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Red Lake Band of Chippewa: Rollerdrum/ Dozer Project - REQUEST FOR QUOTE

Project Type: Public Lands Early Successional Habitat Management

Bids are being considered by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) for the mechanical trea tment of up to 325 acres of 1 - 5 " diameter brush in designated forest stands on the property of Red Lake Band of Chippewa located o n 1 project block :

Block Location (see map) : Sections 14 & 23 T15 3 R36W

Contracted labor is targeted for completion in the winter of 201 7 - 1 8 and may be completed only under frozen ground conditions as determined by the Red Lake Department of Natural Resources (DNR) . This may be extended only if extenuating circumstances occur such as extreme weather that prevent s the completion of project operations and only at the discretion of ABC . Boundary lines and treatment areas will be marked via a shapefile uploaded into a GPS device supplied to the Contractor.

No additional acreage or charge will be allowed due to the contractors misunderstanding of the scope of work described herein. The scope of final project areas may be revised or reduced if the quality of completed pr oject acres does not meet with ABC and/or Red Lake DNR Project Manager approval or extreme weather conditions prevent the contractor for completing project operations.

Please Note: This project block is located east of MN1/MN89 and will require the Contra ctor to use an access trail along a former forest harvest access route that may require some prep by the contractor (access point #1) in order to reach the site and complete project operations . An additional access may also be used just to the south (access point #2) that will also require some prep by the Contractor . C reating these access trails will require the c ontractor to cut or remove woody stems and debris from the access route (see project map).

BC may, on terms and condit ions identified in the Project Contract, offer Contractor additional acreage acres if initial work is of sufficient quality and complete while frozen ground conditions persist.

Total acreage of designated project areas : 3 15 acres (see attached maps) Contracted Acres: up to 3 25 acres

Sealed bids will be received until: Friday, November10th, 2017 at 4:00pm

Contractors chosen by: Thursday, November 16 th 2017 at 4:00pm

Bids must use the bid sheet at the end of this packet. Bids must be sealed and delivered by hand or received by mail at:

Attn: Scott Abel

Red Lake Department of Natural Resources

P.O. Box 279

Red Lake, MN 56671

Or...

Attn: Peter Dieser

Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge:

35704 County Hwy 26

Rochert, MN 56578

Additional Information:

Existing Stand Conditions Stands are expansive lowland brush covertypes dominated by dense willow and alder from 1 - 4 " DBH with an internal structure of lowland and upland tree species with in a matrix of aspen , hardwood , brushland and tamarack covertypes. The adjacent forest is dominated by a matrix of mature deciduous forest covertypes dominated by aspen and hardwood species.

Desired Stand Conditions: Targeted post - treatment habi tat conditions include the cutt ing of dense shrub species. Shrub species to be cut have an average diameter of 3" though some may have a diameter up to 4 " or grow in clumps with a higher aggregate diameter. Shrub species will be cut and larger trees (> 3 inches diameter) of any species retained as leave trees for residual structural diversity. When project areas do not have sufficient tree cover to retain 12 - 15 larger trees per acre, project sites w ill retain all sapling trees as individuals or clump s. Also, due to the relative scarcity of tree species in some areas 12 - 15 well distributed clumps of brush species may be retained to increase the diversity of residual structure for forage and song perch e s . Target residual internal woody structure to be retained is 30 - 40%. Project managers may also retain undisturbed islands within the project area as directed . The area and distribution of these islands will be indicated on project maps provided by Red Lake DNR and/or ABC project managers.

Sensitive Features: P roject sites may be located adjacent to or with in wetland communities or wetland soil types . Because of this all projects will be completed under frozen ground conditions in the winter of 201 7 - 1 8 . The Red Lake DNR Project Manager will determine the suitability of frost depth for project operations to proceed.

Project Intent / Justification: This project is designed to produce brushland/ young forest habitat according to the science - bas ed Golden - winged Warbler Best M anagement Practices (BMPs). These BMPs have been designed to also benefit other associated early successional forest habitat species . Project sites will provide important cover for nesting, brood rearing and foraging.

Harvest and Marking Guidelines

Boundaries American Bird Conservancy (ABC) requires the use of a GPS unit by Contractors so that site boundaries and legacy patches may be uploaded into the unit. The Red Lake DNR Project Manager , working with the ABC Public Lands Coordinator, has final appro val on treatment area locations. The Project Managers will help Contractors learn the GPS unit. This unit will be used at all times so that progress can be tracked digitally in addition to regular site visits (minimum 1/week) by the ABC and Red lake DNR.

Harvest December - March 201 7 - 1 8 ON FROZEN GROUND ONLY

Cut 1 - 5 " shrub and sapling regeneration as directed. Leave and avoid damaging all trees > 3 " DBH when possible unless otherwise directed , while retaining >30% of woody vegetation well distributed throughout project areas as residual cover . The Re d Lake DNR Project Manager and or ABC Public Lands Coordinator will inform Contractor when sufficient frozen ground conditions have been met to begin treatment opera tions. Operations may be halted at the discretion of the ABC or Red Lake DNR if post treat ment habitat quality conditions are not being met, weather conditions result in snow that exceeds acceptable depth as determined on a site by site basis , or if ground conditions are no longer deemed sufficiently frozen.

Slash Management Slash should be kept as low to the ground as possible with stumps cut as low to ground level as possible. Cutting conditions will be monitored and approved by Red Lake DNR and ABC Pro ject Managers .

A site visit is highly recommended befor e submitting a bid. It is recommended that prospective contractors inspect the treatment area as the density of the trees and brush are not always consistently distributed throughout the treatment area s . Site visits will be conducted on the date previously agreed upon by the ABC Public Lands Coordinator and Red Lake DNR or upon request.

The quality of post treatment habitat conditions i s of the utmost importance. We encourage prospective bidders to ask questions or request verbal or visual examples of what is expected in the project. Project acres are not guaranteed and the project may be halted or payment withheld if post treatment con ditions are not being met.

Equipment Specifications

The dozer require d for this project must be a D6N or equivalent ( recommended min. 1 45 engine HP manufacturer rating) or larger , L ow G round P enetration (LGP) , and/or approved by the ABC Public Lands Coordinator and Red Lake DNR Project Manager.

The bidder will provide on their bid sheet below the make, model, year and engine horsepower rating of the equipment they plan to use on this project.

A roller drum (see photos below) will be supplied to the cont ractor to be pulled behind the dozer . Dozers must have a hitch attachment and pin that allows the roller drum to be attached. These roller drum s will cut the targeted brush.

See Website: http://www.redlakednr.org/Websites/redlakednr/images/pdfs/Brushland%20Forest%20Dozer%20Project%20-%20Winter%202017-18.pdf

 

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