Notices of Intent to Award: Round Mountain and South Yuba Rim Fuels Reduction

Yuba Watershed Institute (YWI) has issued Notices of Intent to Award for the two fuels reduction solicitations it released in September, one for each of our two largest active landscape projects on opposite rims of the South Yuba River canyon. The awards are pending final contract execution.

Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project, Phase 1

YWI intends to award all three Bid Items, about 152 acres of ridgetop shaded fuel break on BLM land along Rock Creek Road, Hudson Way, Merrimas Way, and Moonlight Trail, to GP Development & Land Clearing LLC.

Sixteen proposals were received by the October 2 deadline, and GP Development & Land Clearing received the highest score on each Bid Item.

Read the Notice of Intent to Award (PDF) →  •  View the award page →

South Yuba Rim Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, Phase 2

YWI intends to award the CAL FIRE-funded fuel break work on San Juan Ridge to three contractors, by Bid Item:

• First Rain Land Stewardship Services LLC: Bid Item 1A (hand thin, pile, and burn at China Flat and Jackass Flats), Bid Items 4 and 5 (broadcast burning), and Bid Item 7 (burning existing piles)
• Wildland Corporation: Bid Item 1B (hand thin, pile, and burn at Birchville and the Noodle near French Corral), Bid Item 3 (lop and scatter), and Bid Item 6 (cut and drag)
• GP Development & Land Clearing LLC: Bid Item 2 (mastication)

Fifteen proposals were received. Each Bid Item, and each of the two Bid Item 1 groups, was scored separately, so the work could go to whichever contractor offered the best value for that piece of it.

Read the Notice of Intent to Award (PDF) →  •  View the award page →

How the proposals were evaluated

Both RFPs were best-value processes, not low-bid competitions. Proposals were scored for each Bid Item on cost (35 points); approach, staffing, work plan, and schedule (30); experience, qualifications, and references (25); and local workforce (10). Staff scored the proposals and presented the results and recommendations to the YWI Board of Directors, which approved the awards on October 14, 2026.

What happens next

These notices reflect an intent to award and do not constitute contract execution. Once the required insurance documentation and, for burning work, state burn boss certification are in hand, YWI will finalize the contracts. Work is targeted to begin in November 2026 and continue through February 28, 2027. At Round Mountain, the start depends on BLM lifting its seasonal fire restrictions; at South Yuba Rim, Notices to Proceed are issued by Bid Item once landowner right-of-entry agreements are confirmed.

Thank you to everyone who came to the field meetings and submitted a proposal. We received strong interest from contractors across the region, and we hope to see many of you bid on future YWI projects. The original solicitations, addenda, and Q&A remain available on the Round Mountain and South Yuba Rim RFP pages.