Agency Water & Soil Resources Board

Contractor Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District

SWIFT Contract Number 106481

Project Name White Cedar

Project Number (if applicable) {Empty}

Summarize purpose of the contract, including why it was necessary: Reversing the decline of northern white cedar wetland plant communities in MN. The project will achieve its goals by evaluating and prioritizing add'l white cedar stands for restoration and establishment of demonstration projects. The project will accomplish this by continued development of a training program for local government resource managers regarding restoration techniques for white cedar plant communities regarding site preparation and re-vegetation techniques and protecting white cedar from damage by poorly designed wetland crossings for roads and trail.

Project Duration

Start Date Tue, 03/15/2016 - 00:00

Original end date Fri, 06/30/2017 - 00:00

Actual end date Fri, 06/30/2017 - 00:00

Did project finish on time? Yes

Total billable hours utilized (if applicable) {Empty}

Contract Amounts

Original contract: $137314.00

Amendments $0.00

Contract total $137314.00

Did project finish within budget? Yes

What was the funding source? 2050 / R9PCDR2

Is this a sole source contract? Yes

If this was a single source contract, explain why the agency determined there was only a single source for the services (if applicable) A. Geographic Location – Lake County is located within the highest density region for northern white cedar in Minnesota and has one of the most abundant northern white cedar resources in Minnesota. This county, in north east Minnesota is ideally suited as a partner for the Northeast Minnesota White Cedar Restoration - Phase 2 Project, funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Lake County has abundant white cedar resources with significant trails and roads, some of which have negatively impacted white cedar plant communities, putting significant pressure on this resource.

One of the hydrologic restoration sites specified to be completed as part of the project work plan for the Northeast Minnesota White Cedar Restoration - Phase 2 Project is located in Lake County. This project site was selected by an interagency team including BWSR, DNR, Natural Resource Research Institute (University of Minnesota Duluth), U.S. Forest Service, local government units and Michigan Tech University. Potential restoration sites were evaluated in other counties including Lake of the Woods, Aitkin, Beltrami, St. Louis, Cook, Hubbard, Koochiching and Itasca. This project site, located north of Two harbors was determined to be ideal because it was on public land (owned by Lake County), was of suitable scale and size that could be accomplished by the project budget, and was ideal site to demonstrate the impacts of roads on the health of forested plant communities in northeast Minnesota.

B. Specialized Knowledge – The Lake Soil and Water Conservation District and Lake County Land Commissioner and Land Department forestry staff have had extensive experience in managing and restoring white cedar plant communities. This experience and expertise is critical to success of this LCCMR Project. Lake Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff has significant engineering and plant ecology experience in screening potential northern white cedar restoration projects among all SWCDs in Minnesota. The Lake SWCD is experienced in utilizing advanced engineering analysis and design for hydrologic restoration of white cedar stands impacted by roads and trails, the focus of this LCCMR project.

C. Other Reasons – Lake County is among the Minnesota counties with the largest wetland resource in the state. The county has recently shown an interest in preservation and restoration of white cedar as a potential partial solution to managing conflicts between development needs and wetland management. Lake County has previously worked on white cedar restoration projects in the past decade and is in a unique position among Minnesota counties in terms of expertise and knowledge of white cedar wetland management challenges and this grant will help address this unique situation.

Evaluator Name Dale Krystosek

Evaluator Email Address dale.krystosek@state.mn.us

Evaluate the contractor's timeliness Contractor was very timely.

Evaluate the contractor's quality Quality of work was very good.

Evaluate the contractor's cost Costs came in lower than expected

Evaluate the contractor's overall performance Very good.

Would you engage the contractor's services again? Yes

Describe any negative action taken during the duration of this contract (i.e., termination, pursuit of suspension, etc.): None

Please rate the overall experience with the contractor 5 - very satisfied