2026 Apple River Canyon Tree Planting

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forest Resources, is soliciting a contractor for the 2026 Apple River Canyon Tree Planting project at Apple River Canyon State Park in Jo Daviess County. This reforestation mitigation project requires the contractor to plant 60,000 hardwood seedlings across approximately 33 acres at a density of 726 seedlings per acre, including 12,000 white oak, 5,000 bur oak, 1,000 black oak, 500 red oak, 750 shagbark hickory, and 750 bitternut hickory seedlings, with row spacing of 10 feet apart and 6-foot spacing between seedlings within rows. The contractor must complete all planting work between April 1, 2026 and June 30, 2026, and apply one pre- or post-planting herbicide treatment to suppress weed and grass competition in four-foot-wide bands centered over each tree row. The deliverables include achievement of an 80 percent survival rate for planted stock and herbicide treatment effectiveness of at least 70 percent over 90 percent of treated acreage within 30 days of application. Required qualifications include direct experience planting hardwood reforestation seedlings on 15 acres or more within the last five years with at least two verifiable references, a valid Illinois Department of Agriculture commercial pesticide applicator's license, and at least one herbicide application reference demonstrating experience treating hardwood tree planting fields on 10 acres or more within the last five years. The contractor must own or have access to mechanized planting equipment including tractors and pull-behind tree seedling planters and must maintain a crew of at least two people. The bid due date is March 17, 2026.

The contract documents do not specify set-aside designations or restrictions limiting competition to particular types of organizations, and no incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified. All vendors must comply with 33 mandatory state certifications addressing legal, financial, and operational requirements, including prohibitions against bribery, criminal conduct, and unlawful discrimination, as well as maintenance of drug-free workplaces for contracts exceeding $5,000 with 25 or more employees. The contractor must maintain insurance coverage including $1,000,000 in general commercial liability per occurrence and worker's compensation as required by law, with invoicing to be submitted electronically to Kyle Burkwald at Kyle.Burkwald@illinois.gov within 60 days of work completion and approval. The contract is subject to Illinois prevailing wage requirements where applicable and the State Prompt Payment Act, with payment contingent upon contract execution and satisfactory performance. Records must be retained for three years from final payment or five years if federal funds are utilized. The State has not published an explicit award value or budget range for this procurement.