Specifications include, but are not limited to: PECIFIC TASKS: All tamarisk with a stem diameter greater than half an inch and five feet tall will be mechanically removed by gripping the trunk at or below the soil surface and lifting the plant including the root ball and a significant amount of the lateral roots from the ground (86.72 acres). Removed tamarisk will be stacked in piles for future burning and location for piling must be approved by the Project Manager. Piles will be densely packed, free of soil, and located at least 20 feet from leave trees. The removal of the root mass is extremely important to assure mortality of the tamarisk and piles will be checked to assure that they contain a significant amount of root. Root removal amounts must be approved by the Project Manager, if it is determined not enough root is being removed the Contractor is responsible for making any necessary changes to meet expectations. Vegetation within 30 feet from the Sevier River will remain untouched. Any additional species of tree will not be removed (referred to as leave trees). Burning will not be required in this contract. Treatment area boundaries will not be marked. GIS shapefiles outlining the treatment area will be available for downloading to a GPS. Work Limits: Only areas shown on the Project Map will be treated. The project areas are identified with GPS units. It will be the contractor’s responsibility to provide a GPS that is capable of loading project areas from a computer. Government staff will identify unit boundaries for the work executed under the contract. The Contractor shall immediately upon entering the project area, begin work, locate control points, section corners, and take such action to prevent their destruction. CONTRACTOR FURNISHED EQUIPMENT: 1. Contractor shall furnish an excavator of sufficient size to mechanically remove tamarisk with roots attached. It’s critical that roots are removed from the ground and not broken off in the soil. 2. Contractor shall furnish an excavator attachment such as a “rotating grapple” that will securely grip trees and allow removal of whole tree with roots attached. Some standard “thumb” attachments fail to grip the smaller trees or take excessive time to position the thumb in the correct location to remove the tree without breaking roots off. It is the contractor’s responsibility to provide an attachment that works sufficiently. 3. Emergency transportation will be provided by the Contractor at all times. Crew members shall not be allowed to work alone. 4. Equipment must be washed with a high-pressure system prior to entering and exiting project area. All soil and plant parts shall be removed to prevent the spread of noxious weeds in and out of the project area. 5. Contractor will be responsible for providing hotel or other living accommodations for crew and a vehicle to travel to the work site each day. 6. All parts, fuel/other fluids, safety equipment, to maintain and operate heavy equipment as described. 7. Pile sizes should be larger than 12 feet by 12 feet but not to exceed 20 feet high. 8. Root material should be relatively free of dirt. Dirt will prevent clean burning of debris at later dates.
