Attch 1_SOW_1 December 2022.pdf

Page 1 of 5 Miscellaneous Silvicultural Services 9/29/2022

Air Force Academy Statement of Work

For

Miscellaneous Silvicultural Services (Tree Falling and Mitigation, Tree Pruning, Forest Stand Exams, and Tree Marking)

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES. The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment and tools, supervision and other items necessary to perform the forestry tasks described below. All trees and services are located on the United States Air Force Academy and Farish Recreation Area.

2. PROJECT BACKGROUND: This contract provides miscellaneous silvicultural services to the U.S. Air Force Academy. Services maintain forest health and provide data to guide out-year forest management activities. Individual trees inaccessible by vehicle become infested by bark beetles throughout the year (primarily from March through November). To prevent the spread of bark beetles to adjacent trees, infested trees must be removed as soon as they are identified and the material properly mitigated. Due to their distance from roads, these trees cannot be easily disposed and they will need to be debarked to prevent the spread of bark beetles to other trees.

Additionally, several stands on the Academy have endemic populations of dwarf mistletoe. Damage to individual infested trees with a Hawksworth rating of 3 or lower can be mitigated by pruning infested branches from the tree. Finally, the Academy collects stand data in the form of stand exams to inform forest management decision making.

3. Scope of Work

3.1 Task 1. Tree Falling/Mitigation. The contractor shall cut designated ponderosa pine, debark all material greater than 4 inches in diameter or bring to the Natural Resources Woodlot and lop and scatter all slash less than 4 inches in diameter to a 3-foot maximum piece length and a maximum depth of 18 inches. Trees shall be marked for removal by the government or may be identified in the field in with approval from the government. All trees shall be removed within 2 weeks following government notification to the contractor of their location. All trees shall be 100 feet or greater from a paved or gravel road. Contractor shall provide the necessary expertise and equipment to safely fall trees and properly dispose of slash. Tree stumps shall be less than 4 inches in height.

3.2 Task 2. Tree Pruning. The contractor shall prune all accessible dwarf mistletoe infested branches from designated ponderosa pine of various sizes. An accessible dwarf mistletoe branch is a branch up to 8 inches in diameter within 20 feet of the ground. Contractor shall lop and scatter branch material to a 3-foot maximum piece length and a maximum depth of 18 inches. Trees shall be marked for with flagging or paint by the government, and their location plotted on a map provided to the contractor. Contractor shall provide the necessary expertise and equipment to safely

Page 2 of 5 Miscellaneous Silvicultural Services 9/29/2022 prune trees and properly dispose of slash. Pruning wounds shall be made at the branch collar and shall be made so that bark is not ripped from the tree stem.

3.3 Task 3. Forest Stand Exams. The contractor shall collect tree data on designated stands. Plots shall be located on a systematic grid basis within stands provided by the government and adhere to the stand exam protocols, Appendix A. Each plot shall consist of a ten basal area factor (BAF) variable plot sampling all trees greater than or equal to 5” DBH, and a 1/100 acre fixed-radius plot for all trees less than 5” DBH. For each “in” tree greater than or equal to 5” DBH, the cruiser shall collect:

species (USDA four letter code), history (i.e. dead or live), diameter (DBH in inches to nearest tenth), crown ratio (percent of 100), and tree damage and severity. Height shall be measured in feet on the first plot tree (the tree closest to north of each plot).

For each tree less than 5” DBH, the cruiser shall collect: species, history, diameter (if less than 4.5 feet in height then enter “.1” and record height separately record height), and height (to the nearest foot for all trees less than 4.5 feet in height). For the third plot within each stand, all trees shall be aged. Ten-year radial growth (in tenths of inches) shall be measured on the first three of the variable radius plot trees. Site index shall be measured on two trees per stand. Data shall be collected with field data recorder or on paper data sheets and transferred to Microsoft Excel worksheet. Each plot center shall be mapped using GPS. The contractor shall provide the necessary expertise and equipment to complete a comprehensive inventory of specified areas and perform field data. NOTE: Contractor shall have had at least three seasons of experience with Rocky Mountain Forest insect and disease identification and silvicultural practices.

3.4 Task 4. Tree Marking. The contractor shall designate cut or leave trees with marking paint in designated stands. Recipient shall provide the necessary expertise to mark trees to be cut or retained in forest management activities, following a prescription provided by an NR representative. Trees shall be marked in a clearly visible manner, on at least three sides of the tree. Marking near roads, trails, or other recreation areas should only be painted on the offside. Maps with specific location and silvicultural prescription shall be provided by the government. Marking paint shall be provided by the government. Payment will be made on a per-acre basis.

4 All tasks also include the following requirements:

4.1 General USAFA Regulations: Contractor shall comply with all pertinent provisions of federal and state safety and environmental regulations, and all rules and regulations of the Academy.

4.2 Quality Assurance: An NR representative shall inspect areas at least biweekly as work progresses.

4.3 Safety: Contractor shall wear all OSHA required PPE for operating a chainsaw and other equipment.

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4.4 Government-Furnished Property: Maps of trees and inventory stands shall be furnished by the government. Contractor shall furnish all equipment.

4.5 Trash Removal: Contractor shall clean up trash and other debris resulting from all operations.

4.6 Required Equipment. Mechanized equipment shall have functioning spark arresters.

4.7 Security Requirements. Contractor shall comply with all rules and regulations of the

Academy. A contractor badge shall be issued for each employee, which Contractor shall keep on their person at all times. Contractor employees who are denied a Contractor’s badge shall not be allowed on the Academy. Operations could be temporarily shut down in the event of an emergency. Any lost time will be compensated with no-cost time extension at the request of the Contractor.

4.8 Timeframe. Overall contract period will be one year. If funds are not depleted in that time, contract may be extended for up to six months.

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SERVICE DELIVERY SUMMARY

Performance Objective Performance Threshold

Tasks 1: Tree Falling and Debarking

1. Stump height not to exceed 4 inches on uphill side.

2. All material greater than 4 inches in diameter debarked down to bare wood or brought to the Natural Resources Woodlot.

3. All slash lopped and scattered (no slash in excess of 18 inches in height above ground and 36 inches in length).

4. Tree cut within 2 weeks of receiving map from the Government.

No more than 10% deviation

No more than 5% of wood area not debarked.

No more than 10% deviation.

No deviation will be accepted.

Tasks 2: Tree Pruning

1. All mistletoe infested branches pruned from the tree.

2. Branch pruning wound made at branch collar.

3. Bark beneath branch scar intact.

5. All slash lopped and scattered (no slash in excess of 18 inches in height above ground and 36 inches in length).

No more than .5 inch deviation accepted.

No more than 5% deviation.

Tasks 3: Stand Exams

1. “In” trees

2. DBH

3. Tree History

No more than 1 “in” tree missed per 10 plots.

No more than 10% deviation from actual.

No deviation accepted.

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4. Tree height

5. Tree species

6. Tree age

7. Site Index

8. Crown Ratio

9. Tree damage

No more than 10% deviation from actual.

No deviation accepted.

No more than 10% deviation from actual. Tree core must show pith.

No more than 10% deviation in either height or age.

No more than 10% deviation.

No more than 1 damage code missed per 10 plots.

Tasks 4: Tree Marking

1. Prescription adherence

No more than 10% deviation from silvicultural prescription on 5% of the acreage.