Timber Sale Invitation to Bid. Crowbar Aspen Harvest

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1 Timber Sale Invitation to Bid Crowbar Aspen Harvest This is an invitation to place a lump sum bid for a 55 acre timber sale located on a 316 acre property on the N1/2 of section 28 T28N R5E Alcona County Michigan. The land is owned by the Crowbar Ranch. The timber sale will be administered by Metcalfe Forestry LLC. All bids must be turned in to Metcalfe Forestry before 5 pm Friday March 1st Metcalfe Forestry reserves the right to refuse any and all bids. Bid results will be available for all interested bidders. Please send all inquiries and bids to the following address: Metcalfe Forestry LLC 402 Chestnut St. Grayling, MI Office Fax Cell: Chris metcalfeforestry@yahoo.com cmnieman@mtu.edu This sale can be accessed from M-65 which is a Class A Road just south of McGinn Creek. Trucking access will be through the main gate on the east edge of the property. The gate will be dummy locked for potential timber buyers. Please close the gate behind you but do not lock it. There are several areas where the trees are low density within the harvest area where a landing can be set up. Landings cannot be set up on any of the food plots. The terrain of the sale area is flat, will be easily workable with mechanized logging equipment. Whole tree skidding is permitted on this sale. The soils are sandy and are not prone to rutting during wet weather conditions. The harvest boundaries are painted in with red paint. Harvest all trees larger larger than 1 in diameter within marked boundary except oak, paper birch and any conifers. Sawlog and pulpwood volumes were determined by cruising 44 sample points with a 10 factor prism. All pulpwood was measured to a 4 top and sawlogs to a 9 top outside the bark. All measured pulpsticks and logs were 100 inches long. The cruised volume estimate is calculated to have a statistical margin of error of plus or minus 20%. The following volumes are not guaranteed by the Seller or the Seller s agent. Log Pulp cords cords Mixed Aspen Soft Maple

2 One brush pile per acre must be created for wildlife. Standing dead trees must be left for wildlife. Timber harvesting operations must be completed by April 15 th No harvest operations can occur between November 15 th and December 1 st due to hunting season. Cleanup operations must be done as soon as weather conditions allow. All saplings that are severely damaged or bent over during the harvest must cut down. Ten percent of the sale value is to be paid up front when the contract is signed. The buyer will need to provide proof of insurance at the contract signing. The buyer will be required to provide a performance guarantee in cash, check, or an irrevocable letter of credit from a bank to be paid up front, before beginning harvest operations for $2, The harvest can be split into payment units and each unit must be paid in full before beginning harvest operations.

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4 Please use the following format to place your bid: Crowbar Aspen Harvest 55 acres Company Name: The following is my lump sum bid for the Crowbar Aspen Harvest. I have read and agree to the specific work requirements as written in the timber sale invitation to bid. Mixed Aspen Logs 239 cords $ Soft Maple Logs 41 cords $ Mixed Aspen Pulp 704 cords $ Soft Maple Pulp 96 cords $ TOTAL LUMP SUM BID $ These bid prices are final and not subject to adjustment. Prospective bidders are urged to examine the timber sale before bidding. I understand that the estimated volume and grade of timber designated for cutting and removal is in no way guaranteed by the Seller or Metcalfe Forestry LLC. I understand that any and all bids may be rejected. Bidder s name & signature: Telephone # / fax #: Bidder s mailing address: Bidder s

5 Metcalfe Forestry LLC Forest Consultant Services 402 Chestnut St., Grayling, MI office fax l mobile Dear timber buyer, After ten years of working on behalf of private landowners we have found that the most difficult part of administering a job is related to the cleanup at the end of the harvest. Simply put, many private landowners have a higher standard than the timber industry does. Our standards are written into our harvest contracts and are very similar to what the MDNR does. When a landowner client complains about the harvest cleanup, we refer to contract. There have been several times when I have videotaped myself driving my wife s car along a logging road to prove to landowner that it is accessible with a 2-wheel drive vehicle. We feel that changing our harvest cleanup standards to appease landowners would negatively affect our ability to sell timber. If the landowner wants to bulldoze food plots or turn skid trails into roads, then they can pay for it themselves. We are going to change one standard which is the timing of the cleanup. We have had jobs where it takes several months to get the cleanup done because the logger s dozer is busy elsewhere. This does not sit well with the landowner, especially if it was a lowland job and they had to wait all winter and spring for the ground to dry. Furthermore, some loggers employ skilled dozer operators and others don t. If a landowner is irritated because the cleanup took 7 months to happen, then they are likely pickier about the quality of the cleanup. Therefore we will implement the following policy on all of our timber harvests. Cleanup must be done within 30 days of the end of harvest operations or as soon as weather conditions allow. If the producer cannot do harvest cleanup within this time frame, then Metcalfe Forestry will contract with an excavating company to do the work and this will be deducted from the security deposit. Another change is that we will try to keep security deposits in line with expected cleanup expenses. This means that you can expect us to require higher security deposits on jobs where we feel that the cleanup will be more expensive than normal. If we use an excavating company to do the work, you can count on us to keep the expense to a minimum. The goal is not to take care of the landowner s honey do list, it is to get an industry standard harvest cleanup done within 30 days. You can line up the excavating company or we can. We will communicate with you and are willing to consider cost effective options as long as the cleanup gets done correctly and on time. Last but not least, you can continue to trust us with your security deposit. Our ability to sell timber is dependent on the producer trusting our judgment and fairness. If we start treating our producers poorly, then no one will buy our timber sales. If you have questions or comments let us know. We would appreciate any feedback. Sincerely, Bryce and Susan Metcalfe MI Registered Forester # and # Members of Association of Consulting Foresters Tree Farm Inspectors and Representatives Members of the Michigan Association of Timbermen Members of Michigan Forest Association Members of Society of American Foresters Michigan Technological University Graduates of Forestry, B.S. & M.S.