The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Forest Service is seeking sealed bids for the sale of timber. This sale is a row with operator select thinning of approximately 184 acres of planted longleaf pine separated three stands located within the Sugarmill Woods, Annutteliga Hammock, and Homosassa Tracts of Withlacoochee State Forest in Citrus and Hernando Counties, Florida. Two of the stands, totaling 174 acres, are represented as Areas A and B on the attached maps. Timber to be harvested in these areas include every fourth row for access and select trees in the leave rows to reach a target basal area of 60 square feet per acre. An additional 10 acre stand, represented as Area C on the attached maps, is located in the Annutteliga Hammock Unit. Timber to be harvested in this area includes every third row for access and select trees in the leave rows to reach a target basal area of 40 square feet per acre. Trees to be removed from the leave rows includes diseased, deformed, forked, and suppressed trees along with a portion of the intermediate and codominant trees to reach the desired basal area. Leave trees should be healthy trees with good form and large crowns and are not to be damaged by harvesting operations. Sale boundaries are roads, firelines, orange paint, or obvious forest type changes. The estimated volumes to be removed from this stand include 6,000 tons of pine pulpwood and 2,000 tons of pine chipn-saw and better.
