery / Performance Schedule

Prework Meeting

At the prework meeting the BLM COR and/or BLM resource specialists will provide an initial briefing on cultural resource sensitivity and critical plant species identification.

Sensitive resource areas will be flagged and identified on maps provided at the pre-work meeting. However, if this protection measure proves inadequate to protect the sensitive resource areas, or if new concerns are identified, Discovery of such areas by either party shall be promptly reported to the other party and operations shall not resume at that location until the significance or potential significance of the area is determined, and the

BLM has approved to start work under the appropriate mitigations. Updated maps will provided after each change to the contractor

Mapping

Unit boundaries are not marked. A shapefile and PDF Map of the treatment area for GPS/

Avenza will be provided at the pre-work meeting and updated maps provided as changes are made and contractor will be required to accurately work within boundary of unit.

Trailheads, intersections, and trail spurs are identified with recreation signage.

Additional Information:

The Contractor is responsible for organizing and directing all the equipment and personnel needed to fully accomplish the work. The Contractor shall develop and submit a Treatment Plan and Schedule to accomplish the project objectives prior to starting any work. The Treatment Plan and Schedule will be agreed upon by both parties at the Pre-

Work meeting. The Contractor shall notify the BLM COR a minimum of 2 weeks prior to initiating work. All changes to the Treatment Plan and Schedule will be agreed to prior to the changes taking effect. The Treatment Plan and Schedule shall include as a minimum the following items:

1. Cutting Plan – Discussed in more detail at Pre-Work meeting.

2. Safety Plan – To include traffic control, identification of hazards, and trail closures if applicable.

3. Fire Prevention Plan – For prevention and control of fires, with detailed list of personnel and equipment

Statutory Compliance

The Contractor agrees to conduct operations under this contract and other related

PWS Page 8 business activities in compliance with federal, state, and local statutes, standards, orders, permits or other regulations. Failure to comply will be grounds for default in accordance with the Default clause. The contract shall govern if such laws conflict with or preclude performance of contractual requirements.

Improvements

The Contractor shall comply with the rules and regulations governing the operation of premises which are occupied and shall perform the contract in a manner that will not interrupt or interfere with the conduct of BLM business.

Before any camp, quarry, borrow pit, storage, or service area other than shown on drawings is opened or operated lands administered by the BLM, written permission shall be obtained through the BLM and COR. A camp is interpreted to include the campsite or trailer parking area of any employee working on the project for Contractor. Such permission, if granted, shall be without charge to Contractor. Contractor must remove and dispose of all said improvements when no longer needed.

Wildlife Resources

The Contractor shall comply with seasonal restrictions administered by the Bureau of Land

Management project design features. The project area contains suitable nesting habitat for a multitude of species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The regional nesting season for raptors protected under the act with the potential to occur within the project area runs from January 1 through August 31; for non-raptors, nesting season in the region occurs from mid-February through August 15.

Project activities that involve tree removal, vegetation disturbance, or other activities likely to cause disturbance to nesting birds within either of these timeframes will require the following design features:

A. Pre-project surveys

Project activities conducted during either nesting season will require surveys to determine the presence of active nests within or adjacent to project areas, no more than 7 days prior to commencing work. Surveys will be conducted by a qualified biologist and should begin as early as possible within the nesting season, when visibility due to lack of foliage is highest.

B. Implementation of Avoidance Measures

Where nests are found, a buffer of 250 feet should be established around the nest and maintained until birds have fledged or breeding activities have ceased. If it is determined that a smaller buffer would be sufficient to prevent impacts to nesting birds, buffer size may be adjusted by a qualified biologist, in coordination with

United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS). The buffer would be monitored by a biological observer until project work has ceased, or the nest is no longer active. Any incidental take of a migratory bird will be reported to

USFWS. No treatments and no on-site work will be permitted from March 15 until September 1 of any given year of project implementation.

PWS Page 9

Any active raptor nest found will be reported to the Wildlife Biologist and project activities ceased within a 0.5-mile buffer until surveys indicate that project activities would not disturb nesting and/or breeding activities.

Sensitive Vegetation and Riparian Areas

Riparian areas require a modified treatment specification (see task 1 and 3 above) in order lessen impacts of treatments and to protect the functionality of those systems. Buffer widths are determined by stream types such as perennial and intermittent. Perennial streams require a riparian buffer of 150 feet from each side of the stream channel within the project area and intermittent streams within the project area will require a buffer of 50 feet.

Perennial stream riparian buffers will be identified on the project map. Intermittent stream however will not be identified on the project map. The contractor will be responsible for identifying intermittent streams within the project area and adjusting treatment specifications accordingly. Intermittent streams are streams that ceases to flow in very dry periods.

Archeological Resource Protection

No fuels reduction operations will occur within flagged exclusion areas. Archeological features are protected by federal law and are prohibited from excavation, disturbance, damage, or collecting. Should previously unidentified archeological resources be found or uncovered, the contractor must make immediate contact with COR and stop all fuels reduction operations in the immediate area of discovery.

Protection of Improvements

The Contractor shall protect roads and other improvements (such as fences, roads, trails, telephone lines, and ditches) whether designated on the project area map or not.

Protection of Improvements Not Owned by the BLM

The Contractor will notify all utility companies, or other parties affected, and plans for all necessary adjustments of the public utility fixtures, pipelines, and other appurtenances affected by Contractor’s operations.

When Contractor’s operations are adjacent to properties of railway, telegraph, telephone, or power companies, or other property, work shall not begin until all necessary arrangements to prevent damage have been made by the Contractor.

The Contractor will cooperate with all owners of above-mentioned property. In the event of interruption because of accidental breakage, the Contractor shall promptly notify the proper authority, and cooperate with that authority in the restoration of service.

Protection of Land Survey Monuments

The Contractor shall protect all known survey monuments, witness corners, reference monuments and bearing trees against any damage during Contractor’s operations.

Safety

The Contractor will follow all United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Standards that pertain to the operations set forth in this contract under Subpart

PWS Page 10

R, Special Industries Standards 1910.266 Logging Operations Standards.

Sanitation and Servicing

The Contractor shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent pollution of air, soil, and water by Contractor’s operations. If facilities for employees are established within the project area, they shall be operated in a sanitary manner. Contractor shall not service tractors, trucks, or other equipment on BLM lands where servicing is likely to result in pollution to soil or water.

Contractor shall remove from BLM lands all refuse resulting from use, servicing, repair, or abandonment of equipment. If the contractor’s operations or servicing of equipment result in pollution to soil or water, Contractor shall conduct cleanup to restore the polluted site to the previous observed conditions, and approved by the COR.

Section 6.0 Government-Furnished Property, Materials, Services

General:

The Contractor shall furnish all personnel, materials, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the work tasks defined in this Performance Work Statement, except for those items specified as government furnished property and services.

Materials:

The Contractor shall furnish all materials necessary to meet the requirement of this contract except for those items specified as government-furnished property and services.

Equipment:

The Contractor shall furnish equipment necessary to meet the requirement of this contract except for those items specified as government-furnished property and services.

Section 7.0 Security and Administrative Matters

Regular Work Hours:

Unless otherwise specified work hours under this task order shall be limited to the time between one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset each day.

Work may be done on Saturday, Sunday with notification to the COR, however work will not occur on Federal holidays unless authorized by the COR.

Federal Holidays:

The following Federal Legal Holidays are observed:

New Year’s Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

President’s Day Memorial Day

Independence Day Labor Day

Columbus Day Veterans Day

Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day

Juneteenth National Independence Day

PWS Page 11

Fire Danger Season:

The Contractor shall take every reasonable precaution to prevent a wildland fire from occurring from his or her actions on this project. The Authorized Officer may, under certain conditions, require fire prevention and control measures in addition to those required by applicable state laws and regulations. This may include but will not be limited to changes in daily work schedules or full closure of operations due to extreme fire risk.

Section 8.0 Technical Exhibits and Definitions

Standard Definitions:

Physical Condition

The Physical appearance of Federal equipment or facilities that considers cracks, chips, dents, abrasions, rust, corrosion, general cleanliness, vibration, operating temperature, and discoloration and other items as identified by the COR..

Physical condition may be determined by visual as well as diagnostic means.

Contracting Officer (CO)

The Secretary of the Interior or designated authorized representative who is the only agent capable of signing a federal award or obligating funds.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

The Contracting Officer’s designated representative as indicated in a delegation of authority letter.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Surveillance of Contractor performance to determine performance requirements are met.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) (see Technical Exhibit below)

The PRS identifies the key performance indicators of the Contract that will be evaluated by the Government to assure Contract performance standards are met by the Contractor.

Quality Control

Those actions taken by the Contractor to control the production of goods or services so that they meet the requirements of the performance work statement.

PWS Page 12

EXHIBIT: Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)

Work Tasks to be

Performed

Acceptable Quality

Level

Method of Surveillance Consequences, Remedies, and/or Deduction(s)

Task(s):

1: Hand Sever

2: Trimming live leave trees

Hand cut resprouting vegetation up to 2 inches DBH to maintain a 30ft stem spacing between live leave trees and live leave shrubs, 15ft stem spacing within riparian buffers, post treatment.

Trim all multi-stem leave trees to two dominant upright leaders at ground level.

The COR and/or Project Inspector (PI) will conduct government inspections. The Contractor (or designated representative) is encouraged to be present to observe inspections. Summary results will be made available on request. Government inspections will consist of:

a. Compliance Inspections Visual compliance inspections of work tasks will be made on a periodic basis across the project area. Such inspections are not final and do not constitute acceptance by the

Government.

b. Final Inspections

Final inspections for payment will be made on the completed project unit unless otherwise agreed upon in writing. Contractor shall request a final inspection.

Inspection requests shall be verbal and documented within the diary or in writing and pursuant to FAR

52.246-4, shall include results of Contractor’s quality inspections. Inspections will be completed within ten.

(10) calendar days after the notice is received for each item. If a formal request for an item inspection is within the ten (10) working days since the previous request, the time will not start until the time for the previous inspection expires.

The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring his or her crew can identify leave trees and cut to desired spacing distances.

The contractor will be made aware of the deficiencies and documented in the COR’s diary. Deficiencies will need to be corrected within 48 hours unless the BLM representative states otherwise.

Incentives/Disincentives

a. Contractor will be required to rework the area at no additional cost to the Government.

b. The Government will charge to the Contractor any additional cost of subsequent inspection of reworked area.

c. Positive or negative Performance rating at the end of the contract (this will have definitive impacts on the

PWS Page 13

3. lop and scatter

Lop and scatter all cut and trimmed vegetative material so that all top and side branches are free from the central stem, resulting in slash that is reduced to within the limit of distance to the ground at all points to less than 6 inches.

See above

See above

Maps