JOHN DAY The Forest Service will hold meetings starting this week for potential bidders to learn more about the Malheur National Forests 10-year stewardship contract.

Described as pre-proposal meetings, the sessions will be teleconferenced and will run from 9 a.m. to noon at Forest Service offices in John Day, Pendleton, La Grande, Bend, Prineville, Baker City and Hines.

The first session will be Thursday, June 27, followed by sessions on Wednesday, July 3, and Tuesday, July 16.

Also scheduled is an on-the-ground session on Tuesday, July 9. That will begin with a meeting from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Seneca City Hall, followed by a field visit to several forest units slated for stewardship work.

Participants who cant attend in person can call in to participate by phone. The meetings are open to the public. Information on how to call in is available from the Forest Service office, 541-575-3000.

The meetings are the next step in rolling out the 10-year Integrated Resource Service Contract, which will be awarded to a single contractor. The goal is to accomplish landscape-scale restoration on the forest, targeting 180,000 to 500,000 acres of the Malheur that officials have termed in urgent need of restoration.

In a release from the Region 6 office, officials noted the agency needs a working forest products industry to accomplish restoration activities and ensure the work is done at reasonable cost.

A 10-year IRSC will allow a contractor to conduct vital restoration work on the Malheur National Forest and provide employment in the local forest products industry, which will strengthen all economic sectors, the release stated. According to region officials and Teresa Raaf, Malheur National Forest Supervisor, the forests collaborative groups wiill continue to be involved in the restoration planning.

The selected contractor will be responsible for a wide range of work, which is expected to involve numerous subcontractors.

According to the Forest Service, the restoration work may include: tree marking, road maintenance/reconstruction; removing commercial and non-commercial vegetation to promote healthy forest stands: reducing fire hazards: restoring and maintaining wildlife and fish habitat; and controlling noxious and exotic weeds and re-establishing native plant species.

The agency said it cant pre-determine the precise volumes that will come from the contract, but it estimated that up to 3.5 million green tons could be removed from the project areas.