BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 2

Background: The BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 2 shall be awarded under the following authority:

Stewardship Authority: Section 604 (16 USC 6591c) of Public Law 108-148 as amended by Section 8205 of Public Law 113-79, the Agricultural Act of 2014—Grants the U.S. Forest Service (Government) permanent authority to enter into stewardship contracts or agreements to achieve land management goals for the National Forests or public lands that meet local and rural community needs. Section 8205 supersedes the temporary authority granted to the Forest Service (Government) in section 347 of Public Law 105-277, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, 1999.

Stewardship authority grants the Forest Service the authority to aggregate stewardship work activity requirements and solicit those requirements utilizing full and open competition.

Project Location: The BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 2 project is located approximately 2 to 12 miles east of Detroit, OR within the burn scars of the Lionshead Fire, which occurred in 2020. The total project area is 1,152 acres in size and is located on the Detroit Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest.  Access to the project is via Highway 22. The ground to be treated is within Sec 1, 7-9, 12, 17, 18 T10S, R05E; Sec 20, 22-29, 32-36, T10S, R06E; Sec 15-31, T10S, R07E; Willamette Meridian, Surveyed & Unsurveyed, Marion and Linn Counties, Oregon. See maps included as attachments to the solicitation. These maps are geo-referenced for practical application using Avenza. Shapefiles have also been provided in a zip folder.  A shapefile is a simple, nontopological format for storing geometric location and attributes information of geographic features. GIS (Geographic Information System) software is required to open and view these files.   

Period of Performance: The effective period of this contract is from date of award through 09/30/2030. Staggered deadlines apply to the Mandatory and Optional Work. See Section F of the solicitation for all completion deadlines and timing restrictions.

Scope of Contract: The objectives of this project are to reduce the risks of hazardous fuels that have fallen across or remain standing along important access routes within the 2020 fire-affected road system so that access to and through the burned area can be restored. Fire severity varied across the treatment areas; burn severity maps and tables are included for planning purposes.  

Activities include performing mitigation of risk along roads from fire killed/damaged trees, reduction of roadside fuel accumulation and essential maintenance and reconstruction of roads. The following work activities are required. The work is broken out as Mandatory and Optional work in the solicitation.

• Cut and remove fire killed timber within 100 feet of roads from the Contract Area. Hazard trees to be cut are Designated by Prescription.  Mechanized ground-based equipment may operate outside of the road prism on slopes generally less than 30%.  Additional mechanized ground-based restrictions apply for some Special Measure Areas (SMAs).
• Fall hazard trees within Special Measure Areas (SMAs). SMAs may include Riparian Reserves, cultural resource areas, wildlife habitat protection areas or other areas that requires special protections. SMAs do not overlap acres that require the cutting and removal of fire killed trees.
•  Within unit boundaries, fall and leave hazard trees that can strike the road outside of the 100-foot fuels removal area.
•  Perform small fuels treatment within 30 feet of roads.
•  Perform road reconstruction within the Contract Area.
•  Perform pre-haul, during-haul and post-haul road maintenance on designated roads within the Contract Area.
• Fall and leave individual hazard trees that are outside of units but within striking distance of the road.  
• Treat hazardous fuels in Units LH-15, LH-63, LH-64, and LH-64B.

Estimated Timber Volume and Species composition is as follows:

Forest product volume estimates for the cut and removal of fire killed trees is provided below. Volume quantities are made available with the understanding that values shown are Forest Service estimates and are not guaranteed. Interested Contractors are urged to examine the individual contract areas and make their own estimates. Approved LIDAR and RAV data has been used to determine volume on the BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 2.

Mandatory Acres - Cut and Remove Fire Killed Timber within 100’ of the road: 23,186 volume (TONS); Optional Acres - Cut and Remove Fire Killed Timber within 100’ of the road: 41,266 volume (TONS)

Site Visit Date and Time:

The Forest held a site visit in the fall of 2024 for prospective contractors to facilitate dialogue on contractual requirements that are anticipated in the contract and any operational limitations foreseen by attendees. A second site visit will be held on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. PDT with the initial meeting location at Detroit Ranger Station, 44125 North Santiam Highway SE, Detroit, OR 97342. Contractors shall email Karen Ruklic by noon on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, if they are planning to attend the meeting.

Vendors that wish to view the site independently will need an approved Road Use Permit and codes for 3 gates. Review the Project Area Access Instructions provided as an attachment. Email Heidi Andersen (heidi.andersen@usda.gov), Brett Blundon (brett.blundon@usda.gov) and Darrin Neff (darrin.neff@usda.gov) at least 2 business days prior to visiting to complete the required paperwork and receive approval to access the roads and receive gates codes and/or key.

The contract shall be awarded using a best value source selection method; technical proposals are required. See Sections L and M of the solicitation for instructions and evaluation detail. The resulting contract shall be awarded based on a firm fixed price. Service Contract Act and Construction (Davis Bacon) Wage Determinations apply and have been provided as attachments to the solicitation.

Construction Bonding:  A bid bond or other acceptable bid guarantee valued at 20% of the construction total price offered (all Mandatory and Optional Road Reconstruction Items combined) is required and must submitted with the initial offer. The bid bond must be executed by the prime contractor. Bonding shall be required in connection to the value of the awarded construction work only. Payment and Performance bonds valued at 100% of the total construction price shall be required from the contract awardee.

Point of contacts: Karen Ruklic, Contracting Officer, with the National Stewardship Contracting Branch at karen.ruklic@usda.gov, 208-702-3519 and Heidi Andersen, Disaster Recovery Project Manager, heidi.andersen@usda.gov, for questions regarding the solicitation. Follow this notice on sam.gov for future notifications.

Total Project Planning Solicitation Timing: The BCLH Stewardship IRSC was broken into 3 phases based on geographic locations of roads planned for treatment. Phase 3 was prioritized higher due to partnership and budgetary considerations.  Phase 3 has been awarded. Due to funding/workload/timing concerns, Phase 1 was solicited next given that it was the largest of the phases. The deadline for receipt of offers for Phase 3 was 7/28/25.  Phase 2 is the last phase of the overall project being solicited. 

Amendment 0001 was issued on 8/21/2025 to incorporate the Pre-proposal Site Visit Notes and Pre-proposal Meeting Handout into the solicitation as Attachments 14 and 15.  Clarifications/corrections were also made to the solicitation as detailed on the SF30.  A corrected SF33 has been supplied for use submitting offers.  The original version mistakenly included a "DRAFT" watermark.  The erroneous watermark has been removed.  Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment as detailed on the SF30.  The offer deadline has not been extended.