Specifications include, but are not limited to: Work Limits: Only areas shown on the Project Map will be treated. A shapefile for GPS and a PDF map of the project area will be provided prior to work beginning. It will be the Contractor’s responsibility to furnish either a GPS unit(s) or smartphone(s) with PDF map application to be utilized in identifying project boundaries. Contractor(s) will be responsible to download all needed shapefiles/PDFs using their own devices. Shapefiles/PDFs will be provided in email upon request. Government staff will rely on the Project Map and associated GPS shapefile as adequate boundary markings to identify unit boundaries for the work executed under the contract. The project boundary is not flagged. The Project Manager and Contractor will identify an estimated start date for work to begin on the project. The Project Manager will provide Contractor with a Notice to Proceed prior to the estimated start date if site conditions are suitable to initiate work. Upon receiving the Notice to Proceed, the Contractor shall promptly enter the project area, locate treatment boundaries, locate control points, section corners, take such action to prevent their destruction, and begin treatment work. Safe Operation: o Contractor is responsible for safety signage for work operations. o Contractor is responsible for safe operations along roads. o Contractor is responsible for public safety associated with operation, in the event traffic needs to be stopped for safe operation, the contractor is responsible for stopping and holding traffic until hazardous conditions are mitigated. Treatment Methods and Specifications: The unit treatment polygons, having a combined total acreage of 474 acres, are to receive a mastication treatment to remove the specified vegetation with the following specifications: Fuel Break Zones: There are 3 parts of a fuel break: o Unburnable zone (center): road, trail, natural barrier o Minimum fuel zone (100 feet on each side of the road/trail starting from the center line of the road or trail): minimal amount of fuels, ideally shrub and brush vegetation less than 18 inches tall, overstory limited to generally larger trees with very few (if any) ladder fuels. o Shaded fuel break or Transition zone (200 feet from the edge of the minimum fire zone): modify fuels to reduce fire behavior, reduce ladder fuels, reduced density of vegetation with the intent of the system deterring an active crown fire. Specifications within the minimal fuel zone: This zone represents 100 feet on each side of the unburnable zone (usually the center of a road or trail). o Create defensible space by reducing densities (masticating) to less than 8 trees per acre. o Masticate all understory vegetation such as large shrubs and ladder fuels down to less than 18” above ground level. o Shrub and brush vegetation will be masticated down to less than 18” above ground level. Specifications within the shaded fuel break zone: The shaded fuel break zone is an additional 200 feet on each side of the minimal fuel zone. The entire area of treatment is 600 feet wide using the road or trail as the center. o In lodgepole pine stands, create defensible space by using shaded fuel breaks that reduce densities of Lodgepole trees to 110 to 125 trees per acre. Bole spacing would be in the range of 18 to 22 feet. o In forested areas other than lodgepole pine, create defensible space by using shaded fuel breaks that reduce densities of trees to 50-70 trees per acre. Bole spacing would be in the range of 25 to 30 feet. o Remove all conifer trees that are less than 8 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) except for a few, isolated, healthy trees near the center of the fuel break and at least 30 feet away from overstory trees. o Ladder fuels such as shrubs and smaller conifer trees would be masticated from under residual trees. o Remaining shrub and brush vegetation will be masticated down to less than 2 feet above ground level. Specifications for all project area: o Priority for tree species retention would be given first to ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, spruce, lodgepole pine, true firs, pinyon pine and lastly juniper. o Priority for tree retention is given to generally larger, healthy, and well-formed trees. o Lodgepole pine stands, priority should be given to trees with higher cone serotiny. o Prioritize removal of lodgepole with dwarf mistletoe, lodgepole with cankers on the bole or stems, lodgepole with reduced crowns, poor form and/or dead tops. o All cut trees would be shredded, or mulched with slash height not to exceed 2 feet. o Retain healthy, live aspen to the extent that it doesn’t impede the effectiveness of the fuel break. o Remove ALL conifers from aspen patches. o Debris will be reduced down to mulch. o Mulch depth would not exceed 6 inches. If mulch exceeds six inches in depth, the mulch would be spread out either mechanically or by hand. o Trees would be completely severed from the stump below the lowest live limb. Maximum stump height is 8 inches, with possibly greater allowances in areas with a rock component. o Remove all snags within the fuel break, including aspen, unless designated and flagged as wildlife retention trees. o No commercial timber harvest is proposed in the treatment area; personal and commercial fuelwood gathering may be authorized.