1. Stewardship Contracting
FACT SHEET
What is Stewardship Contracting?
Stewardship contracting allows the U.S. Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management to contract
with private organizations or businesses to remove
forest products, such as large and small trees, in return
for doing work to restore and maintain healthy forest
ecosystems. Work done under stewardship contracts
provide a source of local employment and income.
Stewardship contracting seeks to engage local busi-
nesses, community leaders, and other stakeholders in
project design and implementation. i
How are Stewardship
Contracts used? Stream channel restoration
The priority projects for stewardship contracting are: ii
• road and trail maintenance to restore water quality;
• prescribed fire to protect communities and accomplish other resource goals;
• vegetation removal to promote healthy forest stand structure, protect communities and reduce the risk of high-
severity fires;
• watershed restoration and maintenance, including road decommissioning, and culvert removal or replacement;
• non-native species control;
• protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat;
• improvement of soil productivity;
• construction and maintenance of recreational facilities, including trails.
How do Stewardship Contracts differ from other
USFS and BLM contracts?
USFS and BLM use both sale and service contracts, but stewardship contracts are different. Sale contracts focus
on the removal of commercial products, often timber. Service contracts focus on delivered services or goods,
such as road maintenance, non-commercial tree thinning, or survey work.
Sale and service contracts are generally short term awarded on the basis of the highest bid (sale contracts) or low-
est price (service contracts). more>>
For more information, contact:
Joe Kerkvliet, Ph.D.
Resource and Environmental Economist
The Wilderness Society | 503 West Mendenhall | Bozeman, MT 59715
wilderness.org 406.581.9826 cell | jkerkvliet@twsnw.org
www.forestsandrangelands.gov/stewardship/index.shtml
February 2009
2. Stewardship contracts differ from sale and service contracts in the
following features: iii
• Exchange goods for services. Forest products removed can
be sold by the contractor, with the proceeds applied to a list
of restoration and service projects.
• Use multi-year contracts up to ten years. This is designed
to lower administrative costs, foster working relationships
and build a long-term stewardship ethic and capacity among
contractors.
• “Best Value” contractor selection. This means that agen-
cies consider features other than price in awarding contracts,
including a bidder’s technical expertise, past performance, Culvert replacement
and capacity for careful stewardship.
• Retain receipts and apply to needed restoration work.
The receipts from the sale of forest products can be retained
to pay for local restoration projects, unlike most receipts from
sale contracts. Receipts cannot be used to cover the
agencies’ contract administration costs, including salaries.
• “End Result” contracting. Rather than specify specific tasks
to be accomplished, agencies can use “designation by descrip-
tion” (e.g. cut all Douglas fir 10 inches or less in diameter) or
“designation by prescription” (e.g. retain healthy older trees
interspersed with dense stands of lodgepole pine). Bidders
submit plans showing how they will treat the land to achieve Thinning for protection and restoration
the objectives.
• Less than full and open competition. Stewardship contracts can be awarded to sole bidders and through
direct sales. This feature is designed to address complex ownership patterns, difficult pricing scenarios,
building community capacity, and fostering local economic growth.
• Collaboration and monitoring. Stewardship project design is set to include collaboration among neigh-
boring land owners, local governments, Tribes, community groups and other public interests. Monitoring of
project results is also designed to include community and public interests.
What are Stewardship Contracts Accomplishing?
Currently 36 ongoing and completed stewardship contracting projects are listed for 8 National Forests and two
BLM districts in Montana. The projects cover a wide range of activities, including: iv
• fish and wildlife habitat improvement, including grizzly and bull trout
• fuels reduction
• stream restoration
• protect Garnet Ghost town from severe fire
• control of noxious weeds
• stimulation of markets for small diameter forest products.
i Adapted from Healthy Forests and Rangelands Glossary of Terms, http://www.forestsandrangelands.gov/resources/glossary/a.shtml
(accessed August 2, 2008); The Wilderness Society, “Stewardship Contracting: An Assessment of Opportunities for Forest Restoration
and Rural Communities.” June 2004.
ii Adapted from U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Everything You Wanted to Know about Stewardship End Result
Contracting ...But Didn’t Know What to Ask.
iii Adapted from The Wilderness Society. “Stewardship Contracting: An Assessment of Opportunities for Forest Restoration and Rural
Communities.” June 2004.
iv Healthy Forests and Rangelands, Montana Stewardship Contracting Projects, http://www.forestandrangelands.gov/resources/glossary/
mt.shtml (accessed August 2, 2008).
