Project Prospectus

The Community Fire Protection for Calpine Project (CFPCP) was developed as part of the Sierra County Fire Safe & Watershed Council’s (SCFSWC) strategy to reduce hazardous fuel conditions surrounding communities at risk.  The project is located in the general Calpine area, T21N, R14E, within Sections 19 & 20, MDBM, in Sierra County.  Access is available from State Highway 89 to Main Street in Calpine.

Project funding has been provided through federal financial assistance provided to the California Fire Safe council from the USDA Forest Service, Cooperative Forestry Assistance, CFDA #10.664

Approximately 49 acres have been identified for hazardous fuels reduction, including biomass and/or mastication, and pruning treatments. This prospectus is intended to solicit potential contractors interested in performing hazardous fuel reduction tasks to the specifications provided below.  Treatment must be completed prior to the grant deadline of November 30, 2008.

It is the goal of the SCFSWC to remove excess surface and ladder fuels to create a fire resilient stand.  While it is desirable that biomass generated by the project be delivered to a local biomass energy plant, SCFSWC is not limiting the treatment types or methods utilized for fuel reduction. The SCFSWC will accept non-commercial bids for this project (for example, mastication and broadcast chipping).

All biomass material produced shall go the biomass plant in Loyalton.  Approximately 250 BDT of chips are estimated to be available to be harvested during operations. These numbers are estimates based on timber cruise data and previous per-acre harvest averages for similar stand types. No commercial sawlogs are to be removed.

Project Permit Specifications:
The 2008 California Forest Practice Rules shall govern operations. To meet CEQA compliance requirements, prior to operations, the appropriate Exemption will be filed with Cal Fire should commercial product be removed from the project area.

Treatment Area Designation:
A Registered Professional Forester (RPF) or supervised designee has identified all treatment areas on the ground.  Each treatment area is flagged with surveyor’s ribbon. Color codes and significance are as follows:

• Solid Red with Solid White Flagging:  Property boundary, do not cross.
• Solid Blue: Equipment Exclusion Zone – Watercourse Protection
• Blue and White Candy-Striped: Equipment Limitation Zone – Watercourse Protection.
• Red and White Candy-Striped:  Archaeological site, equipment exclusion.
• Fluorescent Pink: Out area, no operations.
• Solid Yellow: Special Treatment area – reduced treatment (see description following)
• Yellow & Black stripe: Cut tree flagging (present in the Cunningham parcel and sample mark areas only).
• Fluorescent Orange: Well heads, hose bibs, similar improvements to avoid.

External boundaries of treatment areas have been established with solid red and white flagging. Operations shall not extend beyond the external boundary.

Desired stand conditions would include surface and ladder fuels that do not contribute to initiating or sustaining a crown fire. Surface fuels would have projected flame lengths of less than 4’. Stand resilience from fire would be high.  The primary carrier of fire would be needles and/or grasses.  When a fire passes, there may be occasional torching of brush or smaller trees in openings where larger trees don’t exist, but there would generally be a horizontal and vertical break of forest canopy over light surface fuels.

Surface Fuels Layer:

Treatment:

• Surface fuels must be treated to achieve a maximum post-harvest depth of 9 (nine) inches. Slash resulting from operations and slash present prior to operations must be removed, masticated, and/or chipped. No concentrations of surface fuels shall remain post treatment.
• Post harvest surface fuels should generally lack continuity. Single specimens of down woody debris are acceptable when isolated from other down debris and vegetation according to the treatment guidelines herein.

Understory Vegetation:
There should be less than 20% brush or small trees remaining post-treatment that would contribute to elevating a surface fire into the crowns of the desired leave stand.  Conifer stands would be thinned from below, increasing the distance between surface fuels and lower branches of the overstory, as well as the tree spacing. 

Treatment:

• Trees 10” DBH and less shall be designated for mastication or cutting by description. Trees under the diameter limit should be selectively thinned and left in openings where they would not create a fuel ladder condition that could lead to the initiation of a crown fire.
• Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a minimum vertical clearance distance of 10 feet, measured from the base of the live crown of the post harvest dominant and co-dominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
• Residual trees shall be pruned such that live foliar branches achieve a minimum vertical clearance distance of 10 feet, measured from the base of the live crown of the residual trees to the ground level.
• Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve the following MAXIMUM horizontal clearance distance, as measured from outside branch to outside branch of residual conifers:
  
  



• Conifer spacing shall not exceed 25 feet regardless of DBH class.
• Conifer retention priority shall be in the following order: sugar pine, incense-cedar,  ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, white fir.  Residents share an overall desire to retain incense cedar and Christmas-tree size white fir to the greatest extent possible.
• Residual timber (leave trees) shall consist of healthy, vigorous dominant and co-dominant trees with full crowns, having greater than 40% live crown, that are free of defect, and are of the best physical examples of the pre-harvest stand tree species.
• Trees shall be severed no higher than 5” above ground as measured from the uphill side of the tree.
• Dead, dying, and diseased trees 14 inches DBH and under shall be removed.
• Brush shall generally be removed. Occasional specimens of small trees and/or brush may be retained, providing that they do not contribute to the potential of fire laddering into the canopy of the leave stand.
• Cut trees shall be felled away from unit boundaries, roads, utility lines and ROWs, fences, and watercourses. Any tree falling in such area shall be removed immediately and reported to the RPF.

Vegetation Treatment Specifications, con’t:

• Stocking shall be met by retaining 75 square feet of conifer basal area per Forest Practice Rules for Site III timberlands where the average stand diameter is 14 inches or greater. For stands where the average diameter is less than 14 inches, stocking shall be met by retaining an average point count of 300 per acre for Site III timberlands.
• Commercial timber operations are not permitted within the standard protection zone of all Class II watercourses.
• Non-commercial treatment (mastication, broadcast chipping) may occur within the standard Equipment Limitation Zone of all Class III watercourses, provided 50% of the understory vegetation present before treatment is left in a well-distributed fashion throughout the protection zone.

Special Treatment Area:
Two special treatment areas exist in Unit A, flagged in yellow and shown on the attached map. Within these areas, surface fuel treatment specifications remain the same. No pruning is to occur within these areas. The following horizontal clearance distance and diameter restrictions apply within the special treatment areas:

Sample Mark:
An area of sample mark has been provided by the RPF, as shown on the attached map. Leave trees have been flagged in fluorescent green flagging in these areas.

The 2008 California Forest Practice Rules shall govern operations.

All forest products generated from operations shall remain the property of the Sierra County Fire Safe and Watershed Council. The contractor is prohibited from removing or selling any products from this project to defer costs or generate income in any way.

Compliance will be inspected by the RPF. Compliance with the above fuel treatment standards shall be determined by a combination of physical measurements and observations.

Treatment Method Specifications:
The following are acceptable treatment methods to utilize within the project areas:

Chipping
If chipping is used for disposal of treated material, the following specifications shall be adhered to:

1. Treated stumps and stems shall be no longer than 4” from the ground as measured on the uphill side.
2. Chips may be removed from the site or blown evenly across the ground during operations.
3. At no time shall concentrations of chips exceed six (6) inches in depth or be concentrated into a pile or piles.
4. Chips shall not be concentrated against the base of residual trees.
5. The chipping site shall be left in a clean and presentable fashion. Residual chips shall be swept or otherwise removed from all public and private roadways, including driveways, prior to the conclusion of operations each day.

Mastication
If mechanical mastication is used to treat the area, the following specifications shall be adhered to:

1. Masticated material shall be evenly distributed across the project area and shall not exceed an average depth of 6 inches.
2. Masticated material shall not be concentrated against residual trees.
3. Treated stumps and stems shall be no longer than 4” from the ground as measured on the uphill side.
4. The operator shall take proper precaution to protect residual trees from damage by the equipment and masticating head.
5. Mastication equipment shall not operate between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on days designated as “Red Flag Fire Watch” by the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service shall be consulted each evening for the next day’s forecast.  For fire suppression reasons, the operator shall visually observe the area where operations have occurred once every 15 minutes.  A designated observer shall observe the entire area in which operations have occurred for a minimum of two hours after shutdown.

Pruning

1. Both live and dead limbs and other aerial fuels on tree boles between 10 feet from ground level will be pruned.
2. No greater than 50% of the crown shall be removed.
3. Pruning cuts will be made along an imaginary line connecting the outside of the branch bark ridge with the branch collar.

Item #1: Mechanical Fuel Reduction, approximately 42.5 acres:
This item includes treatment units A, B, E, and portions of C and D. Vegetative treatment of the entire project area shall meet the vegetation treatment specifications above. Disposal of treated material through burning shall not be permitted. Mechanical mastication, biomass chipping, broadcast chipping, or a combination of each can be utilized in this item.

Item #2: Mechanical Fuel Reduction within Class II Watercourse Buffer, 3 acres
As shown on the attached map, this item includes 3 treatment acres located within the Class II Watercourse Protection Zone of Unit D.

1. Only non-commercial treatment shall be allowed within this equipment exclusion zone (no chips may be removed to be sold).
2. 50% of the understory vegetation present before treatment shall remain post-treatment, in a well-distributed fashion throughout the protection zone.
3. Treatment methods may include removal, mechanical mastication, broadcast chipping, or a combination thereof.
4. Equipment is not allowed beyond the solid blue flagging or 50 feet from the channel edge except at designated crossing site(s).
5. Disposal of treated material through piling and burning is not allowed.
6. One acre within this item includes a firewood component, as shown on the attached map and as per the specifications in Item #3, below.

Item #3: Mechanical Fuel Reduction with Firewood Component, approximately 2 acres:

As indicated on the map, two parcels have a firewood component in addition to the basic fuel reduction treatment in Units C and D. Vegetative treatment within this item shall meet the ladder and surface fuel treatment specifications above, in additional to firewood component specifications below. Disposal of treated material through burning shall not be permitted.

Firewood Component

1. Trees cut on parcel that are greater than 5” diameter shall be left for firewood; Trees to be cut for firewood purposes on the two subject parcels have been flagged at breast-height with yellow and black striped flagging.
2. Boles to be limbed and bucked into lengths less than 10 feet and stacked within parcel.
3. All tops and limbs of firewood trees shall be treated by LTO according to the vegetation treatment specifications.
4. Upon completion, this parcel shall meet the ladder and surface fuel specifications described above in Item #1.

General Precautions

1. Contractor shall not treat any area within 75 feet of a residence (excluding out buildings, lawns, etc.)
2. Contractor shall not damage any driveway or road from its original form and condition.
3. Driveways and roads shall be returned to their pre-treatment condition upon conclusion of their use.
4. Driveways and roads utilized during operations shall be swept prior to the conclusion of each day to remain passable.
5. Contractor shall provide signage to warn motorists of timber operations. Signs shall be posted at visible locations approaching the area of operations.
6. Many parcels are fenced. Contractor shall not damage any fence from its original form. Repair of any and all damage caused to fences shall be the responsibility of the contractor.

Contract Term and Timing of Operations:
Your bid will be reviewed by Registered Professional Forester (RPF) Danielle Banchio, RPF #2808, who will then discuss potential operators with the appropriate SCFSWC representatives to determine the successful bidder.  The RPF and the SCFSWC reserve the right to reject any or all bids.  Operations shall begin by agreement upon contract execution with completion no later than November 30, 2008.  At that time, the SCFSWC reserves the right to either extend the contract or to reevaluate the contract and pursue other contractors.  The winning bidder shall provide details of how they shall conduct operations along with a timeline for operations, to be strictly adhered to.

Operator must:

• Be a California Licensed Timber Operator (LTO) to provide services as described in Section #3 of the permit if commercial timber operations are employed.
  or,
• Meet the following Insurance Requirements
  • Prior to rendering services, CONTRACTOR and his/her subcontractors shall acquire, and maintain during the term of this Agreement, at Contractor’s sole expense: (l) Workers' Compensation Insurance conforming to the statutory requirements of the state in which operations under this agreement are performed; (2) comprehensive general and automobile bodily injury liability insurance written on an "occurrence" basis subject to minimum limits of $l,000,000.00 each person and $l,000,000.00 each occurrence; and (3) general property damage insurance subject to a minimum of $l,000,000.00 with not more than a $10,000.00 deductible each loss; and (4) loggers' broad form property damage insurance of $1,000,000.00 per occurrence. All liability insurance coverage shall provide that subcontractors working for CONTRACTOR are covered under the terms of CONTRACTOR'S policies. All insurance shall meet the approval of SCFSWC and Banchio and all policies evidencing said insurance shall provide for thirty days' prior written notice to SCFSWC and Banchio before cancellation or material change in the policy. A certificate of Insurance showing evidence of insurance coverage as specified herein shall be furnished to SCFSWC and/or Banchio prior to commencement of Contractor’s operations.

Operations shall be conducted during daylight hours beginning no earlier than 7:00 a.m. each working day unless otherwise indicated by the RPF.

Fire suppression equipment as required by California Forest Practice Act or Cal Fire rules (PRC 4428) shall be on site during operations within fire season.

Pre-Bid Project Tour:

Highly Recommended Pre-Bid Project Tour:
A one-time pre-bidder’s tour will be offered for interested bidders. The purpose of this event is to provide project details, objectives, and to answer all questions regarding operations.  The tour will also address parcel access, power lines, and other details.

The pre-bid tour date is Wednesday, September 10th at 9am. The meeting site will be in the parking lot of the Sierra Valley Lodge, located at 103 Main Street, Calpine.

If Unable To Attend Tour: If you are unable to attend the pre-bid tour, please contact the RPF at
(530) 284-1800 prior to visiting the project area. The RPF will contact landowners to alert them that prospective bidders may be visiting their parcel. The project area has been split into units that are bound by roads, and identified with a letter corresponding to the attached map.

For questions regarding this project, please contact Danielle Banchio at (530) 284-1800 (office) or (530) 927-7095 (cell).

Bidding Criteria:

1. Lump sum bid by Item. To cover for an over-run of chips, it is advised that bidder indicate a price in terms of BDT for chips delivered to the destination point.  What constitutes an over-run is a yield of chips over and above the stated volumes by 10%.
2. Start date and completion date.  Treatment must be complete prior to the grant deadline of November 30, 2008.
3. Experience in Community HFR (Hazard Fuel Reduction) Projects and other related projects not part of a Fire Safe Council sponsored project.
4. Equipment to perform this project.

The contractor shall provide a bid for individual bid items. Bids shall be sent to North Valley Resource Management, PO Box 53, Taylorsville, CA. 95983 no later than Wednesday, September 17th at 5:00 p.m. Bids may also be faxed to the North Valley Resource Management office at (530) 284-1801.The bid will be awarded as soon as possible so work can commence on the project in a timely fashion.

Pre-Work Meeting:
Prior to operations, the contractor shall meet with a North Valley Resource Management Representative to discuss operations.

Method of Payment:
The contractor may submit an invoice to the SCFSWC twice monthly for work completed.  Payment shall be made following conformation of work completion and acceptance of work by the supervising RPF.