ATCH_1Arch_Survey_IDIQ_SOW.docx

ATTACHMENT 1

Cultural Resources Services Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Performance Based Service Contract National Forests in North Carolina 2016 - 2021

SOLICITATION

This Request for Quotations is a solicitation and a resultant contract for an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Performance Based Service Contract for all aspects of professional cultural resources services for a wide variety of activities on National Forest lands in North Carolina. This includes the Croatan National Forest, Uwharrie National Forest, Pisgah National Forest and the Nantahala National Forest. The primary tasks will be archeological survey and site evaluation. However, tasks will not be limited to archeological survey and evaluation. Additional tasks may include historic buildings inventory and evaluation, artifact analysis, collections management, cultural resource recording, site monitoring, archeological site relocation and marking, preparation of National Register of Historic Places nominations, prehistoric and historic synthesis, cultural resources overviews, cultural resource management plans, historic preservation plans, archaeological and historical interpretation, or other cultural resource planning documents, report preparation, and documents written for the lay audience.

CONTRACT TIME: The total contract time shall be a base year with four one year options for a total of five years. Scheduling of individual activities will be established in each individual Task Order.

PERFORMANCE: Performance of the task orders shall begin within 30 calendar days after the effective date of the Notice to Proceed. The Notice to Proceed will be issued at the pre-work conference by the Contracting Officer.

A minimum of four offerors to this solicitation will be awarded a contract. All successful offerors will receive a minimum of $25,000.00.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Offerors may contact:

Mark Miller, Contracting Officer Telephone: 803-561-4020 Electronic mail: markjmiller@fs.fed.us or, Rodney J. Snedeker, Forest Archeologist Supervisor’s Office, National Forests in North Carolina 160A Zillicoa Street Asheville, North Carolina 28801 Telephone: 828 257-4255 Electronic mail: rsnedeker@fs.fed.us or

Andrew M. Triplett, Nantahala Zone Archaeologist Tusquitee Ranger District, Nantahala National Forest 123 Woodland Drive Murphy, North Carolina 28906 Telephone: 828-837-5152 ext. 105; Electronic mail: atriplett@fs.fed.us

Explanation of the Payment Schedules

This is a contract for an undetermined amount of archaeological and cultural resource work to be performed during the contract period specified for the basic and optional periods above.

Payments

Consideration and payment shall be based upon the actual amount of work undertaken as stated in each individual Task Order at the appropriate rate stated in the payment schedule negotiated for the work to be performed in the individual Task Order. Partial payments will be made in accordance with a schedule developed for each individual Task Order.

Payments Procedure Individual Task Orders shall determine the authorized payments schedule. The Contractor shall be responsible for preparation and submission of invoice. It shall contain the Contract and Task Order Number, Vendor Identification Number, company name and address, and the specific line items that are being billed.

Payment shall be authorized at the rate and schedule as set within the contract. The Contractor shall submit invoices concomitant with the completion of scheduled milestones and deliverables as agreed upon during the pre-work meeting. Invoices must contain the contract number and project name.

Payment shall be made for work satisfactorily completed by the Contractor and accepted by the Contracting Officer. Payment percentages shall be determined by each Task Order.

The Contractor may submit one or more monthly invoices for a pro-rated portion of the total percentage due at each stage of the project.

Final payment, 10% of the amount of the contract, will be made when the Final contract product, report, is accepted.

Qualifications

To be considered acceptable for this solicitation, the offerors must employ personnel meeting the standards set forth in the Department of Interior’s Guidelines for Professional Qualifications and/or Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (as amended) and/or Office of Personnel Managements X-118 Qualifications.

DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS / STATEMENT OF WORK

Cultural Resources Services on the National Forests in North Carolina

Scope of Work

Authority. The services performed under this Scope of Work are initiated and influenced by a number of Federal requirements. These requirements include, but are not limited to National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA); the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); Executive Order 11593 (Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment); the Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974; the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA); the Archaeological Resources Protection Act Of 1979, as amended (ARPA); and the Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement (PMOA) between the National Forests in North Carolina, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office.

Purpose. To assist the USDA Forest Service in meeting its obligations, including but not limited to Sections 106 and 110 of NHPA, ARPA and NEPA, to identify, protect and enhance cultural resources located on National Forest lands in North Carolina.

General Requirements. The Contractor shall provide all personnel, supervision, equipment, tools, supplies, materials, transportation, facilities, and incidentals necessary to perform the work specified by individual Task Orders.

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY (MAPS, DRAWINGS, SPECS, ETC.

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED CRITICAL ITEMS / SERVICES

Description of Services. The USDA Forest Service, National Forests in North Carolina, is in need of professional cultural resource management services for a wide variety of activities on national forest lands in North Carolina. Tasks include, but are not limited to, archeological survey, evaluation, and excavation. Additional tasks may include historic buildings inventory and evaluation, artifact analysis, collections management, cultural resource recording, site monitoring, site relocation and marking, preparation of National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nominations, prehistoric and historic synthesis, cultural resources overviews, cultural resource management plans, historic preservation plans, archeological and historical interpretation, or other cultural resource planning documents, report preparation, documents written for the lay audience. The Contractor shall demonstrate knowledge and use of global positioning systems (GPS) and geographical information systems (GIS) mapping, digital image processing, scanning, digitizing, and other technical competencies.

Personnel

For cultural resource surveys, the Contractor must insure all personnel performing the work meet the following:

· Principal Investigator: The minimum professional qualifications for the Principal Investigator are: 1) a graduate degree in anthropology with an archaeology emphasis; 2) demonstrated ability to carry out research to completion as evidenced by timely completion of previous contracts undertaken within the past three years and no current contracts which are past their completion dates; 3) one year of full-time professional experience in archaeological administration, research or management relevant to North Carolina archeology; 4) supervisory field and analytical experience; 5) meet any current requirements of the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) for a person functioning as a Principal Investigator;

· Field Supervisors/Crew Chiefs: A minimum of a bachelor's degree in anthropology, archaeology, history, or a closely related field with a minimum of six months general archaeological field experience including a field school and one year of previous field archeological supervisory experience conducting similar work;

· Field or Laboratory Crew: Completion of or satisfactory progress toward a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, archeology, history or a closely related field, or six months previous experience in archeological field or laboratory work. Completion of an archeological field school is considered satisfactory qualification for an initial position (first archeological job) if that individual will be constantly supervised by a higher qualified individual;

· Changes in primary Contractor personnel: Changes must be approved by the Contracting Officer (CO). The CO reserves the right to reject any proposed personnel that do not meet the requirements as stated herein. The Contractor shall submit a written request accompanied by a description of the duties of proposed personnel and the vitae of any new personnel to the CO. Written approval from the CO must be received by the Contactor prior to new personnel beginning work under this contract.

· Changes in Field or Laboratory Crew: The Contractor shall submit the vitae of new crew personnel to the COR when new crew personnel are hired and before they begin work.

For all projects the following will be identified:

Contract Manager. The Contractor shall provide a contract manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate(s) who shall act for the Contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer. The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operations of this contract. The Contractor manager or alternate shall be available during normal duty hours within three hours to meet on the National Forest with government personnel designated by the Contracting Officer to discuss problems areas.

Key Personnel. The Contractor shall assign to this contract key personnel who meet the minimum criteria established in the Department of Interior’s Guidelines for Professional Qualifications and/or Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (as amended) and/or Office of Personnel Managements X-118 Qualifications. The contract proposal must include curriculum vitae for the Principal Investigator, Project Archeologist, and the Field Director in support of their academic qualifications and experience. If consultants have not been identified at the time of contract proposal, vitae on these positions may be omitted until such time as they are identified. Employment under the terms of this contract for all individuals not identified at the time of the contract proposal is subject to approval of the Contracting Officer's Representative. During the performance of the contract, the Contractor shall make no substitutions of personnel without prior approval of the CO. The Contractor shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any additional information requested by the Contracting Officer or COR. Proposed substitutes should have comparable qualifications to those of the persons being replaced. The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor after receipt of all required information of the decision on substitutions. The contract will be modified to reflect any approved changes of key personnel.

Employees and Vehicles. Contractor personnel shall wear protective clothing while working on the national forest lands including orange safety vest or similar clothing during hunting seasons. During fieldwork Contractor personnel shall check in with the district office or COR each day and give their intended work location and number of personnel and shall provide the Forest Service with emergency telephone numbers.

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT TASKS / CRITICAL SUBTASKS

Pre-work Meeting and Notice to Proceed

After the award of the task order, and prior to commencing work, the Contractor shall be required to attend a pre-work meeting with the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). During the pre-work meeting numerous subjects will be discussed including, but not limited to:

a. Review of the undertaking and project objectives;

b. Review of project and maps to become familiar with the location of the project;

c. Inventory strategy and methods, presentation of data, levels of analysis and evaluation, and deliverables;

d. Coordination and access to the project area with District personnel;

e. Provide a copy of the planned fieldwork schedule and a communication plan (e.g. key contacts, phone numbers) to the Forest;

f. Performance time defined in the task order;

g. Establish a start work date on the contract, and issue the Notice to Proceed. No work shall be done on the contract prior to the issuance of the Notice to Proceed.

Plan of Work

Prior to commencing the fieldwork, the Contractor shall submit to the COR for review and approval a proposed plan of work that describes the schedule for submission of deliverables, estimated number of person-days for fieldwork, and strategies for accomplishing the scope of work defined in each task order issued under this contract.

Pre-field Files Search

Prior to commencing the fieldwork, the Contractor shall submit to the COR for review and approval a written narrative description documenting that all pre-field file searches and historic records data searches are complete. At a minimum, the pre-field file and historic records search shall include gathering data from the following:

a. Forest cultural resources inventory information;

b. The current National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) listings;

c. SHPO records if available;

d. Historic maps and aerial photographs on file with the Forest;

e. Other pertinent records, publications, informants, etc.

The Contractor, in writing, shall document negative findings from any of the above sources.

Fieldwork

Work on the contract shall commence after the issuance of the Notice to Proceed at the pre-work meeting. The performance time shall be stated in the task order, and will be reiterated at the pre-work meeting. Whenever possible, the performance time shall be in accordance with the parameters established by National Environmental Policy Act, compliance needs of the District and Forest, and all other state and federal guidelines that relate to the disposition, protection, and management of cultural resources.

a) The Contractor will notify the COR prior to entering the Forest to conduct fieldwork;

b) All materials collected during performance of this contract are, and shall be, the sole property of the U.S. Government. All artifacts recovered from work performed under this contract shall be treated in accordance with 36 CFR 79.4. The Contractor shall provide for and bear all costs associated with the preparation of artifacts and records for permanent curation of all materials, including any curation fees. The contractor is responsible for delivering the artifacts to a designated curation facility for permanent storage. The name and location of the appropriate facility will be identified in individual task orders. All artifacts must be accessioned using the State of NC Office of State Archaeology system. At a minimum, artifact labels will include the following information: Forest Service site number, state site number (trinomial), artifact catalog number, shovel test or surface find number (linked to site sketch map), artifact description, depth below surface, date,and initials of recorder.

c) The use of metal detectors is required on historic properties and isolated historic finds with no visible surface artifacts (including depressions and rock piles) along with shovel testing to assist in the determination of boundaries and evaluation for NRHP eligibility.

d) In the field, the Contractor shall mark the boundary of the site using flagging tape and shall mark the site datum point. The Contractor shall mark in this fashion all sites recorded as part of this survey whether it is a newly recorded site for this project or a site that is being re-recorded or inspected as part of this project.

e) At a minimum, the site center point shall be recorded (and any site 50 meters by 50 meters or larger also requires a polygon indicating the site boundary) for newly recorded archaeological sites and revisited archaeological sites. The datum point, and the site boundary, if required, shall be collected using Contractor furnished resource grade GPS unit(s). If inventoried areas vary from the survey areas provided at the pre-work meeting, altered survey areas shall also be collected using Contractor furnished resource grade GPS unit(s). GIS data shall be provided in the appropriate UTM Zone, NAD83 Datum with units in meters. All digital information shall be provided to the FS on CD.

f) The Contractor should be aware that not all roads identified on maps provided are accessible by passenger car. Many are 4-wheel drive roads and are not passable in adverse weather. In addition there may be sections of roads that are not administered by the Forest Service, County, or State, that cross private land. Access along these sections of road is not guaranteed by the awarding of this contract.

Field Inspections

Formal field inspections shall be conducted by the COR or designated Contract Inspectors (CI) in order to allow the COR to determine that all fieldwork is proceeding on schedule and has been completed. Informal field inspections may be conducted at the discretion of the CO, the COR and/or CI at any time without the Contractor's knowledge of, or attendance at, these informal inspections.

For the Croatan and Uwharrie National Forests a minimum of four hard copies of the final report and two hard copies of the site forms shall be furnished to the Forest, the due date and number of copies to be identified in the specific task order. For the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests a minimum of five hard copies of the final report and two hard copies of the site forms shall be furnished to the Forest, the due date and number of copies to be identified in the specific task order. All units of the National Forests in North Carolina require that two electronic copies (pdf. format) of all material shall be contained in the report package. The Forest shall be responsible for initiating consultation with the SHPO. Reports produced under the terms of this contract shall be provided to the SHPO by the Forest, and not by the Contractor. Final reports will be provided to non-Forest Service proponents, if applicable, only after the report has been approved by the Forest.

SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENT

Equipment and Facilities The Contractor must provide or demonstrate access to field and laboratory equipment necessary to conduct whatever operations are defined in this Statement of Work and the Task order. The Contractor must have adequate facilities necessary for proper treatment, analysis, and storage of specimens and records likely to be obtained from a given project awarded under this contract. This does not necessarily include such specialized facilities as pollen, geochemical, or radiological laboratories, but it does include facilities sufficient to properly preserve or stabilize specimens for any subsequent specialized analysis.

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Notification The Contractor shall provide strict compliance with all Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regulations as they apply to the inadvertent discovery of Native American human remains or cultural items.

Inadvertent Discovery Upon the inadvertent discovery, the Contractor shall provide immediate telephone notification of the discovery to the Contracting Officer’s Representative. The Contractor shall provide written confirmation of the inadvertent discovery to the Forest Archeologist within three days of the discovery.

Tribal Consultation The Forest Service will conduct all government-to-government tribal consultation. The Contractor shall not be responsible for the identification and evaluation of traditional cultural properties or other areas of traditional cultural or religious importance to Federally Recognized Indian Tribes.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND OBLIGATIONS

The Contractor shall provide the Forest Supervisor with a copy of all documents and publications resulting from the project including theses, dissertations, articles, monographs, etc.

Quality Control Plan. The Contractor shall establish and maintain a complete Quality Control Plan to ensure the requirements of the contract are provided as specified. One copy of the Contractor’s Quality control Plan shall be provided to the Contracting Officer not later than 5 days after the pre-performance or pre-work conference unless the solicitation stipulates otherwise in which case the solicitation stipulation shall take precedence. An updated copy of the QCP shall be provided the Contracting Officer as changes occur.

Content. The plan shall include the following:

Inspection System. An inspection system covering all the services specified in this PWS. It must specify the areas to be inspected on either a scheduled or unscheduled basis, how often inspections shall be accomplished, or the title of the individual(s) who will perform the inspections.

Identification and Prevention. The methods for identifying and preventing defectives in the quality of service performed before performance becomes unacceptable.

Records. Documentation shall consist of on-site records of all inspections conducted by the Contractor and necessary corrective action taken. This documentation shall be made available to the Government during the term of the contract.

Government Review. The Government will review the Contractor Quality Control Plan to determine if it is adequate. If the plan is adequate, the Government will accept the plan. If the plan is not adequate as submitted, the deficiencies will be identified to the Contractor in writing. The Contractor shall correct all identified deficiencies and submit a corrected Contractor Quality Control Plan within ten working days or within a timeframe approved by the CO or COR. The Government will also periodically review the manner in which the Contractor is conducting the quality control program by either reviewing the Contractor’s records, observing actual performance or both.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Government Evaluation. The Government will evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this contract using the method of inspection deemed appropriate. If Government Quality Assurance reveals that any contract provision has not been met, a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) shall be prepared. The Contractor shall respond to CDRs by explaining: (1) why performance was unacceptable, (2) how performance will be returned to acceptable levels and (3) how recurrence of the problem will be prevented in the future.

Performance Evaluation Meetings. The contract manager may be required to meet periodically with the COR and/or the Contracting Officer during the contract. Meetings shall be as often as necessary as determined by the Contracting Officer. However, if the Contractor requests, a meeting shall be held whenever a Contract Discrepancy Report is issued. The meetings shall focus on performance and actual or potential problems. A mutual good faith effort shall be made by all parties to resolve all issues. The written minutes of these meetings shall be signed by the contract manager, Contracting Officer, and COR. If the Contractor does not concur with the minutes, then a notice of non-concurrence shall be provided to the Contracting Officer. This notice shall be in writing and provided within seven work days of receipt of the minutes.

Documentation and Records.

All documentation, records and schedules as described in this SOW that is the responsibility of the Contractor, are the property of the Government and shall be turned over to the Government upon completion or termination of the contract. All records are subject to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts and any requests for release of any records shall be handled accordingly.

Rights to Materials and Data

All materials and data produced by the Contractor in performance under this contract, or in work in support thereof, are, and shall be, the sole property of the United States Government; unlimited rights in ownership, usage, and equity for such materials and data are, and shall be, transferred without reservation to the United States Government. Materials and data include, but are not limited to, the following items: manuscripts, outlines, abstracts, artwork (including maps, sketches, charts, tables and related overlays), photography (including negatives, transparencies, prints, microfiches, and electronic files), electronic spatial data, and data sheets. The materials shall be transmitted to the COR along with the Final product, report, and prior to final payment under this contract.

Confidential Nature of Information

The Contractor shall not divulge, and shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that no member of its staff or organization divulges, information on specific sites or their locations to any person other than a duly authorized representative of the Forest Service unless otherwise authorized in writing by the Forest Supervisor. The results of this research may be used for theses, dissertations, research projects, and papers and publications subject to the prior, written, approval of the Forest Supervisor.

DEFINITIONS

Standard Definitions.

Acceptable Quality Level (AQL). The maximum allowable deviation from perfect performance that may occur before the Government will invoke payment deduction. An AQL does not allow a Contractor knowingly to offer defective service, but limits reduced payment to circumstances in which defective performance results in a measurable reduction in the value of services rendered.

Business Day: For the purpose of this solicitation/contract, a business day is defined as a day which falls between Monday through Friday.

Defective Service. A unit of service which contains one or more defects, or nonconformance with specified requirements.

Contracting Officer: The Contracting Officer (CO) has overall responsibility for the administration of the contract and for overseeing the overall performance of the Contractor.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). A Government employee appointed by the Contracting Officer to help the Contracting Officer with contract administration. This person may also be responsible for surveillance of Contractor performance.

Government Inspector. A Government employee responsible for surveillance of Contractor performance.

Performance Standards: Identifies the key service outputs of the contract that will be evaluated by the Government to assure contract performance standards are met by the Contractor.

Quality Assurance. Those actions taken by the Government to assure services meet the requirements of the Performance work Statement (PWS).

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). An organized written document used for quality assurance surveillance. The document contains specific methods to perform surveillance of the Contractor.

Quality Control Plan: Those actions that shall be taken by a Contractor to control the performance of services so that they meet the requirements of the Statement of Work.

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS / INDUSTRY STANDARDS / STATE STANDARDS / GOVERNMENT STANDARDS / TECHNICAL EXHIBITS

Technical Exhibits can be found in Attachments or are readily available from respective agencies and /or on-line.

36 CFR Part 60 National Register of Historic Places, 36 CFR Part 296 Protection of Archaeological Resources: Uniform Regulations, 36 CFR Part 800 Protection of Historic and Cultural Properties, 43 CFR Part 10 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation

USDI Archeology and Historic Preservation: Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines

USDI, National Register Bulletin 15, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, USDI, National Register Bulletin 36, Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Historical Archeological Sites and Districts.

Forest Service Manual 2361 Cultural Resources

Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement between the Advisory Council, the North Carolina SHPO and the National Forests in North Carolina

North Carolina Office of State Archaeology Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations

North Carolina Office of State Archaeology Curation Standards

North Carolina Office of State Archaeology Site Form

DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

Period of Contract: Individual Task Orders shall determine the delivery of products or services to the Contracting Officer’s Representative.

Progress Reports: Shall be submitted as required by each Task Order.

Contracting Officer’s Representative Review – After the receipt of any draft report, plans, and other documentation the COR will review and comment on the documents. Other consulting parties such as the North Carolina SHPO and interested Federally Recognized Indian Tribes may review the documents. The COR will return draft documents with comments and required changes.

Final Documentation: Shall be completed and delivered to the Contracting Officer’s Representative within the timeframe set by each Delivery / Task Order.

Quality Control Plan Report: Shall be submitted with the final documentation.

The Contractor may submit one or more monthly invoices for a pro-rated portion of the total percentage due at each stage of the project.

Attachment 1: Delivery/Task Order

Attachment 2:

NFsNC Cultural Resources Survey Strategies / Methods

I. Project Surveys

NC Mountains, Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests

Compliance with Section 106 requires that the heritage resource sites in the project area be located, and sufficient data retrieved to evaluate sites for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) to make a determination of effect. The project area will be subjected to pedestrian survey. Since management decisions and directions for future work are based on initial survey results, it is essential that enough information be obtained to make informed decisions or determinations. Consequently, subsurface testing, which can provide information about artifact depth, site boundaries, and deposit integrity is required.

Sites will be described by the following Forest Service site designations:

Eligible - Listed in or determined eligible to the NRHP.

or

Not Eligible - Not eligible for listing in the NRHP.

and only if necessary due to unforseen constraints

Unevaluated - Further research or testing required.

Site definition to be used during survey is the presence of two or more artifacts/features (material evidence of human use) within a definable area on a single landform or on contiguous landforms. Isolated finds are still provided a site number and site form following the policy employed by the North Carolina Office of State Archeology. All sites are recorded on state site forms and located on 7.5’ USGS topographic maps.

Field techniques involve pedestrian walk-over in parallel 20 to 25 meter transects for complete coverage of the project acreage. Subsurface tests are made every 10 to 15 meters along the transects. Subsurface testing will be conducted in all areas except those that are justified not to require subsurface testing (excellent visibility, disturbance, slope greater than 20 percent, or slope greater than 30% within 150 feet of water). Cleared areas, such as trails, roads, tree throws and tree bases will be examined when available. Where the underlying geology results in rock shelters, steeper areas are more thoroughly traversed by pedestrian walk-over to ensure adequate survey coverage. All high probability landforms expected to contain sites must be subsurface tested with tests placed every 10 to 15 meters along transects. These landforms must have a minimum of 3 subsurface tests excavated each, regardless of landform size.

The entire project area must be investigated to an extent to ensure location of all sites. Site limits must be determined for each site using subsurface testing (minimum 30cm diameter shovel tests) and landform observation (generally two negative subsurface tests in each cardinal direction or a significant change in landform will indicate the limit of a site). Larger test units (a minimum of 50cm x 50cm) may be needed to assess and/or evaluate sites. The test depths vary between less than 5 cm to well over 30 cm depending on the area, but all tests must be dug to sterile subsoil or bedrock, regardless of depth. An auger may be employed in areas where soil depth has been increased by flood plain deposits. All material will be screened through ¼ inch mesh. Site field numbers will be assigned according to the Forest Service designations: Project name abbreviation, sequential site number, and year (for example - LE-1-15 for Lower End timber sale, Site 1, and 2015).

NC Piedmont, Uwharrie National Forest

Compliance with Section 106 requires that the heritage resource sites in the project area be located, and sufficient data retrieved to evaluate sites for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) to make a determination of effect. The project area will be subjected to pedestrian survey. Since management decisions and directions for future work are based on initial survey results, it is essential that enough information be obtained to make informed decisions or determinations. Consequently, subsurface testing, which can provide information about artifact depth, site boundaries, and deposit integrity is required.

Sites will be described by the following Forest Service site designations:

Eligible - Listed in or determined eligible to the NRHP.

or

Not Eligible - Not eligible for listing in the NRHP.

Site definition to be used during survey is the presence of two or more artifacts/features (material evidence of human use) within a definable area on a single landform or on contiguous landforms. Isolated finds are still provided a site number and site form following the policy employed by the North Carolina Office of State Archeology. All sites are recorded on state site forms and located on 7.5’ USGS topographic maps.

Field techniques involve pedestrian walk-over in parallel 15 to 25 meter transects for complete coverage of the project acreage. Subsurface tests are made every 10 to 15 meters along the transects. Subsurface testing will be conducted in all areas except those that are justified not to require subsurface testing (excellent visibility, disturbance). Cleared areas, such as trails, roads, tree throws and tree bases will be examined when available.

There are no low probability areas on this unit.

The entire project area must be investigated to an extent to ensure location of all sites. Site limits must be determined for each site using subsurface testing (30cm diameter minimum shovel tests) and landform observation (generally two negative subsurface tests in each cardinal direction or a significant change in landform will indicate the limit of a site). Larger tests (50cm x 50cm shovel tests and/or 1 meter by 2 meter minimum excavation units) may be needed to assess and/or evaluate sites. The test depths vary between less than 5 cm to well over 30 cm depending on the area. An auger may be employed in areas where soil depth has been increased by flood plain deposits. All material will be screened through ¼ inch mesh.

Site field numbers will be assigned according to the Forest Service designations: Project name abbreviation, sequential site number, and year (for example: LE-1-15 for Lower End timber sale, Site 1, 2015).

NC Coast, Croatan National Forest

Compliance with Section 106 requires that the heritage resource sites in the project area be located, and sufficient data retrieved to evaluate sites for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) to make a determination of effect. The project area will be subjected to pedestrian survey. Since management decisions and directions for future work are based on initial survey results, it is essential that enough information be obtained to make informed decisions or determinations. Consequently, subsurface testing, which can provide information about artifact depth, site boundaries, and deposit integrity is required.

Sites will be described by the following Forest Service site designations:

Eligible - Listed in or determined eligible to the NRHP.

or

Not Eligible - Not eligible for listing in the NRHP.

Site definition to be used during survey is the presence of two or more artifacts/features (material evidence of human use) within a definable area on a single landform or on contiguous landforms. Isolated finds are still provided a site number and site form following the policy employed by the North Carolina Office of State Archeology. All sites are recorded on state site forms and located on 7.5’ USGS topographic maps.

The entire project area must be investigated fully to ensure location of all sites. Pedestrian survey will utilize parallel transects at 15-20 meter intervals. All unit boundary firelines, existing roads, ditchbanks as well as tree tip-ups and rootballs are walked and visually inspected. When water covers the top of shoes and higher the area is not walked over in transects but negotiated to reach suspected higher and better soils within 150 meters of water. Where there is no surface water or water obviously below the needles and ground cover subsurface shovel tests, minimally 30 centimeter in diameter, are conducted, with all material screened through ¼ inch mesh. Transects and subsurface testing are most intensive in these areas, with tests conducted at 15-30 meter intervals. Subsurface tests as well as landform observation (generally two negative subsurface tests in each cardinal direction or a significant change in landform will indicate the limit of a site) are employed to determine the limits for each site. The entire project area must be investigated to an extent to ensure location of all sites. Site limits must be determined for each site using subsurface testing (60cm diameter minimum shovel tests) and landform observation (generally two negative subsurface tests in each cardinal direction or a significant change in landform will indicate the limit of a site). Larger test excavation units (minimum 1 meter by 2 meter) may be needed to assess and/or evaluate sites. The test depths vary between less than 5 cm to well over 60 cm depending on the area. An auger may be employed in areas where soil depth has been increased by flood plain deposits

Site field numbers will be assigned according to the Forest Service designations: Project name abbreviation, sequential site number, and year (for example - LE-1-15 for Lower End timber sale, Site 1, and 2015).