C04_Statement_of_Work_127EAS26Q0048.docx

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Work

Contents

Project Coyote Site Preparation

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

The intent of this contract is to treat fire impacted stands, remaining fuels and prepare the identified areas for future tree planting in the Tamarack and Coyote Sno-Park areas of the High Sierra R.D. on the Sierra National Forest. Work on this project shall be done in a manner that does not damage residual trees and vegetation not specified to be treated or other resources.

This treatment requires the contractor to fell standing dead trees, to thin, where appropriate, stands of surviving conifer saplings and to treat the created and existing slash, brush and remnant Creek fire right of way material. The remnant Creek fire material may consist of piles of slash not appropriately placed, log decks, and other natural material that will need to be piled in a manner suitable for burning. “Created slash” is the slash created by the contractor’s activities. “Existing slash” is the slash already present on site. This includes trees that have fallen or already have been felled, branches or tops that have fallen and live and dead brush. It is expected that 90% of vegetation within the units will be treated. All the slash is to be treated. One example of this treatment would be to pile the material for future burning. Alternative proposals for treating this material are encouraged and will be considered, they must meet the objectives of reducing the dead material and preparing the site for planting. The project is on the Tamarack ridge area of the High Sierra R.D. on the Sierra N.F.

2.0 Background

In the fall of 2020, the project area burned in the Creek fire. This fire impacted over 300,000 acres of the Sierra N.F. In the project area the fire burned at various intensities. Most stands in the project burned at high intensity. In some units you will see stands where the fire has killed most of the above ground vegetation on site. In other areas, the fire damaged the stand, leaving it susceptible in the coming years to beetles and droughts. Post fire mortality has played a role in this area, creating a need to treat the stands imminently. This project is designed to prepare identified areas for planting and to treat the remaining fuels.

This project has occupied, unknown occupied and critical habitat for the Yosemite toad. The Yosemite toad, Anaxyrus canorus, is a species endemic to the higher elevation (greater than 6,400 feet) aquatic habitats of California in the Sierra Nevada (Brown et al. 2015). The species has disappeared from approximately 50 percent of its historical range (Brown et al. 2015). The current abundance of the species is unknown, but there is evidence that abundance has declined significantly based on studies conducted in a few occupied habitats (Sherman and Morton 1993, Brown et al. 2015). Based on a considerable decline in distribution and abundance coupled with population fragmentation, the species was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species in 2014 (79 Federal Register 24255). Critical habitat was designated for the Yosemite toad in 2016 (81 Federal Register 59045). Due to this, there are species specific design criteria within this contract that need to be followed for compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) laws and regulations.

In the winter of 2023, the weather was extremely impactful on the stands and the road systems on the forest. Many roads received extensive damage, causing access issues. The forest has been working to provide temp repairs to the roads, and while many roads do have a temp repair applied to them, they can easily be damaged again.

The area to be treated is the Tamarack Ridge area of the High Sierra Ranger District, Sierra National Forest. The main access road is off Highway 168 just east of Shaver Lake. From the Prather office follow Highway 168 to the “top of the 4 lane”, continue towards Shaver Lake and through the town of Shaver Lake. Continue through Shaver Lake towards Huntington Lake, once past the Shaver Lake damn, continue on Highway 168 towards Huntington Lake. You will pass the Tamarack Sno-Park on your right which will provide access to part of the project about 1/8 of mile on the left will be the Coyote Sno-Park which provides the majority of the project access.

There is orange paint present in some of the areas, these are not indicative of the unit boundaries. Unit boundaries will need to be referenced using georeferenced maps. Maps will be provided that can be geo-referenced. The contractor MUST USE GPS and geo-reference the files provided for the boundaries. The contractor must provide their own device for using this program. The contractor’s device is expected to have an accuracy of +_ 30 ft.

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

Units contain standing dead and down conifers and live conifers in various size classes and shrubs of various species and sizes within a variety of vegetation types, density and heights, logging and debris slash. The contractor will be provided with a GPS File that can be used with commercially available handheld GPS devises or a GEO Referenced PDF map that is compatible with Smart Phone applications such as AVENZA PDF MAPS or GAIA Maps. The contractor must provide their own device for using this program. Acres will be measured in GIS or with a hand-held GPS unit.

Required Outcomes:

Treat the stands and prepare the identified areas for future tree planting. Felling of snags (leaving 4 per acre, snags should be the largest available and >20” dbh) within the project site and the treatment of the slash and brush. Treatment can be completed using hand and / or mechanical treatments.

Required units 32, 36 and 102 and Optional Units 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 30, & 38 require all treatment with felling and brush treatment.

Required unit 7 does not require any felling. The necessary follow up slash and brush treatment will need to be completed on the felled material within the unit.

General Information:

Treatment requires the thinning of green trees, felling of snags (leaving 4 per acre) within the project site and the treatment of the slash and brush using hand and or mechanical methods.

All the contractor’s activities must be accomplished without damage to resources or improvements.

The contractor is responsible for completing an 8-10ft fire line around the perimeter of units.

The project is paid for by the acre. Acres will be measured in GIS or with a hand-held GPS unit.

The Contractor must have on site a representative able to speak fluent English and understand the written English language.

Contractor-Furnished Equipment:

The Contractor shall provide all transportation, equipment, tools, personnel, and supplies necessary to complete this project. Equipment shall be furnished on a fully operational basis, of modern design, and in good operating condition, with a competent, fully qualified operator. The Contractor shall be responsible for all fuel, lubrication, repair, and replacement for its equipment. All chainsaws and other motorized equipment shall be equipped with Forest Service approved spark arrestors and meet Calif. Division of Industrial Safety specifications. The required equipment shall meet the following specifications:

A. The contractor may propose any equipment that can do the job to the specifications (without resource damage). The equipment must be able to work slopes up to 35% with possible short runs at a greater slope. There are areas where the equipment may need to work in tight spacing between living trees or protected resources. This contract includes the option items of steep sloped units. These units may propose Tethered or winch-assisted logging operations. In these cases, the following applies:

1. Steep slope operations using tethered or winch-assisted ground-based equipment will be limited to slopes less than 60 percent.

a. Equipment should traverse steep slopes straight up and down with no side-hilling, equipment is allowed to weave between leave trees.

b. Equipment must maintain traction to reduce soil displacement or rutting.

c. Equipment, when able, should operate over continuous slash covered areas.

Untethered, conventional logging operations:

1. Skidding and dozer piling operations are limited to slopes less than 35 percent, except where supported by on-the-ground watershed staff evaluation.

a. No adverse (uphill) skidding on slopes greater than 35 percent.

b. Favorable (downhill) skidding may occur on short, steep stretches up to 45 percent when less than 100 feet in length.

2. Feller buncher, grapple piling, and mastication operations are limited to slopes less than 45 percent.

The contractor must be able to work between the trees without damaging the standing live trees. The equipment shall have an OSHA approved rollover protection system. If piling is to be done with a tractor, it shall be equipped with a brush rake which is strong enough to pile the material, push brush from the ground and place this material in a pile that is properly constructed and free of dirt. Piling is not to be done with a regular dozer blade. An alternative to the brush rake would be a grapple system capable of picking the slash up to place in the piles. The fire line is to be constructed with a regular blade. In the past, equipment such as feller- bunchers, processors, skidders, tractors, and excavators have been used to complete similar work.

B. Be equipped with the tools and supplies necessary for making emergency and routine repairs and servicing.

C. Power or hand saw(s) may be needed for felling, slash pile maintenance and to prepare material to be piled.

D. Machine cutting/piling equipment shall be of the low ground pressure type.

E. All equipment must be in good running condition with no excessive fluid leaks or overheating.

F. All chainsaws or other motorized equipment shall be equipped with Forest Service approved spark arresters. Spark arresters are not required on equipment powered by exhaust-driven turbo-charged engines or motor vehicles equipped with a maintained muffler as defined in California Public Resources Code, Section 4442 and 4443.

G. Contractor shall be required to have a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a mobile electronic device with GPS capabilities (i.e. smart phone, tablets) with a program capable of reading a .pdf map for each piece of equipment and/or crew. A good program example is Avenza. Devices using GPS must have sub-meter accuracy and be capable of accepting/uploading shapefiles or track logs compatible with ArcPro.

Inspection Of Equipment:

The Government reserves the right to inspect the contractor’s equipment at any time during contract performance. If the equipment is not in proper working condition or is in need repairs, it shall be rejected for use on Forest Service land. The decision of the Contracting Officer shall be final as to whether equipment is in suitable condition for acceptance.

Cleaning Of Equipment:

The Contractor shall certify in writing via email to the COR that off-road equipment is free of noxious weeds prior to each start-up of contract operations and for subsequent moves of equipment to contract area. The certification shall indicate the measures taken to ensure that off-road equipment is free of noxious weeds and shall be identified.

The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer’s Representative at least 5 working days prior to moving each piece of equipment on to National Forest Land, unless otherwise agreed. Notification will include identifying the location of the equipment’s most recent operations. Unless the prior location of operation is known to be free of noxious weeds as documented in a Weed Risk Assessment (Section D), Forest Service may assume that the equipment is contaminated with noxious weed seeds. In general, because of the magnitude of the yellow star thistle infestation and other noxious weeds in northern and central California, equipment coming from off-forest sites will be considered contaminated and cleaning/washing will be required. Upon request of Forest Service, arrangements will be made for Forest Service to inspect each piece of equipment prior to it being placed in service.

If the Contractor is working in a Forest Service project area that is known to be infested by noxious weeds, the contractor must clean off-road equipment prior to moving equipment into another Forest Service unit that is not infested with noxious weeds.

Contractor shall ensure that the equipment moved on to National Forest Land is free of soil, vegetative matter, or other debris that could contain or hold seeds. Contractor shall employ whatever cleaning methods are necessary to ensure compliance with the terms of this provision and shall notify Forest Service prior to moving each piece of equipment onto National Forest Land. Notification will include identifying the location of the equipment's most recent operations. Upon request of Forest Service, arrangements will be made to inspect each piece of equipment prior to it being placed into service. This will prevent the introduction of the seeds of noxious weeds onto National Forest Land.

Felling:

Felling shall be done so that no live trees, either hardwood or conifer, improvements or other resources are damaged. Dead trees within the unit boundaries shall be felled. The contractor shall fall the clearly dead trees. Trees that appear to be dying shall be felled only if approved by the Forest Service. The contractor shall leave four snags per acre, snags should be the largest available and >20” dbh. All snags that could hit a road or other improvement if they were to fall will be felled. No Snags shall be left within 200 ft of Highway 168.

Felling may be by hand or machine except in areas too steep for machine work and areas specifically prohibited from machine work. Felling must adhere to all safety practices including PPE. Signs must be placed on the road to warn travelers of the felling activities. They shall be placed in both directions. When falling may impact the road, road guards must be in place for traffic control. Felling must not damage live trees.

Stump heights must be less than 12 inches measured on the low side. Trees hung up during falling must be dealt with till they are safely on the ground. Falling green trees to accomplish this requires COR approval. The government will determine if this material will be made available to the contractor. Trees shall be felled so that they can be treated as required. Trees felled into the road must be cleared promptly and without damaging the road. The road shall be promptly cleaned of bark and other residual of the felled tree.

All stumps along the roadways will be flush cut. Including stumps that are remnants of previous work. There are several high stumps, these will need to be recut to meet specifications.

When possible:

A. No cutting black oaks unless they are a hazard.

B. Do not disturb live trees or dead trees that are leaning (like a ladder) against a mature Black oak or an Incense cedar 30-inch DBH or larger.

C. Preventing damage to protected resources and improvements during felling operations is imperative.

D. Trees shall be felled into a location that facilitates follow up treatments. This includes not felling into streamside management or other controlled areas, areas too steep for future work, across roads or into meadows.

E. Any trees hung up during falling must be dealt with and put on the ground.

F. All project created stumps, including those of shrubs, shall be less than 12 inches high as measured from the uphill side.

G. All unobstructed stumps shall be severed below the lowest live limb. This includes trees and brush.

H. Effort shall be made to fall in such a manner that the fallen trees are not felled on top of one another.

I. No cutting of felled material to less than 48 inches in length for diameter classes 6 inches and greater.

In and adjacent to meadows, felling will be accomplished in the following manner. Felling can be done up to the meadows edge (see map). If using mechanical equipment, it will not be allowed to turn in the meadow buffer or meadow. Ingress or egress of mechanical equipment would be on the same path within the meadow buffer at 30-foot increments. All materials are expected to be removed and piled outside of the meadow. In Occupied Yosemite toad meadows, this work will need to be coordinated with the monitor.

MEASUREMENT: Felling is measured by the acre. Felling is part of the overall treatment that must be applied to each unit. Unit work may have a combination of machine and hand felling to achieve the final treatment result.

Skidding:

If the contractor’s proposal includes the skidding of logs the following guidelines apply:

A. Existing skid trails shall be used whenever possible.

B. New skid trails shall be constructed only with government approval.

C. Operations shall be conducted to minimize the number of skid trails required.

D. Skidding shall not damage residual vegetation, other resources or improvements.

E. Skidding on natural surface roads is approved but repair of the road surface will be required. Skidding may be allowed on oiled or paved roads with COR approval. If allowed the skidding must be completed without damage to the road, curbs and road apron. Road surface must be cleaned promptly including all the bark and dirt left on the road after skidding.

Landings:

If the contractor’s proposal includes the decking of logs at a landing the following guidelines apply:

A. The use of existing landings is preferred. It is desired to minimize both the number of and the size of the landings.

B. New landing construction shall be done only after consultation with and approval by the government. Cutting of living trees shall be avoided during landing construction and only done with government approval.

C. When possible, decks and slash piles in the landings shall be placed away from the landings edge.

D. Logs shall be decked not piled.

E. If whole tree yarded, the tops shall be decked. If the landing is too small, it may be necessary to pile the limbs and tops outside the landing.

A fire line around the perimeter of landings and disposal sites is required. It is to be one dozer blade wide (approx. 10 ft), scraped to mineral soil and water bars placed where necessary and completed in a timely fashion. The fire line shall be around the perimeter of the landing not directly adjacent to the deck or pile.

Piling:

If the contractor’s proposal includes piling of slash for future burning (by the government) the following guidelines apply. This applies to piles in the units, on landings and on disposal sites. Piles in landings and disposal sites should be placed near the center of the site and not be so big that they would damage timber outside the landing when burned.

A. If piling is the agreed upon slash treatment, the contractor shall pile at least 90% of the slash greater than 3 feet in length and all material over 3 inches in diameter. The piles shall be free from dirt and built in a haystack shape. Manzanita, ceanothus, choke cherry and other live brush over 3 ft tall shall be uprooted and crushed before being placed in a pile, this facilitates making a tightly compacted pile and creating small pieces that are left behind as ground cover, which is often lacking when piling brush. Slash and vegetation may be left in place where vegetation is so close to leave trees that the removal of the vegetation would cause damage to the leave trees. Leave trees and vegetation not specified to be treated shall be left undisturbed. The Contractor is not required to clear and pile bear clover. It is desired to leave five down logs per acre. These should be over 20” DBH. It is preferred that they not be directly adjacent to a road or burn pile. They should be aligned so as not to roll.

B. Within units, 90% of vegetation must be treated. This means uprooted and piled.

C. If piling with a dozer/brush rake, the brush rake shall be suspended approximately 6 inches (15 cm) above ground level, to retain a 50% soil, duff and smaller fine material ground cover. This material should not be so much as to be a fuels hazard. Materials which are less than 3 inches in diameter and less than 36 inches in length may be left to attain the ground cover requirements. If the slash cover exceeds 50%, the Contractor shall pile the smaller fuels to meet the slash piling requirements. If a grapple tool is used, the same cover requirements apply.

D. The Contractor shall cut the slash (both created and existing), as necessary, into lengths that allow piling without injuring the residual crop trees, and the burning of the pile without damaging residual vegetation. The contractor must not damage the standing trees when moving this material. In areas where there are no standing live trees that could be damaged longer material may be piled. In these areas fewer and larger piles facilitate burning.

E. Piles or any portion thereof shall be in openings at least 15 feet from the nearest leave trees, Control Areas (CA), and 30 feet from snags. There may be areas where pile placement is difficult because of the remaining crop trees. The contractor may have to push the material to a suitable pile location. A suitable location is one where the pile may be burned without damaging the crop trees or other protected vegetation. The size of the pile shall be adjusted to the size of the opening and the size of the surrounding trees. If the opening is large the pile may be large, if the opening is small the pile size must be adjusted. The size of the surrounding trees also is a consideration for the pile size. If the trees are large and the limbs are farther from the ground the pile may be a little larger but if the surrounding trees are smaller with the crown near the pile, the pile must be smaller. More space is required above (uphill) the pile than below. The piles should be worked from all sides.

F. Piles shall be at least 100 feet inside of the project boundary. This is different from individual unit boundaries. The project boundary will be the overall awarded project footprint.

G. Fire line perimeter must be 50 ft from piles.

H. Piles must be 200 ft from highway 168.

I. Piles cannot be within 100 ft of snow park perimeters.

J. Piles cannot be within 75 ft of untreated streams or meadows.

K. Piles cannot be created on top of OHV or OSV trails (see map). It is acceptable to be adjacent to them.

L. In areas with where there are identified sensitive plants (see map), cutting may occur, however piling must occur outside of the identified polygon on the map. If the COR finds piles within the sensitive plant areas, the contractor will need to move the pile at no additional cost. Material may be skidded in these areas.

M. Piles shall be compact and be as free of dirt as possible. If, in the judgment of the Contracting Officer’s Representative or other designated official, if the piles contain excessive soil, the piles shall be broken apart, re-piled, and the soil dispersed over the area. To create a more compact pile, push large logs piled parallel in the base of the pile and continue to push additional slash on top. The length of the pile shall be approximately equal to its width, and the height shall be at least half of its diameter. Materials overhanging the pile’s edge that are greater than 6 feet (2 m) in length, shall be cut off and placed into the pile. When building piles with log like material, care should be taken to build the pile so the logs will not roll both during the pile construction and as much as possible during burning.

N. If material is cut into lengths less than 48 inches for sizes 6 inches in diameter and above, it must be removed to a disposal site or landing for piling and cannot be piled on a sloped (>15%) ground.

O. All materials partially pushed over, hung up, left in an unsafe position, shall be either reworked with the tractor or felled by hand.

P. Soil disturbance caused by the Contractor’s operations which may cause erosion shall be cross raked on the contour.

Q. Existing water bars shall be left intact. The Contractor shall avoid water bars or lift the implement blades prior to driving over them. The Contractor shall restore, at no cost to the Government, water bars in skid trails, fire lines, spur roads, roadblocks, and other items affected by his/her operations. Erosion work must be completed in a timely manner. This means that the erosion structures must be maintained and in working condition when a weather event is predicted regardless of progress of the other work.

R. Grapple piling shall adhere to the same specifications as stated for tractor piles. To minimize ground disturbance the contractor shall operate in a fashion that maximizes the use of the boom and minimizes the amount of area the machine tracks over. The operator shall work the pile from all sides. This will help prevent fire from creeping out of the pile when burned. The pile shall not be connected to areas of un-piled material (example: non-work areas, areas with only small ground cover, snag patches, streamside zones, unit boundaries).

S. Fire lines: If piling of material is part of the proposal, fire lines must be constructed around the units. This can be around each individual unit, when possible, the contractor shall use singular control lines to encompass larger consolidated acres of piled vegetation. Multiple control lines containing numerous smaller piles across a common area may only be permitted if a larger singular control line is not practicable. Use of roads, rock and existing topographical features as part of the control lines is allowed.

· For example, if five acres are covered with piles, the five acres shall be lined with a control line around the perimeter of the 5 Acres.

· Any deviations may only be permitted with approval from the COR or Contracting Officer. The fire line shall be 8-10 feet wide and constructed to mineral earth. Where appropriate water bars shall be installed. The water bars need to be completed before anticipated rain events. The fire line must be constructed without damage to residual vegetation or other resources.

T. Hand piling may be required in some of the areas. The piles shall be well constructed in a haystack shape and the material in the pile densely placed. Hand piles are the least preferred pile type.

U. Piles may not be constructed on top of snags, rocks, or logs.

V. No mechanical or hand piling of slash within streams, meadows, or riparian vegetation.

In units that are within 1,250 meters of known occupied Yosemite toad meadows (see map) the following applies:

A. Daily, check around equipment for individuals that may have moved into the area prior to moving machines. If federally listed species are in the project area, activities will be temporarily halted until the individual(s) can be moved to a safe location. Notify the forest or district aquatic biologist of any sightings as soon as practical. Personnel shall avoid injuring, harassing, or harming sensitive species.

B. No piling will occur in open dry areas with lupine unless area is surveyed and approved by the forest or district aquatic biologist for use (protection of Yosemite toad adult terrestrial habitat).

C. Do not pile on or around old stumps within up to 20 feet of known occupied or proposed critical Yosemite toad habitat for protection of summer and overwintering terrestrial habitats.

D. If not removed, slash related materials will be piled (by hand, or if suitable, by machine). Do not lop and scatter.

E. No chipping of materials shall occur in known occupied habitat unless it is chipped on site into a holding truck and removed to a non-occupied location.

F. Mastication will not occur in known occupied aquatic threatened, endangered or sensitive habitats unless a site-specific plan is developed to minimize impacts to upland habitat or individuals.

G. Logs left on site cannot be a dispersal barrier.

MEASUREMENT: Piling will be measured by the acre. All units must be treated in an end state as part of the final treatment. Piling is one treatment that may be applied to the overall unit. Unit work may have a combination of work to achieve the final treatment result.

Mastication:

If the proposal includes mastication the material treated must be ground to smaller than 1 feet in length and 3 inches in diameter. The material should be ground into the soil at least 12- 18 inches, to reduce the flammability and continuity of the remaining mulch. This style of mastication/mulching is commonly referred to as subsoil mastication/mulching. Usually, a drum type masticating machine works better than a disk for this type of treatment. The depth of chips on the ground in areas masticated should not exceed 6 inches deep.

MEASUREMENT: Mastication is measured by the acre. Mastication is one treatment that may be applied to the overall unit. Unit work may have a combination of work to achieve the final treatment result.

Thinning Specifications:

Some sections of the project area are occupied by surviving trees. Where the trees occur in groups that are closer together than 20 feet the contractor shall thin them to a spacing of 20 by 20 feet between boles. If the trees are less than 16-inch DBH the spacing shall be 18x18. The surviving trees are a mix of ponderosa and sugar pine, white fir, and lodge pole. No live conifers greater than 30 inches shall be cut.

Selection of the leave trees shall be made with the following:

A. Leave Trees Selection: Leave trees shall generally be the tallest, most vigorous, healthy, largest crown, and straightest stems that are free of damage due to insects, diseases, physical or mechanical causes. The Contractor shall select leave trees based on the following priorities:

· Healthy undamaged trees at the required spacing intervals.

· Crown class - must be either vigorous dominant or co-dominant.

· Crown ratio - 30% or more of the total height must be live crown.

· Vigor - healthy and vigorous in appearance. Terminal growth must be equal to or greater than that of competitors.

· If no healthy, undamaged tree exists within the spacing requirements, leave the best, disease free, tree available, including oaks, to meet the stocking requirements.

· A tree with minor mistletoe infection: Minor mistletoe infection is defined as a tree with 20 percent or less of the crown infected and with no mistletoe within one foot of the main bole.

· Trees with crown damage may be left providing there are no signs of rot, and the tree has established a new leader (top) with a minimum of two years growth visible.

· Within categories listed above, selection shall be made based on the following priority order:

· Black Oak

· Sugar pine (rust free)

· Ponderosa pine/Jeffrey pine

· Incense cedar

· White Fir

· Canyon Live Oak

· Lodge pole

· The ponderosa and sugar pine are to be favored, but that does not mean selecting an inferior ponderosa or sugar over a better cedar or white fir. The intention is to have a ponderosa dominated stand but not a monoculture. Therefore, a sugar pine, white fir or cedar should be selected about 20% of the time. It should still meet the other specifications regarding form and vigor and be disease free. Generally, the resulting species composition should be 80% Ponderosa pine with the remaining species percentage being other suitable species from the priority list.

Note: As stated elsewhere, live conifers greater than 30-inch DBH, black oaks greater than 4-inch DBH, and live oaks greater than 20-inch DBH are not to be cut.

MEASUREMENT: Thinning will be measured by the acre. Thinning is one treatment that may be applied to overall units. Unit work may have a combination of work to achieve the final treatment result.

Roadside Hazard Specifications

Roadside hazard is not a specified treatment. However, no snags or hazardous trees will be left within 200 ft of any of the roads that run through the units. All dead and dying (trees turning red) or trees marked by Forest Service personnel for removal, will be felled. Felling shall be done so that no live trees, either hardwood or conifer, improvements or other resources are damaged. Dead trees within the unit boundaries shall be felled. The contractor shall fall the clearly dead trees. Trees that appear to be dying shall be felled only if approved by the Forest Service. NO SNAGS WILL BE LEFT ALONG THE ROAD/TRAIL CORRIDOR. All snags that could hit a road or other improvements if they were to fall should be felled.

Felling may be by hand or machine except in areas too steep for machine work and areas specifically prohibited from machine work. Felling must adhere to all safety practices including PPE. Signs must be placed on the road to warn travelers of the felling activities. They shall be placed in both directions. When falling may impact the road, road guards must be in place for traffic control. Felling must not damage live trees.

Stump heights must be less than 12 inches measured on the low side. Trees hung up during falling must be dealt with till they are safely on the ground. Falling green trees to accomplish this requires COR approval. The government will determine if this material will be made available to the contractor. Trees shall be felled so that they can be treated as required. Trees felled into the road/trail must be cleared promptly and without damaging the road. The road/trail shall be promptly cleaned of bark and other residual of the felled tree. All large vegetation shall be cleared from the roadside hazard corridor. It is expected that 90% of the vegetation is cleared through cutting, ripping, pulling, etc. This vegetation shall be piled with the slash.

All stumps along the roadways will be flush cut. Including stumps that are remnants of previous work. There are several high stumps, these will need to be recut to meet specifications.

All roadside hazard falling is part of the overall treatment and will have the material piled within the unit following the piling specifications mentioned above. It is acceptable to move and pile the material in a neighboring unit.

Biological Monitor: All activities that occur within occupied habitat will be monitored by an individual who meets the following training requirements and that also undergoes the appropriate USFS approved Yosemite toad training. The biological monitor will provide the following as applicable:

· Identify and temporarily flag access routes in and out of the project area for equipment and people that minimize impacts to Yosemite toad upland habitat (remove project when flagging is completed).

· Identify and temporarily flag high quality and overwintering habitat for possible avoidance within the project area (remove flagging when project is completed).

· Develop onsite mitigations that avoid impacts to flagged areas.

· Advise project personnel of areas to avoid disturbance in.

· Deal with any encounters of Yosemite toad within the work area. The biological monitor will inform the crew of the location of the toad, and the area will be closely monitored while work continues.

· Documentation of any sightings following documentation procedures.

At a minimum, Yosemite toad (Federally threatened) biological monitors will have the following schooling and training (This strict qualification standard is based off the USDI FWS 10(a)1(A) permitting process).:

· Bachelor’s degree in biological science that includes herpetology and reptile courses.

· Have a minimum of 40 hours of survey experience with a species expert on Yosemite toad, including handling and correctly identifying the species and all life stages.

· Participated in the High Sierra Ranger District Yosemite toad habitat and life history 4-hour online training.

· Participated in the High Sierra Ranger District Yosemite toad upland habitat field courses (2 days, 16 hours).

· Has been approved by Stephanie Barnes, HSRD District Aquatic Biologist, to conduct Yosemite toad upland habitat or species identification surveys.

· Participated in the 2024 refresher course (applicable to monitors approved in 2023 of earlier).

Monitor will only need to be present during work in the following units for required units:

Unit

Monitor will only need to be present during work in the following optional units should they be awarded:

Unit

MEASUREMENT: The biological monitor will be measured by the day.

CONTRACT TIME

The contract time for completion is 365 Days from the authorization to begin work.

Sunday work will not be permitted unless mutually agreed upon by the Contracting Officer and the Contractor.

Work shall not start before 7:00 AM when the project area is near homes and/or campgrounds, unless authorized by the COR.

LOPs will be implemented for both fisher and California Spotted Owl, preventing disturbance during the breeding season. LOPs for spotted owls overlap with suitable fisher denning habitat and will protect both species. This can be waived at the discretion at the Forest Service.

· Spotted Owl LOP March 1 – August 15

· Fisher LOP March 1 – June 30 for mechanical treatment.

· March 1 – May 1 for Rx Burn

MEASUREMENT

Acreage shown in this contract is estimated. Completed acres for payment will be determined by using a handheld GPS or GIS as specified in earlier paragraphs. GPS does not compensate for slope distances or acreage. Contractors are advised to estimate costs and production applicable to specific conditions of forest projects.

ACREAGE RE-MEASUREMENT

a. Re-measurement of the acreage under this contract will be made upon the written request of the Contractor. Request for re-measurement must be made in writing within l0 days after piling has been completed on an individual unit.

b. Re-measurement will be made along the boundaries using the same criteria and method as specified above.

c. If re-measurement indicates an acreage difference of no more than 5 percent from the original acreage measurement, the Contractor shall pay the actual costs of the re-measurement. Where the difference is less than 5 percent the results of the first measurement will be used. Payment will be based on the second measurement where the difference is more than 5 percent. No adjustment will be made for differences of 1 acre or less.

Any maps included in the appendices are general in nature and are not to be considered as definitively identifying locations. The contractor shall be required to have a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a mobile electronic device with GPS capabilities (i.e. smart phone, tablets) with a program capable of reading a .pdf map for each piece of equipment and/or crew. The government will provide a file with location information compatible with a program that can read the geo-referenced maps. Devices using GPS must be capable of accepting/uploading shapefiles or track logs compatible with ARCPRO 3.3 or newer. Due to the fire and past contracts, there is paint in places. It needs to be noted that the boundaries are to be followed using the GPS and georeferenced files and not the paint.

4.0 Government Furnished

The Contracting Officer designates the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). The COR is responsible for administering the performance of work under this contract. In no event, however, will any understanding, agreement, modification, change order, or other matter deviating from the terms of this contract be effective or binding upon the Government unless formalized by proper contractual documents executed by the Contracting Officer prior to completion of the contract. The Contracting Officer must be informed as soon as possible of any actions or inactions by the Contractor or the Government which will change the required delivery or completion times stated in the contract, and the contract may be modified accordingly. (This does not apply to individual task assignments which were issued by the COR provided they do not affect the delivery schedule or performance period stated in the contract.)

On all matters that pertain to the contract terms, the Contractor must communicate with the Contracting Officer. Whenever, in the opinion of the Contractor, the COR requests effort outside the scope of the contract, the Contractor should so advise the COR. If the COR persists and there still exists a disagreement as to proper contractual coverage, the Contracting Officer should be notified immediately, preferably in writing if time permits. Proceeding with work without proper contractual coverage could result in nonpayment.

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

Priority Of Work and Work Conditions:

The Forest Service may specify the priority of work by item or sub-item (unit) within an item, without additional cost. Nothing in this section shall be construed to take away any of the Government's rights under the Suspension of Work Clause (52.242-14). Work may be performed at any time during the period of the contract, except during the following conditions:

A. In accordance with the fire plan in Section J.

B. When the Contracting Officer determines that adverse weather has made access or project production unacceptable, too dangerous or ground damaging, or continued vehicular travel would cause unacceptable road damage.

C. Between dusk and dawn (unless otherwise agreed upon by the Forest Service and the Contractor).

D. On Saturday and Sunday (unless otherwise agreed upon by the Forest Service and the Contractor).

E. Contractor shall limit treatment operations within 300 feet of residences to weekdays and non-holidays only, between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. Servicing and maintenance of machinery and equipment is excluded from this limitation.

F. Operations shall not occur during or 48 hours after a storm event (0.01 of precipitation or greater) unless authorized by the Forest Service. The Forest Service may require the review of soil and conditions by soil scientist before operations can resume after a storm event. By written agreement, operations may occur if ground conditions are frozen.

G. Soil in the operating area must be dry enough to prevent rutting by a single pass of the equipment.

H. Contractor's equipment shall not cross meadows, "wet" stream channels, or other non-work areas, except by prior, written agreement with Contracting Officer.

I. Limited Operating Period (LOP). There are several limited operating periods applicable to this project. These include Goshawks and Yosemite toads. LOPS are listed in Resource Protection. All units are subject to the species limited operating period unless they are adjusted or waived by the District Biologist. Surveys are conducted in the spring to determine the presence of the species of interest. If not present the LOP may be waived for specific unit(s).

INFORMAL VISITS

The Contracting Officer and/or his/her appointed representative may visit the work units to observe the Contractor's work in progress.

CONTRACTOR'S FORMAL INSPECTIONS

Pursuant to the Inspection of Services clause, the Contractor shall establish an inspection system acceptable to the Government. The Contractor’s inspection system must be submitted and agreed upon by all parties at the pre-work conference. The primary purpose of the Contractor's inspection is for assurance of quality control. The Government may, however, accept the Contractor's inspection for unit acceptance either wholly or in part.

The Contractor's inspection shall comply with the following:

(a) Shall be systematic in application.

(b) Shall yield an inspection of at least two percent of the area.

(c) Shall be documented on a Contractor designed form.

(d) Shall be timely in performance.

(e) Shall address all the work specifications.

(f) Shall show a method of determining quality attained.

(g) Each unit shall be inspected separately and the results of one unit shall not be averaged with those of other units.

The Contractor's inspection system shall consider, as a minimum, the following:

1. Spacing of remaining live trees

2. Percentage of brush removal by the acre

3. If piling, pile construction and location

4. Remaining snags and logs per acre

5. Damage present on leave trees

6. Road condition The government will conduct walk through inspections when the contractor has informed the government that an area is completed. If the inspector determines that the work is satisfactorily completed, the work will then be accepted. If in the inspector’s opinion the work is not done to specification a series of plots will be taken to quantify the problem (2% sample). If the problem can be corrected by re-work the contractor shall re-work the unit. If that is not possible there may be a deduction in pay. See section XX.

TIMING OF INSPECTIONS

Inspections shall be performed promptly after work is performed. The Contractor shall submit a unit to the Contracting Officer for acceptance only when the Contractor's inspections for quality control ensure the work specifications have been met. The Government may perform formal inspections to determine acceptance of the work units.

GOVERNMENT INSPECTIONS

If the results of the Contractor's inspections cannot be verified by Government inspection, the Government may elect to conduct all subsequent inspections. If the Government does assume the burden of the Contractor's inspections, there will be an inspection charge of $25.00 per acre, deducted from the Contractor's payment.

FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS

Failure to comply with the specifications will require rework of the area at Contractor's expense. If the quality of future work is not improved to meet specifications within two consecutive workdays after Contractor's receipt of notice, the Contractor's right to proceed may be terminated. Failure of the Contractor to correct unsatisfactory conditions or continued failure to follow contract specifications will be considered non-compliance with terms of the contract and may be considered grounds for contract termination.

UNIT ACCEPTANCE

The Contracting Officer may accept a unit based on the results of the Contractor’s inspection, providing observations during the informal visits conform to the Contractor's inspection results. However, the Government may perform supplementary or complete inspections. Government inspections will conform to the same criteria as those specified for Contractor's inspection. If Government inspections are performed, the Government inspections will take precedence and will be used for acceptance or non-acceptance of the work.

Each payment unit will be inspected separately, and inspection results will not be averaged with those of other payment units.

Schedules The Contractor shall provide to the COR for approval, a practicable work schedule after being notified to begin work by the COR and before the pre work conference. Any changes to schedule shall be subject to the COR for approval.

If, in the opinion of the Contracting Officer, the Contractor falls behind the approved schedule, the Contractor shall take steps necessary to improve its progress, including those that may be required by the Contracting officer, without additional cost to the Government. In this circumstance, the Contracting Officer may require the Contractor to increase the number of shifts, overtime operations, and days of work.

Failure of the Contractor to comply with the requirements of the Contracting Officer under this clause shall be grounds for a determination by the Contracting Officer that the Contractor is not prosecuting the work with sufficient diligence to ensure completion within the time specified in the contract. Upon making this determination, the Contracting Officer may terminate the Contractor’s right to proceed with the work, or any separable part of it, in accordance with the default terms of the contract.

WORK PROGRESS

Work shall start no later than 3 days after the effective date of the authorization to begin work. The Contractor shall maintain progress at a rate which assures completion within the indicated contract time. The minimum acceptable rate of progress will be calculated by dividing the total acres of work for each bid item by contract time.

The Contractor’s right to proceed may be terminated if any of the following conditions exist:

A. Progress falls behind the minimum acceptable rate of progress by more than 5%.

B. Quality falls below acceptable levels include Satisfactory work, or progress is not attained within the time specified in a written cure notice. Such notice may be in the form of a Work Order and there shall be no more than 2 working days for corrective action to be completed.

AUTHORIZATION TO BEGIN WORK AND CONTRACT TIME

The Government will issue an authorization to begin work on each item as soon as weather and ground conditions are favorable for survival of planting stock. Contract time will start on the sooner of:

A. The date specified on the Notice to Proceed.

B. The third day after the Contracting officer has issued a Notice to the Contractor. Failure of the Contractor to acknowledge receipt will not be considered an excusable delay.

Whenever the Contracting Officer’s Representative determines that the temperature, humidity, soil moisture, project activity levels, winds, or a combination of these and other physical conditions have become unsuitable in any area, the Contractor shall move the work force to another area(s), prescribed by the Contracting Officer’s Representative. When no other area is available, the Contracting Officer will issue a Suspend Work Order for the item and contract time will stop for that item. When conditions are again favorable, the COR will issue a verbal Resume Work Order and confirm the resumption in writing. Contract time will resume on the effective work resumption date.