Specifications include, but are not limited to: Slashing (Cutting) - The treatment is to be conducted by hand with chainsaws to remove all live conifer (including juniper) less than 12-inch DBH. All canopy limbs will be severed from the bole of the tree, piled, and covered in preparation for burning later. Boles of the trees shall be completely severed from the stump(s) within six inches from the ground measured on the uphill side. No live or dead limbs shall be left on the stump of cut trees. All main branches or stems will need to be severed from the main trunk. Any tree with a wildlife nesting hole will be retained regardless of size. Piling - All slash and boles up to 8 inches in diameter shall be piled. PILES WILL NOT CONTAIN ANY LARGE DIAMETER (>8”) BRANCHES, LIMBS, OR BOLES. Boles larger than 8 inches in diameter will be cut into smaller sections no longer than 8 feet in length and left on the ground. The center of each pile shall include an area of small sized slash (small branches less than ½ inch in diameter and/or small branches with needles or leaves attached) to provide “kindling” for prompt ignition and to aid in combustion of larger slash. The larger diameter limbs, stems, and cut boles shall be placed over the center “kindling” to be triangular in shape. Slash that causes large air spaces in piles shall be cut smaller to keep the piles more compact. The near edge of piles shall be at least 10 feet from the edge of any other pile. All natural openings shall be used before clearing a pile site. Unless approved by the COR, maximum pile size shall be 10 feet in diameter by 8 feet in height, and minimum pile size shall be 7 feet in diameter by 5 feet in height at the time of final inspection. Slash shall not be piled or placed on logs, stumps, in roadways, drainage ditches, within channel bottoms, or streams. Piles shall not be closer than 15 feet from reserved trees. Covering - All piles shall be covered with material provided by the Contractor. Piles shall be covered with a minimum of a 6-foot by 6-foot piece of 4-mil polyethylene black plastic such that at least 80 percent of the pile's surface area is covered. All four corners and the middle of the plastic sheets shall be anchored with slash.