Round Mountain 2026 Timber Operations
YWI is seeking a Licensed Timber Operator (Class A) to implement a 40-acre timber harvest on private forestland at Round Mountain — cutting and hauling merchantable incense cedar, thinning sub-merchantable trees and brush, building mechanical burn piles, and constructing about 3,610 feet of fireline. A pre-proposal field meeting on August 24 is mandatory.
Project overview
The Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project treats forestland on the ridge above the South Yuba River canyon, about three miles north of Nevada City. This solicitation covers a 40-acre timber harvest on private forestland on Merrimas Way, under a conservation easement held by Bear Yuba Land Trust. The intent is to enhance ecosystem resilience and old-growth characteristics by recruiting large, resilient trees — cutting trees of all size classes, merchantable and sub-merchantable, plus brush, to reduce competition and fuel continuity. Mechanical operations will be followed by prescribed fire under a separate contract.
Work is conducted under approved Modified Timber Harvest Plan (MTHP) #2-23-00126-NEV. The selected contractor must hold a valid Licensed Timber Operator Class A license and be amended onto the plan before operations begin.
YWI is the Timber Owner of record and holds the purchase order with SPI Oroville. Title to timber and logs never passes to the contractor, and YWI receives all log revenue and pays the timber yield and forest excise taxes. Proposed unit prices are therefore service rates covering felling, processing, skidding, decking, loading, and hauling — with no offset or credit for timber value. Proposers accustomed to solicitations where the contractor buys the timber and bids net of expected revenue should note that this project is structured the other way.
This RFP will be evaluated as a best-value process, not a low-bid competition. Attendance at the pre-proposal field meeting on August 24, 2026 is mandatory — a proposal from a firm that did not attend will be rejected as non-responsive.
Scope of work
- Cutting, processing, and hauling merchantable incense cedar sawlogs to SPI Oroville — approximately 65,546 gross board feet marked (Scribner, estimate only, not guaranteed)
- Sub-merchantable thinning of trees under 10″ DBH and brush by designation-by-prescription, demonstrated by an orange sample mark walked at the field meeting
- Mechanical construction of burn piles from slash and sub-merchantable material, sited and built to defined placement and construction specifications
- Construction of approximately 3,610 feet of fireline along the southern and eastern boundaries, machine-built except where the RPF directs hand line
- Conservation easement compliance — retain 3 snags and 3 large downed logs per acre where they exist, no cutting of live healthy trees over 36″ DBH, and no heavy equipment on saturated soils
- Retention of untreated brush patches totaling roughly 1 acre, and no cutting of sugar pine, Douglas-fir, dogwood, or riparian hardwoods in the sub-merchantable class
Process & timeline
- August 14, 2026RFP posted
Request for Proposals and Exhibits A–G published as a single PDF.
- August 24, 2026Mandatory pre-proposal field meetingCurrent
1:00 PM at the Coyote Overlook Trail parking lot on Rock Creek Road near Merrimas Way. Attendance is required — non-attending firms will be rejected as non-responsive. RSVP by email.
- August 26, 2026Questions deadline
Final written questions due by email.
- August 31, 2026Responses & addenda posted
Question responses and any addenda posted publicly.
View Q&A → - September 14, 2026Proposals due
Single PDF, 10 pages max, by 5:00 PM PT.
- September 28, 2026Notice of intent to award
Evaluation complete; intent to award announced.
- October 1, 2026Notice to Proceed (estimated)
Contract executed and operations may begin.
- February 28, 2027Completion (hard stop)
Operations cease for the California spotted owl limited operating period.
Documents
Latest updates
Questions about this RFP are accepted by email through August 26, 2026. Answers of general applicability will be shared with all interested parties on the Addenda & Q&A page.