Pinecrest Interior Stewardship

Added: Jul 14, 2010 3:56 pm RECOVERY:  This project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and is subject to the requirements of the act.  The full solicitation containing all information regarding this project will be posted on fedbizopps.gov on or about July 28, 2010.

This project is located on the Stanislaus National Forest.Description of Work

This solicitation and any resultant contract is a stewardship project in accordance with Section 323 of Public Law 108-7 (16 U.S.C. 2104 Note, as revised February 28, 2003 to reflect sec. 323 of J.J. Res. 2 as enrolled), the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, amending Public Law 105-277, sec. 347. This is a commercial item acquisition that has been tailored to fit the Government's method of trading goods for services.

The purpose of this contract is to secure a complete set of services for developing a defensible fuel profile zone within the community of Pinecrest through commercial thinning as well as improving forest and meadow health. There are 9 work activity offer items that will be treated in addition to thinning and removal of commercial sawlogs on 219 acres. These stewardship work activity items are described in detail in Appendix A and attachments. The nine items have differing requirements for treatment of the material, see specifications below. Treatment areas consist of: day use and commercial areas; cabin lots; campgrounds; Summit Ranger District Office Compound; and Group Sites and Camps. Commercial thinning will be accomplished through cutting of individually designated trees. Reduction of hazardous fuels will be accomplished by the removal and/or treatment of thinned trees, associated slash and stump (Sporax) treatment.

The primary service work tasks entail hand felling and bucking of trees along with associated stump treatment, erosion control, road maintenance, traffic control, slash treatment, resource and improvement protection.
Service items include, but are not limited to: felling and bucking of sawlog and non-sawlog trees; slash treatment of small trees, live cull trees, tops of sawlog trees and limbs, etc.; stump treatment; flush-cutting of all stumps; erosion control; road maintenance; improvement protection; resource protection; and Himalayan Blackberry removal.

The skidding, loading and hauling of sawlog products are not service items and were included in the appraisal in order to determine the value of forest products.

All Included Timber (sawtimber and non-sawtimber) has been marked with tree marking paint. Maximum tree diameter is 29.9 inches at dbh. Minimum tree height for non-sawlog material is 3 feet tall. Required equipment on project area include: a self-loading log truck; and rubber tired equipment with endline capability. In addition, in order to harvest timber and protect improvements it is anticipated that the Contractor will also need: a boom truck (to piece down some difficult designated trees); tree climbing gear; line pulling capability in standing trees; and large tires to protect roads when felling trees into the road prism. Contractor will be responsible for repairing any damage to improvements as a result of their operations. Contractor shall need a metal detector to find metal in designated trees. All trees shall be felled manually. Unless otherwise agreed, mechanized felling equipment is prohibited within project area. The designated non-sawlog material (tops of sawlog trees, limbs, and small trees) will be chipped and removed to designated locations within Units 23D, 23O and 23P in accordance with the following terms and specifications. Recut stumps and bole sections with embedded metal shall also be disposed of. Hand piling will be allowed in more remote areas. Sporax (annossum root disease prevention) will be applied to all stumps 2 inches in diameter and greater. Contractors will be required to have a Certificate of Liability Insurance of $2 million to cover tree removal.

A Tuolumne County Encroachment Permit is an additional requirement of this contract. Any site inspection or other encroachment permit fees are in addition to other charges and shall be paid by the Contractor directly to the County. A traffic control plan shall be agreed to by Contractor and Forest Service prior to commencing operations. Purchaser must have traffic control signs acceptable to Forest Service (see examples in Appendix D) and post flagmen where appropriate while limiting traffic closure to spans of less than 10 minutes if detours are unavailable.

Prior to harvest operations, Contractor shall contact the: Pinecrest Permittees Association (PPA) in regards to improvement locations (water, sewer, gas lines, etc.). Contractor should not anticipate any line drops (phone or distribution lines) occurring within the Project Area.

 Project Location

The entire Project Area is within the Summit Ranger District on the Stanislaus National Forest.

The Project Area lies within the community of Pinecrest, CA around cabins and other structures. This includes all associated amenities such as telephone lines and boxes, distribution power lines, propane tanks, buried sewer, water and gas lines, fire hydrants, water faucets, rock retaining walls, fences, roads, trails, signs, barriers, picnic tables, fire rings, pedestal barbecues, outside furniture, garbage cans, outbuildings, meadows, amphitheatre, controlled areas, etc. The legal description of the Project Area is T.4N., R.18E., Sections 15, 21, 22, 28 & 29, MDB&M.

PRE-BID TOUR INFORMATION WILL BE ADDRESSED IN SOLICITATION.