ENV20220530-Pre-bid Questions-.pdf

Rare Plant Survey of Grassland Communities, Camp Edwards - ENV20220530 Bid#: BD-22-1069-MILDV-10000-75930

Pre-Bid Project Questions

Question 1:

If possible, could you please send us Jerry Jenkins’ report or the list of species which he encountered?

Response to Question 1:

The Floristic Survey of Camp Edwards report will be uploaded to CommBuys. There is an interesting discussion of rare species in the Summary of Results section. The Open Barrens, Low Thickets, and

Woods Edges section under the Floristic Notes on the Plant Communities at Camp Edwards probably provides the closest description and plant list to what one might find in the managed grasslands which were not managed grasslands at the time of the 1994 floristic inventory.

Question 2:

Does the 260 acre grassland contain areas which are seasonally wet?

Response to Question 2:

No seasonally wet areas have been encountered.

Question 3:

Similarly, are there areas where water puddles after it rains? These puddles may be especially visible on the dirt tracks, and may only persist for a short period of time following a weather event (30 min to an hour or longer).

Response to Question 3:

After-rain puddling occurs within at least one of the dirt roads that bisects a grassland unit but doesn’t persist for long and doesn’t seem to support microhabitat conditions for vegetation. Puddling after rain can also occur just off of the paved roads but these grassy road buffers are mowed frequently. Puddling of any duration within the grasslands has not been observed.

Question 4:

Does the survey site contain areas which are bare of vegetation or dominated by herbaceous vegetation with patches of exposed mineral soil?

Response to Question 4:

Exposed mineral soil is not uncommon in the managed grasslands. The exposed soils can be interstitial and be a component of grass-dominated areas and recently burned areas. They can also be larger patches of sparsely vegetated soils that may have had pavement or buildings removed or be the result of other human caused disturbance.

Question 6:

What is the mowing frequency within GLU4-1 and GLU4-2 as visible on the figure included within the

RFP?

Response to Question 6:

Grassland units, including GLU4-1 and GLU4-2, are not mowed frequently and do not have a set mow schedule. Mowing is more sporadic, maybe every 4-6 years. When mowing occurs, it is usually prescribed as part of a planned burn or other management effort to control invasive plants and/or other woody invaders like pitch pine.

The eastern half of GLU4-1 and GLU4-2 were bulldozed in 2016. The area was not seeded after bulldozing and grading. This area resembled what you see in the western shrubby half of GLU4-2.

The western portion of GLU4-1 and the northern extending into northeastern portion of GLU-4-2 were mowed in 2019.

The western half of GLU4-1 (separated by the mowed break) received a spring burn in the spring of 2021 and selective herbicide application (primarily shrub honeysuckle) in the fall 2021.

Question 7:

6. What is the acreage of the second supplemental area?

Response to Question 7:

There is no defined survey area acreage for the second supplemental area. The awarded contractor is not expected to complete an area of survey but to survey an area for 2-days. The supplemental area is within the ~3,000 square foot impact area and more focused to the ~300-acre central impact area. The opportunity to survey within this location remains contingent on various factors that involve mostly working with and coordinating with other base programs. The specific location of survey is also contingent on various factors and is yet to be determined. The 2-survey days, if awarded, would likely occur within approximately 50-foot wide transects of previously cleared vegetation.