Bitterroot Front 10 Year G-Z IRSC

10/16/2025: Share draft documents and information on second site visit

7/17/2025: Added Industry meeting attendees, presentation and notes

The U.S. Forest Service is re-issuing this formal Request for Information (RFI) in connection with the Bitterroot National Forest 10-Year Integrated Resource Stewardship Contract IRSC for projects in the Bitterroot Front Landscape Planning Area and potentially other areas across the forest. The objectives of this initiative are to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire by accelerating and expanding forest restoration treatments and to bolster the region’s wood utilization capacity by providing a consistent supply of wood products.

Project Overview and Scope:

• Approximately 13,000 acres is planned for treatment across the Bitterroot Front Planning Area over a 10‑year period, with the potential to add more acres adjacent to the planning area. Four project areas may be offered at contract award for immediate implementation. Additional project areas are planned to be offered on an annual basis subject to funding. Two project areas may be offered for timber sale layout at the start of this project.
• A minimum of 90,000 CCF (approximately 45 million board feet) of commercial timber is anticipated to be offered over the contract life; volumes may fluctuate annually.
• Types of Service Work contemplated include:
  • Road maintenance, reconditioning, construction, and decommissioning. Reconstruction plans and design are not contemplated to be activities.
  • Timber removal including logging and transportation.
  • Timber sale preparation activities which include harvest unit layout, GPS traversing, unit boundary marking, interior marking and cruising.
  • Biomass removal including thinning non-merchantable material, slashing, chipping, staging, transportation and other related activities.

Anticipated Terms:

• Minimum timber value estimates will be based on base rates and/or appraised rates if appropriate as determined from the Forest Service’s Timber appraisal system. Offerors will have the opportunity to provide competitive pricing on offered forest products at the task order level as projects are issued.
• Payment terms for service work items are anticipated to be by the acre or linear foot for most treatments. Road maintenance and reconstruction activities may be priced by the mile or contract quantity. If transportation of forest products is a service item, delivered tons or CCF are anticipated to be used. Offerors will have the opportunity to provide competitive prices at the task order level as projects are solicited.
• The projects may include both mandatory and optional service items; product value at awarded rates will be used to offset the cost-of-service work items.
• Davis-Bacon wages and certified payrolls will be required for all Road Construction requirements. Service Contract Act wages will apply towards all non-construction service work requirements.
• Road construction requirements will be subject to bonding at applicable regulatory thresholds.
• Depending on the scale of scope in task orders, 3-5 year periods of performance are contemplated.

A site visit is scheduled for October 28, 2025, to discuss the project in detail and share information. There is no planned virtual option for this site visit at this time. Additionally, draft documents are being shared. These materials are being provided forinformation and review purposes only. This is NOT a Solicitation Announcement, nor is it a Request for Proposal. This request does not obligate the Government in any contract award.

Feedback, comments, or questions regarding the draft documents are welcome and may be submitted to the contact person listed below.

The U.S. Forest Service is issuing this formal Request for Information (RFI) in connection with the Bitterroot National Forest 10-Year Integrated Resource Stewardship Contract-Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IRSC/IDIQ) for projects in the Bitterroot Front Landscape Planning Area and potentially other areas across the forest. The objectives of this initiative are to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire by accelerating and expanding forest restoration treatments and to bolster the region’s wood utilization capacity by providing a consistent supply of wood products.

Project Overview and Scope:

• Approximately 13,000 acres is planned for treatment across the Bitterroot Front Planning Area over a 10‑year period, with the potential to add more acres adjacent to the planning area. Four project areas may be offered at contract award for immediate implementation. Additional project areas are planned to be offered on an annual basis subject to funding. Two project areas may be offered for timber sale layout at the start of this project.
• A minimum of 90,000 CCF (approximately 45 million board feet) of commercial timber is anticipated to be offered over the contract life; volumes may fluctuate annually.
• Types of Service Work contemplated include:
  • Road maintenance, reconditioning, construction, and decommissioning. Reconstruction plans and design are not contemplated to be activities.
  • Timber removal including logging and transportation.
  • Timber sale preparation activities which include harvest unit layout, GPS traversing, unit boundary marking, interior marking and cruising.
  • Biomass removal including thinning non-merchantable material, slashing, chipping, staging, transportation and other related activities.

Anticipated Terms:

• Minimum timber value estimates will be based on base rates and/or appraised rates if appropriate as determined from the Forest Service’s Timber appraisal system. Offerors will have the opportunity to provide competitive pricing on offered forest products at the task order level as projects are issued.
• Payment terms for service work items are anticipated to be by the acre or linear foot for most treatments. Road maintenance and reconstruction activities may be priced by the mile or contract quantity. If transportation of forest products is a service item, delivered tons or CCF are anticipated to be used. Offerors will have the opportunity to provide competitive prices at the task order level as projects are solicited.
• The projects may include both mandatory and optional service items; product value at awarded rates will be used to offset the cost-of-service work items.
• Davis-Bacon wages and certified payrolls will be required for all Road Construction requirements. Service Contract Act wages will apply towards all non-construction service work requirements.
• Road construction requirements will be subject to bonding at applicable regulatory thresholds.
• Depending on the scale of scope in task orders, 3-5 year periods of performance are contemplated.

A meeting is scheduled for July 10, 2025, to provide additional background information and discuss the project in detail. Attendees can participate either in person or virtually—please refer to the attached RFI letter for all relevant details. Additionally, the RFI letter includes eleven key questions; your responses to these will greatly assist the project management team in refining the project’s scope.