Completion Form

2019

With the exception of the road relocation, the bid price for virtually every project component came in higher than we had estimated in the original project proposal, which resulted in some changes to project implementation on the ground to avoid budget overruns. 
 
1)	Fencing  - We attempted two pre-bid meetings for the fence with no contractors showing up.  The third attempt we did not require a pre-bid and got two estimates both of which were double or more the estimated price.  The lower bid came in at almost $15/foot (estimated at $8/foot) for the net mesh 8 foot fence and $21.50 per foot (estimated at $9/foot)  for the aspen log worm fencing.  We remapped fence lines and were able to reduce the distance of aspen log worm fence but had to slightly increase the distance of net mesh fence to avoid some pipelines and an outflow channel.  In the end we installed 764 feet of net mesh fence and 1,788 feet of aspen log worm fence. Without a pre-bid meeting the contractor did not realize the lack of access for a Bobcat to the project site; however, they adjusted and completed the project by hand and with horses.

2)	Mastication -- We had two companies attend the pre-bid and both companies submitted bids that were higher than we had estimate.  The low bid came in at $439/acre (estimated $400/acre).  In order to meet budget and assist with the hand thinning and fence contract costs we removed 105 acres from the final project. In addition nearly 150 acres were inaccessible because of rocks and slope.  We exchanged those acres for similar treatment acres in Lower Horse Creek that would have been included in Phase II of the project but were completed under this contract instead.  New mastication shape files have been loaded to represent acres actually treated. 
 
3)	Hand treatments --
a.	Lop and pile -- Prior to implementation the Forest Service Interdisciplinary Team decided to change the prescription on the riparian lop and pile out of corners that the contractor would not be able to get material away from the stream and/or that bids would come back considerably higher than expected. The decision was made to masticate up to the edge of hydric vegetation and lop and scatter the material remaining in the inner gorge. Shape files have been modified to reflect riparian hand work versus mastication.

Based on the costs of the Riparian fencing we decided to forgo piling some of the project, opting for future broadcast burning instead.

We had 2 contractors attend the pre-bid and two contractors place a bid.  The low bid had costs substantially higher than the we estimated for all treatments.  We had estimated costs of $450/acre to lop and pile conifers encroaching on 201 acres of aspen.  The low bidder came in with costs of $1,475/acre.  Since treating just these acres at that cost would have precluded almost all other treatments we dropped these acres from the final contract.
For lop and pile of the 56 acres of Mountain sagebrush/shrubland we had remaining the bid came in at $1014/acre ($600/acre estimated).  We completed these 56 acres.

b.	Lop and scatter (Sagebrush shrublands) 
Bids came in at $202/acre for lop and scatter treatments of Pinyon/juniper in Mountain sagebrush/shrublands which were originally estimated at $150/acre. All these acres were completed.

c.	Lop and scatter (Riparian)
Bids came in at $202/acre for 39 acres of riparian lop and scatter on Birch Creek and $516.58 for 37 acres of riparian lop and scatter on Ranch Creek. We had originally estimated $150/acre for 34 acres of lop and scatter and $600/acre for 46 acres of lop and pile.  Lop and scatter work was completed along 38 acres of Birch Creek and 37 acres of Ranch Creek.  Reduction in acres over the original proposal was the result of masticating as close to the stream as possible.

d.	Lop and scatter Pinyon Juniper woodland -- Bid came in at $308/acre for lop and scatter treatment on 118 acres of Pinyon Juniper woodlands.  We estimated this treatment at $150/acre. All these acres were completed.

e.	Individual tree selection/Group selection (lop and scatter) Pinyon-Juniper woodlands -- 
Bids came in at $407 per acre on 255 acres of Individual tree selection/Group selection (lop and scatter). We estimated this treatment at $600 for a lop and pile on 178 acres and $150/acre for the remaining 77 acres.  We opted for future broadcast burning over the lop and pile treatment. All these acres were completed.

f.	Precommercial thinning (lop and scatter) Ponderosa Pine -- 
Bids came in at $233/acre for 91 acres of precommercial thinning/lop and scatter in ponderosa pine stands which were originally estimated to cost $250/acre.  Originally 50 of these acres were planned to be piled at an additional cost of $200/acre; however, we opted for future broadcast burning instead. All 91 acres of precommercial thinning/lop and scatter were completed.

Lessons learned

Two major lessons learned on this project were:

1)	Complex prescriptions and contract language were difficult for the contractors to understand when bidding and led to issues with debatable language during implementation.  We had slightly different objectives for each vegetation type and developed timber stand prescriptions in primarily sagebrush and pinyon juniper woodlands.  While most of the treatments were still just mastication or hand thinning of Pinyon Junipers we feel like the length and complexity of the various prescriptions may have resulted in increased bud prices.  Additionally, one sentence in several of the prescriptions was ambiguous about whether to take or leave trees over a certain size which resulted in some larger trees being left in some of the hand treatments.  This language also led to a large increase in price for the riparian acres on Ranch Creek in order to get 100% removal of PJ from these acres.

2)	At one point in November 2019 we had 6 masticators, three hand crews and a fence crew all going at the same time.  This made administration more difficult and resulted in more inspectors on the ground and different message being conveyed to contractors. In the future we hope to phase the contracts so they are not all occurring on top of each other, as well as look into hiring seasonal workers to complete project inspection so that the contractors are hearing one message consistently.

Summary

In summary we completed 1,078 acres of Pinyon Juniper mastication in sage brush-shrublands, mesic riparian areas, pinyon Juniper woodlands, and ponderosa pine habitats. We also completed hand thinning and piling of Pinyon Juniper on 56 acres pf sage brush shrublands and hand thinning and scattering of pinyon and juniper from 701 acres of sage brush-shrublands, riparian areas, pinyon Juniper woodlands, and ponderosa pine habitats. We also removed 0.25 miles of ATV trail from within the Aquatic Management Zone by decommissioning the existing trail and replacing it with one out of the Aquatic Management Zone.  Finally, we protected 4 acres of riparian area with a combination of livestock and wildlife exclusion fencing.

The treatments proposed in this project are part of a larger effort to improve the function and resilience of the Ranch Creek, Birch Creek and Horse Creek subwatersheds. The Dixie National Forest has invested a considerable amount of time and money to put our management focus toward MIS and Sensitive wildlife species in this area, including motorized travel plan implementation, aquatic organism passage projects, forage production projects and monitoring.  As mentioned elsewhere in the proposal, Ranch Creek holds a remnant, core BCT population and the UDWR and Forest Service have plans to expand this BCT population into historic habitat in Horse and Birch Creeks. Ensuring that representation of the Ranch Creek BCT population is maintained and expanded is a UDWR and FS priority. Both UDWR and the Forest Service are signatories to the Range-wide Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Bonneville cutthroat trout which will continue to direct management toward maintain and improving watershed function, through road and trail, instream habitat and riparian and upland vegetation projects, such as those contained in this proposal.
Once treatments in the entire project area are completed the goal is to manage fire adapted ecosystems through a combination natural fire ignitions (managed for Forest Plan benefits) and low intensity prescribed fire. In terms of riparian and sagebrush treatments monitoring will determine the success of original treatments and maintenance will be conducted as necessary to remove whips and missed trees.
The Forest is in the process of developing a Phase II Implementation proposal for submission to the State FY2021 round of UWRI.

Michael Golden

08/27/2019 14:22:48