Nursery Weeding and Thinning

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service is seeking a small business contractor to perform weeding and thinning services at the JW Toumey Nursery in the Ottawa National Forest, located in Watersmeet, Michigan. The solicitation requires manual removal of multiple seedlings from greenhouse containers and unwanted vegetation from bareroot seedling beds, with specific guidelines for preserving seedling health and maintaining precise cultivation standards. Contractors must submit a technical proposal, price proposal, and representations and certifications by April 10, 2025, via email to shad.stoddard@usda.gov. The government will evaluate offers based on past performance, experience, project management, quality control plan, and work progress schedule, with these technical factors being approximately equal to price. Offerors are encouraged to conduct site visits and can arrange them by calling the nursery office at (906)358-4523.

This contract is a 100% small business set-aside under NAICS code 115112 for Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating, with services scheduled from March 15 through September 30, 2025. The work involves thinning containers with Styrofoam (160 and 198 cells) and plastic (98 cells) with estimated quantities of 4,500, 1,200, and 900 containers respectively, as well as two rounds of weeding for 1-0, 2-0, and 3-0/4-0 seedling beds ranging from 10,000 to 80,000 lineal feet. The place of performance is Watersmeet, Michigan 49969, with wage rates determined by the U.S. Department of Labor's Service Contract Act, including hourly rates for forestry-related job classifications and additional benefits. Contractors will be subject to daily disincentive charges of $150 for work not meeting technical specifications, with infractions tracked across thinning and weeding activities. The actual quantities and timelines will depend on seedling germination, environmental conditions, and weed pressure.