MNF 2023 HTA SOW.pdf

Mendocino National Forest Upper Lake Ranger District

MNF 2023 HTA

Pine Mountain, Packsaddle, and Horse Mountain Cut & Pile

1. DESCRIPTION OF WORK

The intent of this contract is to secure services to mechanically cut and pile dead hazard trees that were identified during the Ranch Fire Hazard Tree Abatement project covered under the Deer Valley Roadside Hazard Tree Maintenance Project and Pine Mountain (formerly Pine Horse Valley) Roadside Hazard Tree Maintenance Project NEPA documents. The project was a salvage sale, but dead trees not removed from site due to non-merchantability or other reasons still need to be treated. Trees to be cut and piled are both standing and on the ground as many trees have come down since. Contract objectives are to remove hazardous trees along the roadsides to provide safe ingress/egress for the public, landowners and emergency response resources. Also, piling of the trees that have already fallen will aid in future fuels reduction and fire suppression activities. Some of these roads also act as fuel breaks and provide strategic areas for fire suppression activities. The reduction of hazards and fuel accumulations along these roads is of high importance. There are 321 acres of mandatory items and 64 acres under optional items. Optional items shall be awarded based on funding availability and contractor shall quote on these.

2. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Item 1-3: From date of award– December 31, 2024 Item 4: From date of award of units through August 31 2025 Exercise options on or before January 31, 2024

3. PROJECT LOCATIONS/ROAD ACCESS

The project area is located on the Mendocino National Forest, Upper Lake Ranger District. All proposed work is located in:

Township Range Sections 17 N 10W 2, 3, 4, 5,17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28 18 N 10 W 20, 26, 29, 32, 34, 35 17 N 11 W 25

Attached maps are intended to show the location of units to be treated. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to determine the most suitable route to each unit. All access routes used by the contractor shall be subject to prior approval of the Forest Service. The Forest Service assumes no obligation to do special maintenance to keep roads/access routes open.

Most roads are accessible between the months of May through October, though high clearance vehicles may be necessary on some roads. The Government assumes no responsibility to maintain roads in a passable condition and assumes no obligation to do special maintenance to keep roads/access routes open. The roads have either native or aggregate surface. Care must be taken to minimize damage to all road surfaces and associated drainage structures when moving equipment. All roads must be left in as good or better condition at completion of contract. Delays to public and commercial traffic on all roads will need to be minimized. Use of unauthorized routes outside of treatment areas and closed roads shall be approved by the COR prior to their use. Areas in general proximity of the treatment units may be under other Hazardous Fuels Contracts with or without concurrent activity.

4. UNIT DESCRIPTIONS

Item 1: Units PM 1-6, 13-14, 16 81 acres

Item 2: Units PS 1-3, 5-9, 15 70 acres

Item 3: Units HM 1-5, 10, 12-16, 18-19 170 acres

Item 4: Units PM9, PM12, PS4, PS10-14, HM6-9, HM11, HM17, HM20-21 64 acres

Units consist of standing dead trees, accumulations of dead and down from trees that have fallen since the fire, remaining green trees, brush regrowth, conifer seedlings, resprouting hardwoods, or other vegetation growing in after the fire. Slope averages less than 35% across the unit but some steeper areas requiring handwork are present. Contract specifications and requirements are the same for all units.

The project is located entirely within Fire Danger Rating Zone 162.

Boundaries & Flagging:

Unit boundaries will generally not be flagged. In the event special precautions exist, flagging may be utilized to enhance unfavorable conditions. Such a need shall be discussed between the Contractor and the COR.

Contractor will be furnished with digital maps to be utilized on an appropriate electronic device (phone, tablet, or laptop, etc.). Contractor shall use a relevant software application to run furnished PDF maps for unit boundary locations and land navigation purposes. Software should provide a geo-reference capability of typical GPS errors of not more than +/- 30 feet of actual distances.

When working near any sensitive land management boundary (if lines cannot be flagged for accuracy), contractor may be asked to leave a 50-foot boundary of untreated vegetation to adequately buffer any accidental crossing onto private, or other designated land(s) not within the project area.

Any confusion of unit boundary location(s) shall be discussed with the COR prior to conducting any work on the landscape.

Sensitive sites within the unit shall be flagged to prevent any disturbance to the site. Such sites will be discussed with Contractor prior to conducting any work on the landscape and locations provided at the pre-work meeting.

SMZ’s (Stream Management Zones) within the units will be identified on the digital maps and may be flagged to prevent any disturbance into such drainages if necessary. Such sites will be discussed with Contractor prior to conducting any work on the landscape.

Unstable areas/slides and areas with ultramafic soils will be identified on the digital maps and may be flagged to prevent any disturbance if needed. Such sites will be discussed with Contractor prior to conducting any work on the landscape.

Forest boundary blazed trees are marked with a red painted slash on the tree.

5. DEFINITIONS

a) Active Landing: A location Contractor is skidding logs into, or performing other operations such as delimbing, log manufacturing, and chipping logs. Except for EV and E days, loading logs or stockpiled chips only on a cleared landing does not constitute an Active Landing.

b) Conifer: Typically, an evergreen tree which has a single well-defined trunk and/or attains a height greater than 20 feet (i.e., pine, spruce and fir species)

c) Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – On-site contract administrator for the Contracting Officer whose duties and responsibilities are defined in a letter of designation.

d) Contracting Officer - Individual with full authority for the administration of the contract and will personally handle all matters beyond the authority of the COR.

e) Crown Ratio: The portion of the total vertical tree height that is occupied by the vertical length of the tree crown.

f) DBH: Diameter of trees measured at breast height, 4.5 feet above ground on the uphill side.

g) Drip line: the area defined by the outermost circumference of a trees canopy where water drips from and onto the ground.

h) Hardwood: A broad-leaved tree, which may have a single well-defined trunk or may be found in the form of multi-stemmed clumps (i.e., Oak and Madrone Species).

i) Leave Trees: Trees designated not to be cut. May include conifers and hardwoods as well as riparian vegetation.

j) Mechanical Operations: The process of felling, skidding, chipping, shredding, piling, log processing and/or yarding which requires the use of motorized power which includes, chainsaws, chippers, motorized carriages, masticators, stroke de-limbers, skidders etc.

k) Riparian Vegetation: Trees and shrubs that usually favor riparian zones (i.e., Maple, Alder, etc)

l) Riparian Reserve Zones (RR’s): Riparian reserves are areas along all streams, wetlands, ponds, lakes, and unstable or potentially unstable areas where the conservation of aquatic and riparian-dependent terrestrial resources receives primary emphasis.

m) Shrub (or brush): Vegetation consisting of woody perennial plant usually smaller than a tree, usually having single or multiple stems originating at or near the ground level not normally reaching 20 feet in height (i.e., manzanita, ceanothus, mountain mahogany, etc.)

n) Slash: Any cut vegetation or existing natural (dead and down) woody debris.

o) Snag: A dead tree with no live crown

p) Streams: Types of Streams

a. Ephemeral Swales and Streams - Streams and swales that have no annual scour and thus do not meet the definition of intermittent stream and thus have no riparian reserves but still have an SMZ to help protect water quality.

b. Intermittent Streams - Seasonally flowing streams that have annual scour.

c. Perennial Streams - Streams that flow year-round under a normal precipitation year.

q) Stream Channel: That area of a drainage influenced by high water during the wettest part of the year, characterized by a scoured stream bed with exposed rock and sand.

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r) Stream Management Zones (SMZ): The SMZ extends from the edge of the high-water mark out to a specified width, dependent upon the stream class, or to the slope break, whichever is greater, and represents a zone from which the tracks or wheels of mechanized equipment would be excluded.

s) Stump Height: Distance above the natural level of the ground to top of the stump cut.

6. SPECIFIC WORK REQUIREMENT:

The Contractor shall furnish all technical expertise, labor, equipment, supervision, transportation, operating supplies, and incidentals necessary to complete the project, except for that which the contract clearly states is to be furnished by the Government. All equipment used within the contract area shall be in such mechanical condition and of an appropriate type to meet the requirements of the work. All equipment shall meet or exceed OSHA specification. Cal-OSHA regulations apply to all contracts involving employees. The government reserves the right to reject use of equipment if it does not meet the requirements of the contract.

Reports: The contractor shall provide the following items as part of this Contract:

1. Operations Plan and Schedule of Work – Contractor shall submit an operations plan and schedule of work that clearly demonstrates how the work will be performed and how it will be completed within the timeframe allowed in this Contract.

2. Quality Control Plan – Contractor shall submit a Quality Control Plan that states how the Contractor will control the work, inspect the daily operations and forms used, and protect from damage all improvements and residual leave trees within and around the work units. Inspection reports shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer’s Representative when invoicing for completed work.

3. Safety Plan – Contractor shall provide a written, job-specific safety plan for the inherently hazardous conditions that exist during operations.

Items 1-3 (All Items):

The work items are expected to be completed by using a combination of hand operated tools (chainsaws), low-ground pressure tracked mechanical felling equipment, excavators, and/or rubber-tired front loaders/skidders/forwarders with attachments such as bucket and thumb attachments, and or log grapplers. Equipment with least ground disturbance will be preferred.

Snag Treatment (Cutting of dead trees within striking distance of roads)

All dead trees within striking distance of the road shall be cut and piled. All dead trees that have previously fallen shall also be piled. All trees showing any signs of green shall be left as a leave tree and caution taken not to damage these trees. Where naturally regenerating trees or hardwood resprouting occur, avoid damage to these trees.

Trees shall be felled directionally away from all private land boundaries, fences and other improvements, ditches and stream courses, land survey monuments, trails and roads.

Stumps shall be cut to heights no greater than 4” in height off the ground.

Pile locations shall be discussed between the Contractor and the COR prior to commencement but shall follow the guidelines listed below in Slash Treatment and Piling.

Debris produced from harvesting, skidding/yarding, and decking logs shall be piled. This material includes limbs, tops, branches, stumps, bark, wood, and trees with the exception of retaining at least 50% ground cover (litter/duff/rock) across all treatment areas. Retention and even distribution of fine vegetation (rather than rocks) should be favored for ground cover and nutrient cycling. However, surface fuel loading shall not exceed CWD >20” = 5-10 tons/acre + 4-5 tons/acre of material < 3”. An average of 3 logs per acre >20” DBH and 10 feet in length shall serve as wildlife logs. These larger logs shall not be jackpotted, shall be moved a minimum of 10 feet away from leave trees, and shall not be placed in close proximity to piles.

Thinning and Piling within Stream Side Management Zones: Streamside management zones (SMZ) shall be determined based on the following descriptions:

1) Ephemeral Stream/Swale – Generally, headwater streams that flow only during and immediately after precipitation. May or may not have defined bed/banks or scour channel.

2) Intermittent Stream- is one that only flows for part of the year (seasonal) and typically will have defined bed/banks and scour channel

3) Perennial Stream- is one that flows all year

RR and SMZ width for each stream class: (*Numbers are for EACH side) Stream class

Riparian Reserve Buffer

Streamside Management Zone Buffer

Perennial 300 feet The greater of 100’ slope distance or to the slope break.

Intermittent 150 feet The greater of 50’ slope distance or to the slope break

Ephemeral 100 feet 20’, 50’ for watersheds draining into Eel

SMZ’s may be flagged prior to contract implementation using blue and white polka dot flagging or by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) if it is determined that such flagging is necessary to assist contractor in proper determination of SMZ’s and their specifications.

The following restrictions apply to thinning and piling in Stream Side Management Zones (SMZ’s) and Riparian Reserves (RR’s)

• Retain all riparian-associated vegetation within the SMZs and RRs of seeps, springs, and unstable areas.

• Crossings of streams must be approved by the district hydrologist or fish biologist.

• Tractor piling is not permitted within RRs or SMZs

• Cover bare soil areas that exceed 50 sq ft with mulch or slash if the area is likely to deliver sediment to a stream.

• Retain at least 70% ground cover (litter, duff, rocks) evenly distributed across the treatment area.

• No ground-based mechanized equipment will be allowed in SMZ.

• Trees cut in the SMZ must be felled toward the RR. If it is necessary to remove the tree, it should be end lined or grapple skidded from outside of the SMZ, suspending one end where feasible.

• Do not discharge soil, silt, slash, or other material into any watercourse, or area above a watercourse, where it can be transported, either by gravity or runoff, to the watercourse. No fueling shall occur inside SMZ’s.

• Any soil displacement caused by the mechanical equipment greater than 4 inches in depth would be back bladed or water-barred to prevent water concentration.

Slash Treatment and Piling The following requirements apply:

All treated trees, limbs, tops, and existing downed trees and slash shall be piled within the unit. Slash shall not be scattered. Slash shall not be piled in any swales, drainages, or stream channels regardless of classification. Any slash created or deposited into swales, drainages, blocking culverts, or in stream channels by contractor’s operations shall be removed.

All piles shall be constructed in the best and largest available openings, in a location and a size that will not subject any leave trees, improvements or other resources to damage when piles are burned. Piles shall be of a height equal to or greater than their width. All material protruding beyond 2 ft. of the general outline of the pile shall be cut and placed back into the pile. Piles shall not be placed on uncut brush and shall have a stable base to prevent toppling.

Piles shall be neat, compact and sufficiently free of dirt to allow complete and efficient consumption of the piled material when burned. Smaller diameter fuels should make up the base (bottom part of the pile) where feasible.

Piles within the unit shall be no smaller than 10 ft. in diameter and 10 ft. in height and no larger than 16

ft. in diameter and 16 ft. in height unless approved by COR. Use table 1 below to determine correct pile size based on spacing. Make use of larger openings whenever possible to construct large piles rather than many small piles thus reducing the number of piles per acre.

Table 1. Tree Spacing and Pile Size Criteria.

Tree Spacing 20 ft. 25 ft. 30 ft. >30 ft.

Pile Size 10x10 12x12 14x14 16x16

Piles shall not be located on the driving surface of roads on cutbanks of roads, in ditches, on stumps with a diameter greater than 12 inches or on downed logs unless directed otherwise by the COR.

No piles shall be constructed within 50 feet of the head scarp of unstable areas or within wetlands, springs, or wet meadows. Where vegetation encroaching in meadows is treated, the cut material must be piled outside of the meadow area.

If contractor’s work includes skidding/yarding operations to get material into piles, contractor shall minimize disturbance within the unit to the greatest extent practicable. Skidding shall be performed in a manner that does not damage residual leave trees or any other resources. All landings and skid trail pattern/locations shall be approved by COR prior to use. Wherever possible, use existing skid trails for movement of equipment.

Where location and species availability are appropriate, the COR may ask that small decks be built for firewood collection by the public.

7. LIMITED OPERATING PERIOD (LOP)

The following LOP’s shall be followed:

1. No operations shall occur from February 1 thru July 10. All units fall within the LOP for the northern spotted owl (see attached LOP map)

2. No operations shall occur from June 1 – June 30 to reduce potential bark beetle infestation.

The following are LOP’s for species that have NOT been discovered in the project area. If any of these species are discovered between the time this contract is awarded and the time it is completed, the following LOP’s shall be followed.

1. No operations from May 15 thru August 15 within 300 feet of any rock outcrop or other known roost structure or site for bats.

2. Noise disturbance restrictions for Northern Goshawks: No operations from March 1 thru August 31 within ¼ to ½ mile of an activity center, if any are discovered.

3. Noise disturbance restrictions for Marten or Fisher: No operations from February 1 thru June 30 within ¼ mile of denning site, if they are discovered.

If any threatened or endangered species or listed sensitive plant and animal species are discovered between the time this contract is awarded and the time it is completed, the Government reserves the right to modify the contract to provide additional protection to those species.

8. RESTRICTIONS

The following restrictions shall be followed:

Contractor shall operate in accordance with the fire plan.

When the Contracting Officer (or designated representative) determines that adverse weather has made access too dangerous or that continued vehicular travel would cause unacceptable road damage.

Operations may be limited to the normal operating period (i.e., May 15 - November 15, or the onset of the fall rains) and any required erosion control structures need to be in place prior to the onset of fall rains.

Contractor shall operate in accordance with LOP’s as specified in this contract.

Equipment Servicing and Fueling: The COR will designate locations, size and allowable uses of service and refueling areas. Refueling shall not occur in riparian areas or SMZ’s.

During project operations, forest boundary blazed trees shall be protected from loss or damage. Forest boundary blazed trees are marked with a red painted slash on the tree.

All roads shall be kept clear of debris from activity. Signs shall be stationed at least 300 feet up and down the road from the unit boundary where work is occuring. They shall be highly visible and warn traffic that work is occuring. These signs shall be in place prior to beginning activities. The Contractor shall describe for the COR what signs they will be using at the pre-work meeting and must be approved by the COR. Roadguards and traffic control shall be utilized if necessary for safety, ie if the equipment operator cannot see traffic to stop work when traffic comes through.

9. EQUIPMENT EXCLUSION AREAS

Slope Restrictions:

Mechanical treatment is limited to areas with slopes 35% or less. Any portions of units not mechanically treated shall be treated by hand operated tools. Hand treatment is required on all slopes greater than 35%. Occasional use on slopes up to 40% for a distance not to exceed 100 feet is acceptable for mechanical equipment if the Contracting Officer’s Representative approves activity prior to use.

Unstable Areas:

No mechanical equipment shall enter slides, slumps, springs, wetland areas, or areas with identified ultramafic soils. Mechanical operations shall be excluded from the area.

If it is necessary to cross unstable areas, the crossing shall occur only at approved crossings, as determined by the COR prior to crossing.

RR’s and SMZ’s:

Follow RR and SMZ restrictions as described under Thinning within Streamside Management Zones.

Sensitive Sites:

Sensitive Sites are flagged for avoidance using one strand of solid red flagging and one strand of white/orange striped flagging. There will be no treatment allowed within these sites.

Project implementation will be monitored by Forest Service Archeologist to assure that the sensitive sites have been protected.

If additional sites are discovered by Contractor or the Government, the District Archeologist shall be notified immediately and all work in close proximity of the discovery site shall cease until a determination is made by the archeologist.

10. GROUND DISTURBANCE AND WATER PROTECTION MEASURES

In the event that contractor causes ground disturbance damage, and it is determined that the contractor is responsible for repairs, only certified weed-free straw or mulch shall be used.

In units equipment shall reuse the existing travel ways within the unit. All roads shown used by contractor shall be left in the original condition (or better than) existing prior to the commencement of work on this contract.

Any water bars in skid trails disturbed by the Contractor's operations shall be restored. Construction and / or restoration of water bars on skid trails is required. Water bars shall be constructed so that the mound extends the entire width of the skid trail, and the top of the mound is a minimum of 18” above the natural ground-line along its entire length. The drainage of the water bar shall have a minimum slope of 2% and shall provide for the unrestricted discharge of water to the outside of the skid trail.

Prior to completion of operations, suspension of operations or seasonal periods of precipitation or runoff the Contractor shall smooth landings, remove ruts, and construct water bars on skid trails.

Any soil displacement caused by the mechanical equipment greater than 4 inches in depth shall be back bladed or waterbarred to prevent water concentration.

Inside RR’s, if contractor activity creates bare soil areas that exceed 50 sq. ft. the contractor shall cover with weed-free certified mulch or slash the ground cover percent appropriate for the slope class if the area is likely to deliver sediment to the stream.

Mechanical operations shall occur when soils are dry enough to resist compaction. The hydrologist or soil scientist would be consulted if any question concerning soil operability arises.

11. CONTROL OF WORK

Based on biological and physical conditions within the unit, the Contracting Officer or designated representative may specify an order in which units are worked.

12. CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL

The Contractor shall prepare a Quality Control Plan and shall inspect the work in accordance with the accepted Quality Control Plan. In addition, the requirements in FAR 52.212-4, the Contractor shall maintain an inspection system acceptable to the Government. The intended purpose of the Contractor performing self-inspection is quality control of work being performed, thereby allowing the Contractor to identify and correct any quality deficiencies while the work is in progress. Prior to requesting an inspection or payment, the Contractor shall make available to the Government all of their inspection records of the work performed.

13. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

Government inspections for thinning and slash treatment quality will be made periodically as work progresses, or as work is completed, to determine acceptability of method and manner of performance, the end product of operations, and to make measurements for payment.

The Contractor or his representative is encouraged to observe the inspection and will receive inspection summaries upon request.

Initially, visual contract compliance inspections of each completed sub item listed under the tasks will be conducted. Where visual inspection of a sub item indicates the need to determine percentage of compliant work for pay determination or rework purposes, a series of 1/50th acre plots distributed over the entire Sub-item sufficient to yield at least a one percent sample of each sub-item will be taken. Plot centers will be marked and numbered where plots are taken.

When plots are taken, each plot will be examined to record findings on the items listed below:

Thinning

• Number of trees cut up to diameter limit.

• Number of trees that should have been cut up to diameter limit.

• Number of stumps meeting height requirement

• Number of stumps exceeding height requirement

• Number of Leave trees damaged by Contractor’s operations.

Piling

• Number of piles meeting contract specs

• Number of piles not meeting contract specs

Upon inspection of all plots for an item, the quality of thinning shall be calculated as follows:

(# of deficient trees + # of excess trees)

1.00 - (# of leave trees that should have been left) X 100 = Quality %

14. ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL FOR TASKS AND CRITICAL SUBTASKS

The Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) for the tasks and subtasks is 90%. (90% of the work performed shall comply with the Quality Standard.) No leave trees shall be damaged by the Contractors operations.

All work shall be completed within the contract Period of Performance.

15. MEANS OF QUALITY MEASUREMENT

Contractor generated inspection records and reports, random verification by the Government.

16. REWORK AND REINSPECTION AFTER REWORK

When inspection results are below 90 percent and excess trees constitute any part of the deficiency or slash treatment results constitute any part of the deficiency, payment will not be made until the excess tree or slash treatment deficiency has been corrected. Inspections after rework will be made in the same manner as the first inspection but on different plot lines. The Contractor shall bear the cost of inspections necessitated by the rework.

17. REINSPECTION OF THINNING AND/OR SLASH TREATMENT UPON CONTRACTOR

REQUEST

If the original inspection results are unacceptable to the Contractor and a second inspection is requested without rework, the same inspection procedure will be used. However, the inspection pattern will be shifted. If the second inspection shows less than 5 percent variance from the first inspection, the Contractor shall bear the cost of the second inspection. The result of the second inspection will be used in determining payment. Requests for re-inspection shall be made in writing.

If the second inspection shows more than 5 percent variance from the first inspection, the Government will bear the cost of the second inspection. The result of the second inspection will be used in determining payment.

18. PAYMENT

Payment will be 100 percent of award price when inspection results are 90-100 percent on thinning inspections. If the work quality falls below 90 percent, the COR shall immediately notify the Contractor verbally and in writing and direct the Contractor to improve the quality of his work. If the quality of work is not raised to an acceptable level within 24 hours or one (1) workday after written notification, the Contracting Officer may issue a Suspend Work Order to resolve the problem, during which time contract performance time shall continue to run. If untreated or unacceptably treated areas are the primary reason for unsatisfactory work, the area shall be reworked to obtain satisfactory work quality. If, after the allowable time for correction of the quality of work, the COR in conjunction with the Contracting Officer will deduct a percentage of funds from the line items that corresponds to the 90 percent required and the actual percentage obtained. Pay will be for the actual percent quality on the inspection results when it falls below 90 percent and rework cannot correct the problem.

19. METHOD OF AREA MEASUREMENT

a) Areas have been calculated using GPS technology.

b) If re-measurement of the acreage is desired by the contractor, notification shall be made upon written request. Requests for re-measurement shall be made within 10 days after work has been completed on the unit.

c) If re-measurement indicates a difference of less than 5 percent from the original measurement, contractor shall incur the actual cost of re-measurement. These costs will include wages and mileage for the actual work needed to re-calculate acres. Payments will be based on the second measurement where the difference between measurements is more than 5 percent. Where the difference is less than 5 percent, the results of the first measurement will be used.

20. SAFETY:

Upon award the contractor shall provide a written job-specific hazard analysis and safety plan that addresses and conforms to the requirements of 29 CFR 1910 and 1926 and the clause entitled Accident Prevention (FAR 52.236-13) included herein. Appropriate actions shall be taken by the contractor to implement this plan during performance and to take any and all other necessary steps to mitigate the dangers from hazards.

Contacts:

Hinda Darner at 530-227-2327 hinda.darner@usda.gov or Amy Galetka at 707-349-8771 amy.galetka@usda.gov

Location: Upper Lake Ranger Station, 10025 Elk Mountain Road, Upper Lake, CA 95485

21. LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

The Contractor shall give attention to the effect of contract operation upon the landscape, shall take care mailto:hinda.darner@usda.gov mailto:amy.galetka@usda.gov to maintain natural surroundings undamaged, and shall conduct the work at all times in compliance with the following requirements.

Prevention of the Landscape Defacement. The Contractor shall not remove, deface, injure, or destroy trees, shrubs, lawns, or other natural features or any other improvements in the work area unless specifically authorized by the Contracting Officer. Unless otherwise provided herein, the Contractor shall confine contract operations to within the areas designated in contract documents.

Protection of Streams, Lakes, and Reservoirs. The Contractor shall take sufficient precautions to prevent pollution of streams, lakes, small ponds, and reservoirs with fuels, oils, bitumens, calcium chloride, silt, or other harmful materials. Mechanical equipment shall not be operated in live streams without written approval of the Contracting Officer.

22. FINAL CLEANUP

Before final acceptance, all areas occupied by the Contractor in connection with the work shall be cleaned of all contractor’s rubbish, excess materials, temporary structures, and equipment, and all parts of the work area shall be left in a neat and presentable condition. This includes raking roads to remove masticated material.

23. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE

Contractor shall certify compliance with specific fire precautionary measures included in the attached Fire Protection and Suppression Forms. The certification shall be made prior to commencement of work and shall be updated if at any time during performance the conditions change. The Government may conduct verification inspections to ensure Contractor's compliance.