Prospectus Ruffy roadside.pdf

Prospectus

Ruffy Roadside GNA

Location:

The legal land description of the project area is: T32N, R101W, Section 32. T30N, R100W, Section 28, 33. This project consists of an estimated six (6) acres to be thinned and skidded on United States Forest Service land.

Access:

All Treatments are located on the Shoshone National Forest. Treatments FS 310 and 35-1 are located on the Washakie Ranger District approximately 12 miles and 17miles from Lander, and are accessed by Wyoming Hwy 131, Wyoming Hwy 28, NFSR 300, 302, and 310.

Project Description: See Attachment B

Treat vegetation adjacent to existing roads to create defensible space, reduce the accumulation of fuels (standing and surface). Treatments consist of roadside clearing, roadside thinning, pruning, yarding/forwarding, decking, and piling.

All Vegetation > 1’ tall within 25 feet of the road cut and toe of the fill will be cut according to specifications outlined in Attachment B. Cut material and existing coarse woody debris will be yarded and forwarded to landings. Slash will be piled as specified in Attachment B.

Timeline for Work Activities:

Work shall begin on or after 6/1/2027 and be completed by 9/30/2029.

In areas occupied by public camps, no work shall be carried out prior to 0800 or after 1800 to avoid disturbing people in occupied camps.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:

1. Bids are to be submitted on a lump sum basis.

2. The right to reject any and all bids is reserved to the Agency.

3. The State will not be liable for any damages resulting from the willful or negligent acts of the Contractor or its employees. This includes but is not limited to damages resulting from fire caused by the Contractor or its employees.

4. The successful bidder will be required to enter into a written contract with the State of Wyoming for the performance of fuel reduction work. The Contract will expire September 30, 2026.

5. Information given here is not a part of the contract unless stated in the Contract. If a contradiction occurs, the Contract governs.

6. Payment will be made upon completion of the project units and submission of an invoice.

Fifty percent (50%) payment may be invoiced for upon completion and acceptance of at least fifty percent (50%) of the project acres.

Pre-Bid Inspection:

A mandatory site tour is being offered prior to submission of bid. The tour date and time is August 19th, 2026 starting a 10:00 am. Prospective bidders are required to notify WSFD by August 17th at 5:00 PM if they plan to attend the site tour. Respondents will be notified of time changes due to weather or road conditions of the project site.

Stefan Petersen, GNA project forester, Wyoming State Forestry Division, Lander, WY.

Office: 307-840-5268

Email: stefan.petersen1@wyo.gov

The Meeting Location: Louis Lake parking lot, 31 miles south on HWY 28, Mile Post 46 of Lander, WY.

mailto:stefan.petersen1@wyo.gov

ATTACHMENT B

CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES – Contractor shall perform road side fuels reduction services in accordance with the following:

1. Contractor is responsible for clearing all vegetation ≥ 1’ in height within 25’ of the road cut and toe of the fill.

A. In areas where a cut or fill does not exist, cut all vegetation within designated distance from the roadside ditch or edge of road if ditch is not in place.

B. Contractor is responsible for whole tree skidding to a designated landing site. Yard and forward (to landings) cut material and existing coarse woody debris as necessary to less than

2.5 tons/acre.

2. Do not treat slopes greater than 50%.

3. Cut stumps to a height of 6” or less as measured on the uphill side of the stump.

4. Avoid ground skidding on sustained slopes steeper than 40 percent.

5. Where treatments parallel streams, wetlands, and riparian areas, do not cut willows and other wetland and riparian vegetation within 50 feet of ordinary high-water mark on either side of the water feature:

A. Do not place piles within the water influence zone of water features (100 feet for perennial streams/50 feet for ponds, lakes, springs, wetlands, riparian areas and intermittent streams).

6. Hand piles will be at a minimum 10’ in diameter, and at least 8’ tall. Machine piles will be a minimum of 20’ in diameter, and a minimum of 16’ tall.

7. Piles will be located at least 30-40 feet from mature whitebark pine trees that have been identified for retention.

8. Species retention order of preference: Whitebark pine, lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, limber pine, aspen, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir.

9. Desirable Leave Tree Characteristics:

A. Straight stem.

B. Small branch diameter.

C. Good coloration.

D. Well-formed crown.

E. Branches horizontal or slightly angled to bole.

F. Free of insect or disease damage and/or symptoms.

G. Vigorous annual terminal growth (especially in the last 1 to 3 years).

H. Crown class of dominant or codominant.

I. Crown ratio is 40% or more of stem.

10. Cut all live/dead, or dying conifers stems (including white pines) that are successionally replacing aspen. Cut dead aspen. Do not cut live aspen. Conifers shall be removed up to 30 feet away from any live aspen. Stems. Treatment should apply to all size classes of conifers.

11. White pines (both limber and whitebark pine) should be retained where they are healthy, or cone producing and do not contain white pine blister rust will either have limbs with rust removed, if feasible, or will be removed in their entirety in the case of excessive infection indicated by the presence of numerous cankers, particularly bole cankers.

12. Treatments may include marked trees. Do not cut any trees marked with paint in any of the treatment units unless approved by the Project Administrator.

13. Cut any trees that are infested with bark beetles or infested with diseases, including dwarf mistletoe, commander blister rust, and white pine blister rust (for pines present in the stand), as well as physical damage evidenced by:

A. Green needles, pitch tubes, frass and/or beetle galleries and/or larvae under the bark

(lodgepole and white pines).

B. Bole cankers (lodgepole and white pines).

C. Bole cankers and dead tops above the bole cankers (lodgepole and white pines).

D. Any signs of mistletoe (lodgepole pine).

E. Bark flaking, green but fading crowns, and beetle galleries and/or larvae under the bark

(subalpine fir).

F. Dead, red, or fading crowns, pitch streaking evident on tree boles (Douglas-fir trees).

G. Snow bend or other physical damage.

H. Numerous branch brooms, dwarf mistletoe plants, branch swellings or branch cankers.

I. Numerous branch swellings, rodent chewing, or branch flagging.

14. Remove slash from all road surfaces, road cuts, road fills, and culverts. Any slash that will impede roadside drainage will be removed.

15. Ensure that project activities occurring in treatment units adjacent to or on off-road vehicle trails allow for travel and safe passage of off-road vehicle trail traffic. Place signs with visible instruction in advance of project sites alerting trail users of heavy equipment traffic, and work areas.

16. Fences may be located within or adjacent to treatment units. Do not fell trees across or otherwise damage fencing. Any fencing damaged by the contractor will be restored to original condition by the contractor.

17. Locate vehicle service and fueling areas, chemical storage and use areas, and waste dumps and areas on gentle upland sites. Mix, load, and clean on gentle upland sites.

18. Install contour berms and trenches around vehicle service and refueling areas, chemical storage and use areas, and waste dumps to fully contain spills. Use liners as needed to prevent seepage to ground water.

19. Bury all human waste and toilet paper at least 6” deep at least 200’ from any water.

20. If used by the contractor, remove and properly dispose of flagging.

21. If active goshawk nests are detected in pre-work surveys in the FR 554, then treatment could be delayed until nesting season is completed. Project Administrator will notify Contractor of any goshawk nests in the project area and associated delays.

22. The Contractor shall exercise due care to minimize damage to the selected leave trees.

23. The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, supplies, and materials necessary to thin tree stands on the USFS lands described in the Contract.

24. The Contractor shall cut trees with a methos approved by the Agency.

25. The Contractor shall be responsible for signing the work area in both directions of travel prior to entering the work zone on publicly accessible USFS land. (Example MEN & EQUIPMENT AT WORK).

The Contractor shall provide notifications two days prior to beginning work. The Contractor will be required to meet with the Project Administrator before starting project work.

26. Bear Safety: The Contractor and their employees are advised the project area is within occupied grizzly bear habitat. To minimize adverse interactions between bears and humans, the Shoshone National Forest has issued a Food Storage Order, which requires all food, food scraps, garbage, other bear attractants shall be removed from the National Forest daily or stored in acceptable bear-resistant containers. The Contractor and all employees shall be informed and in compliance with the Food Storage order may result in a notice of non-compliance, fines, and /or contract actions including suspension or cancellation of contracts as needed to resolve bear-human conflicts or conflicts with other wildlife.

A. An electronic version of Food Storage Order is available for the Shoshone National Forest and can be accessed here:

B. English/ Spanish versions: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE

27. Fire Criteria:

A. Contractor shall use caution when working in the forests, have spark arrestors on equipment, have fire suppression tools available, and take immediate action to extinguish any fires that occur in the vicinity. Contractor shall have within a three (3) minute round-trip of each saw: One

(1) round pointed #0 to #2 long handled shovel with serviceable handle and one (1) 6BC rated fire extinguisher.

Fire Danger Rating

Operational Requirement

Low to High

Normal Operations and administration as specific in the Contract.

Very High In addition to normal requirements, the Contractor will be required to:

A. Fuel Chainsaws and equipment on an area the has been cleared of all vegetation for a radius of three feet (3’) beyond the reach of the equipment.

(Landing and roads will meet this requirement)

B. Have a minimum of a ten (10) pound BC rated fire extinguisher at the fueling site and any maintenance sites.

C. Have fire tools on site for each employee on site.

Extreme In addition to the “Normal” and “Very High” requirements, the Contractor will be required to:

A. Operate only between the hours of 5:00 PM and 10:00 AM B. Remain in the area for one (1) hour following the shutdown of harvesting and cutting to insure there is no smoke in the area and that no fires have ignited.

Red Flag Alert

Determined by Contract Administrator

Attachment C