GSF Cow Creek Area.pdf

This is a sale advertisement document from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Forest Service, for a salvage timber sale opportunity in Levy County, Florida. The Cow Creek Road Salvage Timber Sale A involves approximately 587 acres within the northwest perimeter of the Cow Creek Wildfire area, located in the Black Prong Tract of Goethe State Forest southeast of County Road 343. The sale includes dead, dying, and green pine timber designated across two harvest zones: a Primary area of approximately 399 acres designated for clearcut harvest, and a Contingency area of approximately 188 acres subject to ongoing monitoring and direction from the Forester-in-Charge. All harvest operations must commence within ten calendar days of contract execution. The sale is being advertised simultaneously with Cow Creek Road Salvage Sales B and C, with a requirement that any bidder winning multiple sales must forfeit all but one to the next highest bidder to ensure faster response and adequate equipment deployment. A mandatory site review conducted by the Forester-in-Charge with the successful buyer is required before harvest operations begin, with special attention to waterbodies and red-cockaded woodpecker cluster exclusion areas.

The Forester-in-Charge or authorized representative will designate timber for removal, which may include scattered clusters of infected or dying trees, though buyers are not obligated to harvest non-merchantable timber or timber deemed undersized or economically unviable. The timber designation and marking process by Forest Service personnel establishes the scope of harvestable material, with the buyer's obligations limited to merchantable timber in designated areas.