Lund Fire Chaining

The State of Utah Division of Purchasing and Division of Wildlife Resources issued an Invitation for Bid (IFB) for the Lund Fire Chaining project, solicitation JH21-122, seeking chaining services to rehabilitate areas affected by the 2020 Lund Fire in Iron County. The procurement specifically requires two steel tracked tractors with drawbars capable of pulling a 240-foot Ely anchor chain to treat approximately 454.9 acres located northwest of Cedar City. Key project objectives include removing pinyon pine and juniper through strategic chaining, with precise operational requirements such as chaining on contour and maintaining maximum tractor spacing of 100 feet. Contractor qualifications include providing skilled operators, two steel tracked tractors with over 200 horsepower, and necessary equipment like a welder and GPS/smartphone for tracking project boundaries. The bid opening was on 1/25/2021, with a closing date of 2/1/2021, and a mandatory contract completion date of March 15, 2021, with no possible extensions due to wildlife habitat use timing stipulations. Bids were to be submitted on a per-acre basis, with no fuel surcharges allowed, and the contract to be awarded based on lowest bid price.

The contract opportunity was exclusively restricted to contractors on the State of Utah Rangeland Pre-Qual List, effectively limiting potential bidders to a pre-approved group of specialized providers. Mike Kesler Enterprises was ultimately awarded the contract as the lowest cost responsive and responsible bidder. The government would provide the Ely chain and replacement parts, while the contractor remained responsible for all equipment, labor, and operational requirements. While no specific budget range was explicitly detailed in the documentation, the procurement was structured as a per-acre bidding process. The project's geographic location in Iron County and its specific wildlife habitat rehabilitation focus suggest this was a specialized environmental management contract designed to restore and manage rangeland ecosystems following fire damage, with strict operational and environmental compliance requirements.