Freeland stewardship irsc - black hills NF, hell canyon RD, R2 south dakota

FREELAND STEWARDSHIP IRSC – Black Hills National Forest, Hell Canyon Ranger District, R2 South Dakota

Background: The Freeland Stewardship IRSC 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.

NAICS: 115310: Support Services for Forestry, size standard: 20.5M Fuels Management Services. Stewardship authorities permit the Government to solicit this requirement as Full and Open competition.

Project Location:

The project is located approximately 13 miles southwest of Custer, SD, adjacent to Pass Creek Road (Cnty-273) and in/or adjacent to the Martin OHV Trail System. The project extends approximately north from the junction of Pass Creek Road and FSR 310; to the south - FSR 27; to the west - from the Rodgers Shack Fire scar; to the east - the 18 Mile Timber Sale.

The total project area is approximately 7,830 acres, of which 356 acres are private lands. No activities are proposed on any other than NFS lands. The entire project area is within the administrative boundaries of the Hell Canyon Ranger District, Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.

Legal description is T4S R3E Sections 31-32; T5S R2E, Sections 10-15 and 24; and T5S R3E, Sections 4-9,16-21, and 29-30; BHM, Custer County, South Dakota, Surveyed.

Description of Work:

The Black Hills National Forest is currently preparing the Freeland Stewardship IRSC which aims to increase the wildfire resilience of the project area, increase stand vigor, improve and protect wildlife habitat, and move landscape-level vegetation conditions toward objectives identified in the Forest Plan using commercial and non-commercial treatments within ponderosa pine stands and prairie grasslands. Goals will be accomplished through a series of silvicultural and fuels management activities designed to reduce stand density, remove pine encroachment from grasslands, and manage ladder and surface fuels within stands. The resultant contract will include Forest product removal of sawtimber and non-saw logs on approximately 3,000 acres. Green biomass will be offered as product subject to agreement.

The following work activities are anticipated as mandatory service items:

     1. Logging of included timber
     2. Hauling of included timber
     3. Road maintenance and reconstruction
     4. Fuel breaks along selected roads and privately owned lands
     5. Specific temporary road closures perpendicular to trail
     6. Precommercial thinning with mastication

Additional acres of precommercial thinning with mastication and pine removal from prairied grasslands will be included as  optional service items.

Pre-Solicitation Site Visit Date and Time:

Prior to solicitation, the Forest will hold a site visit for prospective contractors to facilitate dialogue on contractual requirements that are anticipated in the contract and any operational limitations foreseen by attendees. A pre-bid trip is scheduled for Thursday, March 31, 2022, at 9:00 am (MDT) at the Hawkwright Motorized Trailhead parking lot. The trailhead parking lot can be navigated to from Custer by heading west on Hwy-16 for approximately 9 miles, turning south onto Pass Creek Rd for approximately 6.5 miles until the destination is reached on the east side of Pass Creek Rd. Send questions or interest to Rayma Daigle at rayma.daigle@usda.gov.Follow this notice for future notifications.

It is anticipated that the Request for Quotes with all attachments shall be issued on or around the end of June 2022. The contract shall be awarded using a best value source selection method; the resulting contract shall be a firm fixed price commercial services contract. All work shall be completed by March 31, 2028.

The Awardee shall furnish all labor, materials, equipment, supervision, tools, transportation, operating supplies, and incidentals necessary to perform the work in accordance with the specifications and provisions and clauses of the contract. Bid Bonds, Payment Bonds, and Performance Bonds are not required for this project.

All Contractors must be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov/ to be eligible for award under this solicitation. If not actively registered by time of proposal evaluations, you will be found non-responsive. Registration in SAM is a free service – you do not need to pay to register in this system. If your registration is not active, you will not be considered for award.

The Contracting Officer for this project is Mark Phillipp with the National Stewardship Contracting Branch and is physically located in Oregon.