Escalante Desert Range Lop and Scatter

The State of Utah Division of Purchasing and Division of Wildlife Resources issued an Invitation for Bid (IFB) for the Escalante Desert Range Lop and Scatter project (Solicitation AS20021) on August 1, 2019, with a bid closing date of August 15, 2019. The procurement seeks a contractor to perform wildfire hazard reduction and wildlife habitat improvement services by hand cutting and scattering Pinyon pine and Juniper trees across approximately 932 acres northwest of Cedar City, Iron County. Specific project requirements include cutting standing live or dead trees and saplings, with mandatory lopping and scattering of cut material so that slash height does not exceed 24 inches above ground and no cut material exceeds 48 inches in length. Contractors must provide a minimum 5-person crew equipped with chainsaws and GPS or smartphone mapping capabilities. The project sites are located on private lands with elevations ranging from 5,100 to 5,800 feet, requiring four-wheel drive vehicle access, and must be completed by October 10, 2019. Bids were to be submitted on a per-acre basis, with all mobilization and operational costs included, and bidders were required to provide references demonstrating prior lop and scatter experience.

The procurement was exclusively open to contractors on the State of Utah Rangeland Pre-Qual list, effectively restricting participation to a predetermined set of qualified vendors. No specific disadvantaged enterprise set-asides were mentioned in the documentation. The contract was ultimately awarded to 3 B's Forestry, Inc. for the lowest responsive bid. No government-provided materials or fuel surcharges were to be negotiated, and bidders were expected to cover all associated costs. While specific budget details were not explicitly stated, the per-acre bidding structure suggests that the total contract value would be determined by the actual acres treated and the rates submitted by the winning bidder. The project represents a targeted approach to rangeland management, focusing on vegetation control and habitat improvement in a specific geographic area of Iron County, Utah.