US Forest Service Region 1/Region 4 Mechanical Thinning IDIQ

This is a sources sought notice, actual soliciation will be issued at a later date. The U.S. Forest Service is in need of mechanical fuels reduction and stand improvement activities to reduce accumulations of hazardous fuels throughout Region 1 and Region 4 (North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Western WY). Projects are located in reforested areas, natural and managed stands of timber of all ages, size, and species, shrub fields, or grass areas. These activities may include reducing leave tree densities by the deliberate selection of trees to be removed from the site based upon silvicultural prescriptions; piling of naturally occuring and harvest related fuels; chipping and/or mastication; and other fuels reduction related activities. Fuel loadings may range from less than ½ ton per acres to as high as 200 tons or more per acre. The desired outcome of these activities is to improve the overall health and condition of the stands by providing more space for the leave trees to grow and develop, therefore reducing the risk of insect infestations and disease outbreaks, and reduce the potential for wildfires to transition into crown fires. It is anticipated that this work will be completed with conventional logging systems or heavy equipment with some of the work completed by hand. This will be a Multiple Award contract with tasks issued by Task Orders.  Please send a response back to Michael.J.Lucas@usda.gov if interested in receiving a notice when solicitation is posted.