The contractor shall perform initial herbicide treatment of all Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) Category 1 non-native invasive plants within approximately 5,370 acres of the Babcock Ranch Preserve located in Charlotte County. Florida (see Appendix I). Please note the estimated acres listed above is for the initial project. The contractor shall provide all labor, tools, transportation and supervision to perform the invasive exotic plant control project as specified herein. Non-native invasive plants are scattered throughout the treatment area. Coverages range from less than 1% to 50%. These locations do not represent all species that may be present. The contractor must cover the entire project area. The project area boundaries will be identified by road, service road, natural boundaries, flagging attached to adjacent trees, timber marking paint and/or GPS/GIS file. Treatment areas and boundaries will be reviewed with the contractor prior to the beginning of work, and GIS (ESRI shapefiles) will be provided at the request of the contractor. The contractor must use spraying equipment acceptable to the FFS as specified herein to treat all Category I invasive exotic plants listed on the FLEPPC 2019 List of Invasive Plant Species within the project area. Invasive species most likely encountered in the treatment area include: Brazilian pepper, Caesar weed, old world climbing fern, cogon grass, torpedo grass and melaleuca. Access to all sites, types of vehicles used, and work areas must have prior approval by the project manager or their designee. Off-road vehicles will have much greater access to locations than street vehicles. Access off-road will be necessary and will be permitted along routes approved by the project manager; those areas and/or routes that are not approved for vehicle use will require access on foot. Proper care will be taken if vehicles will be used to cross a wetland. Contractor’s locks will be used on gates to needed trails, allowing access to the trails; the gates will be kept closed unless specified by the project manager. The contractor will remove his/her locks after completion of the treatments. There are no public hiking trails in the treatment block. The block is within a private hunting lease. The contractor is not allowed to hunt. The contractor is responsible for collecting the following data: treatment date; treatment location (treatment area worked in longitude and latitude); control method; herbicide mix and volume used; number of applicators; hours worked and weather conditions. The contractor will also collect GPS data information detailing the area worked each day, in the form of GPS tracks. On a weekly basis, the contractor will provide to the project manager all GPS units so that GPS tracks for the previous week can be downloaded and archived (see Appendix II). The contractor will supply all transportation, labor, equipment, tools, supervision and personal protective equipment (PPE) required for their staff to complete the task successfully and provide the application services in accordance with the specifications listed herein. No materials, labor or equipment will be furnished by the FFS unless specifically identified. The contractor must furnish all herbicides, non-ionic surfactant, if needed and blue or red marking dye. Nearest water source areas will be established and approved by the project manager for the treatment area, based on water levels. The contractor will supply pumps and equipment necessary to draw the water. Large water containers or large batch mixes will be permissible. Water can be obtained at the Babcock Ranch Preserve fire tower site. Contractor employees shall use all appropriate safety gear while engaged in spraying operations and follow all label directions for herbicides. All equipment used must be approved by the FFS project manager or other designated FFS official. Equipment will be decontaminated and free of invasive plant material prior to moving onto a new site. Herbicide shall only be applied within the treatment area identified. Applications of herbicide must be performed in such a manner as to protect non-target organisms, the environment and the public. The contractor has full responsibility for systematically treating all designated plants in the project area. The project area should be treated completely (100% coverage), and a minimum of 95% of the plants treated must be dead within three months of the completion of the project. Areas not treated or not responding to treatment may be required to be retreated at the contractor’s expense if it is determined that the contractor provided faulty treatment measures, as evidenced by lack of dye on target vegetation or lack of visitation by GPS tracks. A spray indicator (dye) will be used to make identification of treated stems easier.
