The Work of this project includes all labor, equipment, and materials to selectively remove invasive woody trees and shrubs and thin native species by hand cutting with chainsaws and mechanically cutting with shears and fellar bunchers from 45 acres of Wadsworth Savanna Forest Preserve located north of Wadsworth of Road and east of the railroad tracks.  Of the 45 acres, nine acres are canopy gaps that will be cut in the existing woodland with little to no presence of invasive shrubs. The remaining 36 acres is characterized by the presence of moderate to heavy invasive woody brush and undesirable overstory trees, such as box elder, cottonwood, and other species.  Access with skidsteers tracked excavators and ATV’s shall be allowed throughout the project area except in wetlands.  Access shall be provided to the southern portion of the project through a series of old fields accessed off Kilbourne Road.  Any cutting necessary to create a path through the hedge rows of the oldfields is considered incidental to the project.  Accessing the northern portion of the project area and the gaps shall take place from the south if conditions allow for crossing a small waterway, or from Kaiser Road to the north.  All parking and staging of equipment shall be within Wadsworth Savanna Forest Preserve.  The goal of this project is to improve prescribed fire management, to begin to restore savanna structure and composition, and increase light levels to the herbaceous vegetation.  Work shall include cutting, brush pile burning, selective wick herbicide application to cut stumps and follow-up foliar wick application to resprouts and small stems.  A forestry mower shall not be allowed.

The Work shall be performed at the following Work Site:

Wadsworth Savanna Forest Preserve

Wadsworth, Illinois