F--CRLA SOUTH 62 PHASE 2 CUT AND PILE

NPS - Crater Lake National Park (CRLA) - Phase 2 - South HWY 62 Fuels Reduction and Vegetation Management Project The National Park Service - Washington Office - Contracting Operations - Strategic Branch as a requirement for a single contractor to reduce the fuel load and change fuel arrangement inside the Crater Lake National Park (CRLA)s boundary by mechanically (with chainsaws only) cutting and piling small diameter (< 7 DBH) conifers and dead trees/snags (<13) along South Highway 62. No heavy equipment (i.e. feller-bunchers, skidders, etc.) are authorized. The objective of this project is to reduce the fuel load and change fuel arrangement to reduce the intensity of wildland fire along the highway, which is the primary road leading into and out of the park from the South. There are only three egress routes from the park and over the last several years limited egress was a significant concern during major wildfire events. This project will not only provide safe egress of visitors, park staff, and Concessionaire employees, it will also lessen the intensity along the roadside and enable firefighters to safely try and contain a wildfire. The Contractor shall furnish all equipment and sufficient personnel for selected maintenance (i.e., chain saws, tools, proper personal protective equipment, etc.) and all related incidental work as in accordance with the unit specifications stated herein. No Government furnished property shall be provided. GENERAL: This is a NEW requirement. This is a PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE only and does not constitute a solicitation; accordingly, no response is due at this time. No questions nor phone call will be accepted about this pre-solicitation notice. All questions and phone calls will be addressed after the solicitation is posted through official amendments. Specific instructions on submitting proposals will be contained in the solicitation documents. It is anticipated that the solicitation will be issued sometime after July 25, 2024! The entire solicitation package, including all attachments, will be available electronic through SAM.gov only. Paper copies of this solicitation are not and will not be made available. Anyone wishing to participate in this proposed procurement must obtain their copy from SAM.gov | Home. Copies will not be mailed from the Contracting Office. All amendments will be posted on SAM.gov | Home. Contractors will be solely responsible for obtaining amendments from this site to update files. PROJECT SCOPE: The Contractor shall provide all material, labor, and equipment required to perform the work described herein according to the contract plans and specifications. The general scope of work includes: Objectives: Thinning Prescription: - Thin Conifers over 12 tall to 7 DBH. Leave all live trees over 7 DBH. - Limb all live and dead branches on leave trees 6 to 8 feet above ground without reducing the live crown to less than 50% of the overall tree height. All pruning stobs will be less than 1/2 inch in length on all sides. - Leave a minimum of ONE tree every 15 feet. If all trees are less than 7 DBH, pick one tree, with a preference toward red fir and mountain hemlock. Also look for the most vigorous tree or the one with the least visual defects for the leave tree. - Cut and pile all - ladder fuels within the drip line of existing trees and moving material at least 7 feet beyond remaining trees. Ladder fuels include brush greater than 1 foot tall and trees up to 7 inches DBH. Trees greater than 7 inches DBH SHALL NOT be removed. - Burn piles will not be located at the base of remaining trees. - Cut all regeneration and shrubs in the ditch alongside the road. - General Appearance - Avoid straight lines, provide vertical diversity, avoid - sterilization. Leave small clumps of trees and vary spacing. - Flush cut all stumps flat no greater than 3 from the ground as measured on the uphill side. All stumps shall be flat cut with no acute angle. - Snags (dead standing trees) - Cut dead trees/snags less than 13 DBH, leave all dead trees/snags greater than 13 DBH. - Woody Debris - Cut and pile all down material less than 7 in diameter. Leave all down material 7 and greater in their entirety. Avoid bucking logs that are not going to be piled. - No cutting of live 5-needle pines (see attached photos) and deciduous trees. - Work with park provided Archaeology Monitors to avoid piling in sensitive sites. These areas will be marked with red and white candy stripe color flagging and red and white striped color pin flagging. - If can dumps or other artifacts are discovered, contact Archaeology Monitors (NPS) immediately and move on with thinning and piling by moving at least 30 beyond last seen artifact. - No live limbs shall be left on the stump of any cut stem. - The COR may reserve individual snags from felling requirements when snags are deemed necessary for other resource goals. These snags will be flagged before work begins. Piling Requirements It was visually estimated the range of piles may be between 30-60 piles an acre for this project. There is no guarantee on the accuracy of the government estimate, and it is recommended prospective quoters visit the unit to make their own estimates. Vegetation varies throughout the unit and there are sections with lighter and heavier fuels. - Hand pile all slash (natural dead and down, and activity slash) less than 7 in diameter and greater than 2 feet in length. - Pile heights 4-6 - Pile widths 4-6 - All piles shall be constructed by laying limbs, stems, cut boles, and other slash in the pile to be parallel with each other. Slash that causes large air spaces in piles shall be cut to eliminate air spaces. Each pile shall include an area of small sized slash (small branches less than - to - inch in diameter and/or small branches with needles or leaves attached) to provide - kindling for prompt ignition and to aid in combustion of larger slash. These fuels shall be placed in the center of the pile. - Piles shall be capped with 4 mil polyethylene plastic. Limbs or other woody debris should be placed over the piles to secure plastic against reasonable wind events. The plastic should cover approximately of 80% percent of the pile. All four corners and the middle of the plastic sheets shall be anchored with slash or other debris. Covering shall be done at the time of piling. - Piles shall not be placed next to or on top of residual green trees, standing dead trees, on stumps, or near logs greater than 10 in diameter, or on trails or roads. - Piles shall be located a minimum of 15 from existing live trees. - Cut materials must be piled within 20 days of being cut. - Piles shall not be placed in ditch along road, and shall be at least 20 feet off the edge of the asphalt. The contractors will also be required to carry wildland fire related tools and follow fire related precautions and restrictions as necessary as detailed in the solicitation. Contractor is required to comply with Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA), 29 United States Code (U.S.C) 1801-1872, and to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations implementing MSPA 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 500. MSPA eliminates activities detrimental to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, requires registration of Farm Labor Contractors, and ensures necessary protection for the workers. Information regarding MSPA can be found at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/agriculture/mspa. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Crater Lake National Park (CRLA) which is approximately 75 miles from Medford, OR (closet airport). PROCUREMENT TYPE: The solicitation and resulting award will be conducted under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, using FAR Part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, as authorized by FAR 12.102 (b). The Government will issue a single firm fixed price contract in accordance with FAR 12.207(a) to the responsible quoter whose quote is determined to offer the - best value to the Government and found technically acceptable with the lowest evaluated price in accordance with FAR 15.101-2 as authorized by FAR 13. SET-ASIDE: This acquisition will be a 100% Small Business Set-aside. Offers will only be accepted from small business concerns. Offers received from concerns that are not small business concerns shall be considered nonresponsive and will be rejected. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE AND SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARD: The NAICS code for this project is 115310 - Support Activities for Forestry and the small business size standard is $11.5. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 60 Calendar Day, but is broken out with operational periods as detailed in solicitation because of weather, potential fire, and other environmental and nature resource issues that may impact performance. Pre-Proposal Meeting is schedule for: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - 10:00 AM Pacific Time Location: Front of the Canfield Building next to the Steel Visitors Center, Crater Lake, OR 97604, The coordinates are 42.896281, -122.134740 if that helps. Due to spotty cell service in the area there will be NO virtual option available. If contractors cannot attend the pre-planned site visit, contractors are encouraged to visit the site on their own, and reference FAR 52.237-1 above should a contractor not elect to visit site prior to submission of their quote/proposal. NOTE 1: All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at http://www.sam/gov/ before award of contract; failure to register in the SAM database shall cause your firm to be ineligible for the award and removed from consideration. NOTE 2: As required by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (7 U.S.C. 8102(c)(3)), the offeror certifies, by signing this offer, that biobased products (within categories of products listed by the United States Department of Agriculture in 7 CFR part 2902, subpart B) to be used or delivered in the performance of the contract, other than biobased products that are not purchased by the offeror as a direct result of this contract, will comply with the applicable specifications or other contractual requirements.