The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Forest Service is seeking sealed bids for the sale of timber. This is an operator select thinning of approximately 305 acres of longleaf pine and slash pine on Blackwater River State Forest in Okaloosa County, Florida (SFI Certified Forest #NSF-SFI-FM-C0245755). The timber includes green pine and scattered clumps of insect infested pine. The salvage timber will be designated by the Forester-in-Charge or his/her representative and could include scattered clumps of trees infected or dying from insect and disease attacks. The green pine timber to be harvested shall equal only 1/3 of the timber within the sale boundary and includes leaning, forked, fire-scared, overtopped, trees with diminished crowns, or otherwise undesirable. The larger green trees, particularly those 14" diameter and up are not to be harvested, with the goal of maintaining a 45 square feet of basal area per acre. All harvesting operations must start within ten (10) days of notification. The buyer will not be required to harvest timber that is not merchantable or to be of insufficient size or economically unviable to harvest. Pine fuelwood is an alternate product that can be bid on, but will not be used to determine a winning bidder. If the winning bidder chooses to bid on pine fuelwood, then they will be expected to harvest all pine fuelwood within the contract specifications. All salvage wood needs to be harvested within three (3) months of contract execution. Rough estimated volumes for the green wood are as follows: 339 tons of pine pulpwood, 171 tons of pine chip-n-saw, 1,734 tons of pine sawtimber, and 193 tons of pine poles. There are no estimated volumes for green pine super pulpwood, salvage timber products, or pine fuelwood. The length of the agreement will be six (6) months.
