Background: The BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 3 shall be awarded using Stewardship Authority: Section 604 (16 USC 6591c) of Public Law 108-148 as amended by Section 8205 of Public Law 113-79, the Agricultural Act of 2014'Grants the U.S. Forest Service (Government) permanent authority to enter into stewardship contracts or agreements to achieve land management goals for the National Forests or public lands that meet local and rural community needs. Section 8205 supersedes the temporary authority granted to the Forest Service (Government) in section 347 of Public Law 105-277, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, 1999. Stewardship authority grants the Forest Service the authority to aggregate stewardship work activity requirements and solicit those requirements utilizing full and open competition. Project Location: The BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 3 project is located approximately 1 to 5 miles west of Detroit, OR within the burn scars of the Beachie Creek Fire and Lionshead Fire, both of which occurred in 2020. Portions of the Contract area also fall within the Opal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area (16 U.S. Code - 545b). The total project area is 1,843 acres in size and is located on the Detroit Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest. Access to the project is via FSR 46. The ground to be treated is within Sec 23-28, 32-34 & 36, T08S, R04E; Sec 31, T08S, R05E; Sec 2-5, & 11, T09S, R04E; Sec 6-8, 13-17, 20-26, 28, 35, & 36, T09S, R05E; Sec 19-29, T09S, R06E; Willamette Meridian, Surveyed & Unsurveyed, Marion County, Oregon. See maps included as attachments to the solicitation. These maps are geo-referenced for practical application using Avenza. Shapefiles have also been provided in a zip folder. A shapefile is a simple, nontopological format for storing geometric location and attributes information of geographic features. GIS (Geographic Information System) software is required to open and view these files. Period of Performance: The effective period of this contract is from date of award through 10/15/2029. Staggered deadlines apply to the Mandatory and Optional work. Fish logs shall be delivered to the designated deck locations not later than 10/15/2026. After careful consideration, it was determined that no operations shall occur between October 16 - May 14 except as detailed for Unit BC-4. See Section F of the solicitation for all completion deadlines and timing restrictions. Scope of Contract: The objectives of this project are to reduce the risks of hazardous fuels that have fallen across or remain standing along important access routes of the 2020 fire-affected road system so that access to and through the burned area can be restored. Fire severity varied across the treatment areas; burn severity maps and tables are included for planning purposes. Activities include performing mitigation of risk along roads from fire killed/damaged trees, reduction of roadside fuel accumulation and essential maintenance and reconstruction of roads. This will be done by accomplishing the following: - Cut and remove fire killed timber within 100 feet of roads from the Contract Area. Hazard trees to be cut are Designated by Prescription. Mechanized equipment shall operate on existing road prisms only (bottom of ditch to base of outside fill slope). - Fall hazard trees within Special Measure Areas (SMAs). SMAs may include Riparian Reserves, cultural resource areas, wildlife habitat protection areas or other areas that requires special protections such as the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area. This work is located within 100 feet of the road. SMAs do not overlap acres that require the cutting and removal of fire killed trees. - Within unit boundaries, fall and leave hazard trees that can strike the road outside of the 100-foot fuels removal area. - Perform small fuels treatment within 30 feet of roads. - Perform road reconstruction within the Contract Area. - Perform pre-haul, during-haul and post-haul road maintenance on designated roads within the Contract Area. - Yard and deliver fish logs to specified deck locations. - Fall and leave individual hazard trees that are outside of unit boundary but within striking distance of the road. Supplemental NEPA: The Willamette National Forest staff is currently working on a Supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) to reduce risks to forest workers; the anticipated decision date in Spring 2025. The proposed action change would allow off-road ground-based equipment operations to implement the remaining work of the 2020 Fire Affected Road System Risk Reduction Project on approximately 950 total acres within the previously authorized treatment area of the Beachie Creek and Lionshead Fire. If approved, equipment would be authorized to operate on flatter ground (generally less than 30% slope) where the direction a tree falls is less predictable or controlled and the impacts to soil resources are limited and consistent with Forest Plan standards. Approximately 135 acres may be available for off-road, ground-based equipment use in Phase 3 of the BCLH IRSC. If a final decision is made for the Supplemental EA during the solicitation period, an amendment shall be issued to allow equipment operation outside the road prism subject to specific technical requirements. In no instance would an amendment of this type be executed without approval of the Supplemental EA. Estimated Timber Volume and Species composition is as follows: Forest product volume estimates for the cut and removal of fire killed trees is provided below. Volume quantities are made available with the understanding that values shown are Forest Service estimates and are not guaranteed. Interested Contractors are urged to examine the individual contract areas and make their own estimates. Approved LIDAR and RAV data has been used to determine volume on the BCLH Stewardship IRSC Phase 3. Mandatory Acres - Cut and Remove Fire Killed Timber within 100 of the road: 190 acres - 16,850 volume (TONS) Optional Acres - Cut and Remove Fire Killed Timber within 100 of the road: 199 acres - 23,622 volume (TONS). Site Visit Date and Time: The Forest held a site visit in the fall of 2024 for prospective contractors to facilitate dialogue on contractual requirements that are anticipated in the contract and any operational limitations foreseen by attendees. Another site visit will be held on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. PDT with the initial meeting location at Detroit Ranger Station, 44125 North Santiam Highway SE, Detroit, OR 97342. Contractors shall email Karen Ruklic by noon on Monday, March 31, 2025, if they are planning to attend the meeting. Vendors that wish to view the site independently will need an approved Road Use Permit. Review the Project Area Access Instructions provided. Email Heidi Andersen (heidi.andersen@usda.gov), Brett Blundon (brett.blundon@usda.gov) and Darrin Neff (darrin.neff@usda.gov) at least 2 business days prior to visiting to complete the required paperwork and receive approval to access the roads and receive gate codes and/or key. The contract shall be awarded using a best value source selection method. Technical Proposals are required; see Sections L and M of the solicitation for instructions and evaluation details. The resulting contract shall be a firm, fixed price contract. Service Contract Act and Construction (Davis Bacon) Wage Determinations apply and have been provided as attachments to the solicitation. Construction Bonding: A bid bond or other acceptable bid guarantee valued at 20% of the construction total price offered (all Mandatory and Optional Items combined) shall be required and submitted with the initial offer. Bonding shall be required in connection to the value of the awarded construction work only. Payment and Performance bonds valued at 100% of the total construction price shall be required from the contract awardee. Point of contacts: Karen Ruklic, Contracting Officer, with the National Stewardship Contracting Branch at karen.ruklic@usda.gov, 208-702-3519 and Heidi Andersen, Disaster Recovery Project Manager, heidi.andersen@usda.gov, for questions regarding the solicitation. Follow this notice on sam.gov for future notifications. Total Project Planning Solicitation Timing: The BCLH Stewardship IRSC was broken into 3 phases based on geographic locations of roads planned for treatment. Phase 3 was prioritized higher due to partnership and budgetary considerations. For this reason, Phase 3 was solicited first. The plan at this time is to issue Phase 2 next. Phase 1 will be solicited last due to the fact that one of the major haul roads needed is currently planned for reconstruction in the summer of 2025. Update 3/13/2025 - new Attachment 4b Appendix D Road Reconstruction Plans was uploaded. Original document was corrupted. No changes were made to the body of the signed plans. The version dated 3/13/2025 shall be incorporated into the awarded contract. Amendment 0001 was issued on 3/26/25 to implement 2 FAR class deviations to ensure compliance with Executive Orders issued since 1/20/2025. Offerors must acknowledge receipt of this amendment as detailed on the SF 30 and utilize the amended version of Provision K.2 when submitting offers. Amendment 0002 was issued on 4/7/25 to incorporate the Pre-proposal Site Visit Notes and Pre-proposal Meeting Handout into the solicitation as Attachments 11. and 12.. Also, seven (7) changes/corrections were made to the solicitation or Attachment 1, Appendix A as detailed on the SF 30. Offerors must acknowledge receipt of this amendment as detailed on the SF 30.
