The Contractor shall plant tree seedlings across identified units. Planting will occur, on average, with a spacing of 12ft x 12ft and approximately 300 seedlings per acre. Seedlings will be purchased by the State and provided to the Contractor, generally as 1+0 plugs. Seedlings will be delivered to Fairbanks Area Forestry where the Contractor shall pick up the seedlings and transport them to planting sites. Planting seedling trees shall consist of digging and preparing plant holes and planting furnished seedling trees. A. TREE SEEDLING CARE AND HANDLING: The Contractor must ensure that their planters adhere to the following in order to keep furnished seedlings vigorous and alive: 1. Daily check a sample of the roots and root plugs for dryness. Water when needed. 2. Protect the roots and root plugs from drying out by prolonged exposure. 3. During temporary stoppages in planting, place the tree seedlings in a shaded area with seedlings shoots open to the air 4. Keep air exposure to tree roots at a minimum. B. PLANTING METHOD: 1. Planting shall be done in as continuous a manner as possible and may only be suspended due to extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, winds, dry soil conditions, or extremely wet soil conditions. Periods of suspension will be at the sole discretion of the State. 2. The planter shall maintain an average 12' X 12' spacing unless otherwise directed by the projected manager. No spruce will be planted closer than 8' and farther than 12' from the nearest planted or naturally existing spruce tree. 3. Seedlings shall be planted only in microsites that favor tree survival and growth such as a mixture of mineral soil and well decomposed organic matter, and on microsites that have been site prepared. 4. Each planting hole must be of a size that must accommodate the entire root system or plug of a tree in a natural position and not in a tumbled or double-up position. 5. Each seedling must be planted to such a depth so that the mineral soil of the plug is 1/4" deeper than the surrounding compacted soil. No part of the plug or root system shall be exposed. 6. The stem of each planted tree must be vertical relative to the ground. Any planted tree whose stem is more than 30 degrees from the vertical will be considered wasted.
