Oak Wilt Stewardship IRSC

DESCRIPTION

The Oak Wilt 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 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: 34M Fuels Management Services. Stewardship authorities permit the Government to solicit this requirement as Full and Open competition.

Project Location:

The project is located On the Mississippi Bluffs Ranger District of the Shawnee National Forest, in Jackson County, Illinois.

Legal description is T.10S., R.3W., Section 8.

Period of Performance:  All work shall be completed by 11/01/2024.

Description of Work:

The objectives of this project are to remove known oak wilt infected and susceptible trees to improve stand composition to reduce risk of loss from insect and disease.  Implementation of root graft barrier (RGB) by tree removal and cut stump application of approved herbicide between infected and healthy oak trees.     

1. Within Unit 1 cut and remove included timber marked with a diagonal slash (green paint) at or above diameter breast height (DBH) on both sides of the tree and at the stump.
2. Within Unit 1 cut and chip or pile trees marked with a band of blue paint at or above DBH and at the stump. 
3. Within Unit 1 cut and leave trees marked with a blue stripe from DBH to the base of the trees or an X at DBH with a stump mark. 
4. Within Unit 1 apply herbicide within 30 minutes of the tree being cut on stems that are greater than 1” in diameter.
5. Spot surface haul road if applicable during and post haul activities. Rehabilitate existing parking lot post landing operations if applicable with spreading of surface rock.

Estimated Timber Volume and Species composition is as follows:

SPECIES                     PRODUCT                 QUANTITY              UNIT OF MEASURE

Hardwood Other         Sawtimber                 27.00                       CCF

Oak                              Sawtimber                 359.00                     CCF

Hardwood Other         Pulpwood                 346.00                     CCF

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. The site visit will be held on July 26th, 2023, at _8:00____ a.m. CST with a meeting location at the parking lot within the contract area. To reach the contract area from the town of Grand Tower, IL, travel north approximately 3 miles on Route 3. Turn east on Oakwood Bottoms Rd for approximately 0.75 miles. The parking lot is on the south side of the road after crossing the railroad tracks.

Please RSVP for scheduled site visit by Tuesday July  25th and send questions or interest to  Brian Theitje at  brian.h.thietje@usda.gov.  (618) 833-8577 ext. 102 or Kasandra Meyer at Kasandra.meyer@usda.gov. Follow this notice on SAM for future notifications.

It is anticipated that the Request for Quotes with all attachments shall be issued on or around July 28, 2023. The contract shall be awarded using a best value source selection method; the resulting contract shall be a firm fixed price commercial services contract.