1. Thinning Specifications: a. All trees less than 8 inches Diameter Breast Height (DBH) or smaller will be thinned to a 12 foot to 16 foot spacing. Residual trees will be dominant or codominant trees of good form and vigor, with crown ratios greater than 40%. Species preference is listed below. b. Species selection criteria: Priority is placed on retaining Pacific yew, western redcedar, Douglas fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and lodgepole pine. c. All thinning slash debris will be chipped or masticated as described below. 2. Pruning Specifications: a. All trees shall be pruned unless otherwise designated. b. No pruning is required on trees less than 8 feet tall. c. All live limbs will be pruned by hand up to a height of 10 feet or 30% of the tree height, whichever is shorter. d. All cut limbs will be chipped or masticated as described below. e. Proper pruning techniques will be used in order to minimize damage to tree boles. Limbs will be pruned at the branch collar. 3. Brush Control Specifications: a. Non-coniferous brush will be cut and chipped or masticated on site unless islands are pre-designated or agreed to in writing by the DNR project manager or designee. b. Non-coniferous brush will be cut using the previous specification will be cut and masticated or chipped and dispersed evenly on site to a depth of no more than 4 inches. c. The contractor shall take care in not damaging residual coniferous or desirable hardwood trees throughout the project area. Damage to tree boles or limbs is not to be more than 5%. 4. Slash Disposal Specifications: a. Chips will be dispersed evenly over the site, not to exceed a depth greater than 4 inches, unless the project manager or designee specifies in writing otherwise. b. Dead and down material up to 8 inches in diameter will be chipped or masticated and the material scattered over the work site. c. The limbs of dead and down trees will be removed and chipped or masticated and the remaining trunk will be left in place unless several trees have created a piled concentration. In this case, the remaining tree trunks will be separated by at least 10 feet from any other logs and left on site. d. Chipping and mastication mean grinding, shredding, chopping, cutting, or breaking of trees, logs, slash, and vegetative material to no greater than 4” x 4” x 12”. Ninety (90%) of this material must be no larger than the stated dimensions, and 100% must be below 6” x 6” x 24” in size. 5. Standing dead trees that pose a hazard to workers or are within 1.5 tree lengths of roads shall be felled and treated using the slash disposal specifications. 6. Standing dead trees less than 8” DBH marked with a band of blue paint shall be felled and treated using the slash disposal specifications. 7. The Contractor will not cut any green trees from the premises that are greater than 8-inch diameter at breast height without prior written approval from the DNR project manager or designee. 8. Cut stump heights for all vegetation will be made as close to the ground as possible, not to exceed 4 inches in height on the uphill side of the stump. Flat cuts shall be required to avoid sharp stumps. 9. Ground disturbance from equipment shall not cause ruts or berms greater than 4 inches as measured from the natural ground line. Operator-caused ground disturbance will be smoothed out to original contours before leaving the immediate work area. 10. The contractor will be required to weed-wash all equipment including service vehicles prior to transporting equipment or vehicles to the work site. Proof of weed wash will be provided to the DNR project Manager or designee.
