Forest Management Plan Services for 5 City Parks: Rouge Park, O'Hair Park, Eliza Howell Park, Balduck Park and Palmer Park

The City of Detroit Office of Contracting and Procurement, on behalf of the Landscape Development Unit within the General Services Department, is soliciting proposals for Forest Management Plan Services to develop comprehensive tree forest restoration plans for five city parks: Rouge Park, O'Hair Park, Eliza Howell Park, Balduck Park, and Palmer Park's Witherell Woods. The project requires qualified respondents to create four new Forest Restoration Plans and update an existing plan for Palmer Park's 72-acre Witherell Woods over a two-year contract period. Deliverables include site observations and descriptions, baseline ecological data collection using Floristic Quality Assessment methodology, mapping and monitoring frameworks, identification of management zones, and comprehensive community engagement activities encompassing three Restoration Plan Framework Meetings, 15 Community Stakeholder Meetings (three per park), and 36 bi-monthly coordination meetings over 18 months. Respondents must demonstrate a minimum of five years of experience providing similar services for projects of comparable scope and size, with evaluation based on five equally weighted criteria: relevant experience (20 points), capacity including key staff and equipment (20 points), strength of proposal (20 points), past performance (20 points), and pricing (20 points), for a total of 100 points. A virtual pre-proposal conference is scheduled for April 20, 2026, at 3:15 p.m. Eastern, with rolling questions accepted through May 8, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern and final answers posted by May 12, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Proposals are due by May 22, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern through the EUNA Bonfire Supplier Portal, with public recording of submissions at 3:30 p.m. the same day.

The City of Detroit offers equalization credits of up to 5 additional points for prime contractors certified as Detroit Headquartered, Detroit Based, Detroit Resident-owned, or Small/Micro Business Concerns, with subconstractor credits applied as a percentage of work allocation, provided equalized bids do not exceed 12 percent above the lowest responsible bid or $100,000, whichever is less. No incumbent vendors or specific current contractor information is identified in the solicitation documents. Respondents must comply with comprehensive federal requirements under 2 CFR Part 200 and USDA Forest Service provisions, including domestic content requirements of at least 55 percent for manufactured products under the Build America, Buy America Act, prevailing wage standards, Davis-Bacon Act compliance, and registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). The project is funded through a USDA Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act grant (Award No. 24-DG-11094200-123) supporting the Detroit Resilient Tree Canopy Initiative, with a total project budget of $10,000 comprising a $5,000 Meeting Allowance and $5,000 Additional Services allowance; however, the cost proposal bid sheet allows for optional services pricing including invasive species removal, monitoring activities, prescribed fire treatments, and tree removal by diameter class, suggesting the potential for contract values exceeding the base allocation. The City reserves the right to award one or multiple contracts, with any renewal options requiring Detroit City Council approval and signature by the Chief Procurement Officer.