C06.1_FY26 BlackButte Nat Regen Stocking Surveys SOW.docx

Issue Date:

Contract No.

BPA Call No.

Issuing and Billing Office:

Contractor:

19.

ITEM NO.

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

21.

QUANTITY

22.

UNIT

23.

UNIT PRICE

24.

Amount

Plots

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Total

Plots

Contractor: (Name and Signature)

Requested By: (Name and Signature)

COR: /s/ Craig Lavy

Ordered By: (Name and Signature)

Contracting Officer

1. DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

General Guidelines:

The overall objective of this contract is to obtain current and accurate information on the stocking levels of units for natural regeneration. Data will be used to determine whether further actions are required to obtain satisfactory stocking. It is planned that there will be one plot per every five acres but that may vary slightly, +/- 1-2 plot difference per unit minimum 3 plots per unit. Georeferenced maps provided to the Contractor will have predetermined plots on them.

This contract is necessary to address legal requirements of the REPLANT Act (2021), the National Forest Management Act (1976), and the Malheur National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1990).

2. PROJECT LOCATIONS:

a) Project Location: Attached vicinity and project area maps show general locations for Line Items Natural Regeneration Surveys. All survey units listed under those line items will be located on Prairie City, Ranger District in Grant County, OR.

b) Accessibility: The project areas may be reached by Forest Service Roads suitable for standard four-wheel drive vehicles during the normal operating season. Some units may require foot travel from the nearest road to reach the unit itself. The Forest Service assumes no obligation to plow snow or to perform special maintenance to keep roads open or drivable. It is the Contractor's obligation to verify and get approval from Forest Service on travel routes, including those that are designated “Green Dot” roads. Green Dot travel needs and permitting process will be discussed during the pre-work meeting.

c) Boundaries:

1. The boundaries of the survey units will be marked in either one of two ways and will be denoted in the Detailed Unit Information Sheet (DUIS):

i. Orange flagging and reforestation tags that were utilized during the planting contract.

ii. Virtual boundaries for natural regeneration units will be delineated using georeferenced pdf maps provided by the government and will be identified using a 30 foot +/- accurate GPS device.

2. There may be portions of other lines or boundaries in the area. These may be marked with flagging, aluminum tags, different posters, or a combination of flagging, tags, and posters. These should be disregarded by the Contractor and only boundaries marked as described above shall be used for the purposes of this contract.

3. SPECIFIC WORK REQUIREMENT:

General Data Collection Parameters:

Vicinity maps and Project unit maps will be provided. Contractor will navigate units adding plots at a rate of 1 per 5 acres for each unit using Avenza or comparable technology. Plot center will be flagged with a visible color acceptable to FS and contractor, with unit number, plot number, date and name of examiner written with a Sharpie pen at plot center; two additional strips of flagging will be tied on each side of plot center as high as practical for the inspector to easily locate.

a) Georeferenced vicinity maps and project unit maps will be provided.

b) Three strips of flagging will be used to nominate plot center:

1.Plot center itself will be flagged with a visible color acceptable to the Forest Service and the Contractor, with unit number, plot number, date, and name of examiner written with a Sharpie pen or grease pencil at plot center. Flagging color will remain consistent across plots and units and will be decided upon during the pre-work meeting.

2.Two additional strips of flagging will be tied on each side of plot center, north and south sides, as high as practical for the inspector to easily locate.

c) Plot radius will be 16.65 ft (1/50th of an acre).

d) Examiner will start from true north and move clockwise around the plot center.

A unit summary sheet will also be filled out for each unit and will include the following information:

a) Any significant nonstocked areas within a unit;

b) Overall soil conditions;

c) Identification of weather damage

d) A possible explanation for low stocking levels;

e) And if animal, insect, or abiotic damage is common throughout the unit, a description and the effect on the stocking of the unit.

This information can be put into a word document to be sent along with the plot data sheet for the units or listed at the top of the excel data sheet submitted for each unit. The Contractor and Forest Service will decide on a method to keep this process consistent across units at the pre-work meeting.

Data Sheets and Data Collection:

The data sheets will be filled out according to the specifications listed below.

a) Tree Identification and Classification

a. Each natural tree will be identified by its species.

b. If a tree is healthy and expected to mature, it will be recorded as a viable tree.

c. If a tree is unlikely to survive or won’t develop into a healthy tree, it will be recorded a non-viable tree.

d. If there are multiple natural species on a plot, each species will have its own line in the data sheet and have a-c of this list filled out. Species codes will follow those used in the USDA Plants database (four-letter codes) and a list is provided in the stocking data sheet.

b) Viable Tree Metrics The average height class of natural trees on the plot will fall into one of three categories:

i. <12 inches

ii. 12.1 inches – 4.5 feet

iii. >4.5 feet

Natural Trees (Naturals)

a. All naturals taller than 6 inches that appear healthy as viable trees (showing good growth and minimal damage) will be tallied by species.

b. The average height of healthy naturals will be recorded in the remarks column.

c. Non-viable naturals will not be counted, but evident damage should be noted in the remarks column.

d. If there are 10 or more of a single species, the count will be recorded as 10 and the remarks field will include a written description of number of naturals.

e. If naturals shorter than 6 inches are present, they will be ocularly estimated and denoted in the remarks column as few (<20), some (>20 - 100), and many (>100).

c) Ground Cover

a. The percentage of rock on the plot prohibiting planting, as well as the percentage of grass and shrubs competing with conifers, will be recorded.

Data Calculations:

The trees per acre for naturals should be automatically calucated by the Excel data sheet. In case there is an issue with the data sheet, and it is not auto calculating, TPA should be calculated as follows:

Natural TPA column per plot = (#natural viable trees) x 50 (1/50th acre plot)

Data will be recorded on Excel spread sheets, with a copy of the data sheet furnished by the government as an attachment to this contract. As units are completed, the Contractor will give data to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) via a thumb drive or electronically, such as email, for inspection. Expectations for who (Contractor’s representative or personnel) will send the data to the COR will be discussed at the pre-work meeting. See attached example data sheet.

Submit complete data every two weeks unless the Forest Service and the Contractor mutually agree otherwise with final data will be due no later than December 31, 2026.

Inspection:

Inspection will be based on the following criteria and tallied at the plot level:

a. Correctly identifying the total number of natural trees on the plot (1 point per tree). If a tree is missed (not counted in the plot) then all associated data will also be deducted.

b. Species of natural trees will be identified correctly with no tolerance (1 point per species)

c. The viablity of each natural tree will be recorded correctly (1 point per tree)

d. Average height class of natural trees on the plot (1 point total)

e. Assessment and description of damage to non-viable trees (1 point per species with no tolerance)

f. Naturals identified as viable trees will be tallied (1 point per tree)

g. The % of rock, grass and shrubs for each plot will be recorded (1 point total with 20% variance)

h. Remarks pertinent to plot attributes will be recorded (1 point per plot)

DROPPED PLOTS: If a plot is dropped for any reason, that plot must be included on the data sheet. The Plot # field will be filled in as usual, and the remarks field should read “Dropped” and a reason why. Plots that are “Dropped” should only be dropped for extenuating circumstances that will be discussed with the Government.

FATAL ERRORS: The following errors are considered “fatal” errors and will result in the affected unit(s) being returned to the Contractor for rework without any other criteria inspected:

a. Any plot where the plot center location cannot be located because of improper labeling of the plot center or missing GPS coordinates provided to the government for the Contractor’s plot, or for other reason attributable to noncompliance with the contract specifications.

Units will be sampled as needed to confirm the quality of work. Unit inspections will be calculated based on the Contractor’s deviation from Forest Service collected data. An example of the data sheet inspection quality control calculations will be included in the Excel Data Sheet that is an attachement to this contract. Example of a data sheet and inspection plot on the Damage and Species Codes tab of the survey data sheet. Unit inspections greater than or equal to 90% will receive full pay. Inspections from 80%-89% will receive that percentage of pay. Units below this will not be accepted and will require rework. Rework includes resurveying all plots within the affected unit.

PAY CALCULATIONS: Sample plots within a unit will be averaged to give an overall percentage for each unit. Below is an example of averaging inspections percentages to the unit level for a unit with three plots:

Plot 1 – 95% Plot 2 – 85% Plot 3 - 100% Unit Plot Average: 95% + 85% + 100% = 280; 280/3 = 93.3% This unit would receive full payment since unit average is greater than 90%

REWORK: Re-work due to non-compliance of contract specifications will be completed 7 calendar days after notification. Every effort will be made to perform reinspection within 7 calendar days of receiving reworked data. If it is not possible to complete reinspection within 7 calendar days of receiving the reworked data, the COR will notify to the Contractor and reinspection will occur at the next soonest date. Any rework required must be done for the entire affected unit.

Technical Requirements and Personnel Qualifications:

· Have Avenza or comparable capabilities with phone or tablets and experience in the successful navigation using geoerferenced pdf map files on a GPS-enabled electronic device.

· Able to record data on excel spreadsheets and submit to the Forest Service electronically (email) or thumb drive. **in the event that this method fails, hard copies may be accepted at the COR’s discretion.**

· Ability to accurately identify tree species, animal damage and disease on seedlings.

· The Contractor shall designate crew leaders for each crew; the crew leader shall be the individual responsible for taking plot measurements in accordance with the accuracy standards and providing QA/QC.

· Each crew person shall have a minimum of 1 season of experience in performing stocking surveys or stand exams.

4. FAR 52.211-10 COMMENCEMENT PROSECUTION, AND COMPLETION OF WORK (APR 1984)

The Contractor shall be required to (a) commence work under this contract within 10 calendar days after the date the Contractor receives the notice to proceed, (b) prosecute the work diligently, and (c) complete the work listed in the Schedule of Items in its entirety no later than Dec,1st 2026.. Work is estimated to begin September 10th 2026.

5. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY:

6. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVES:

Name: Craig Lavy Work Cell: 458-658-4195

7. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

The following attachments are made as part of this solicitation and any resultant contract. Also note that if resulting contract award is being made under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5) (Recovery Act), additional requirements for disclosure shall be referenced in Attachment X.