B08_Attachment_1_SOW_Lee_Fencing_2026_CRI.pdf

Statement of Work

CULTURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY

Lee Fire Fencing Rehabilitation 2026

White River Field Office

Rio Blanco County

1.0 General: Furnish labor and equipment to complete Class III archaeological inventories.

1.1 Introduction

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) White River Field Office (WRFO) proposes to reconstruct 167 miles of fences damaged by the 2025 Lee Fire southwest of the City of Meeker in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. On August 2, 2025, three wildfires (Lee, Grease, and Elk RBX) were ignited by lightning strikes. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) White River Field Office (WRFO) and Northwest

District Fire and Aviation Unit (NWDFA) responded to the incidents which would later be categorized as a Complex Incident. The Grease and Lee fires merged on the 4th of August, and the name “Lee” was retained. The Lee Fire became the 5th largest fire in Colorado state history at 137,758 acres. The fire encompassed 103,127 acres of public lands managed by the BLM-WRFO and through Burned Area

Rehabilitation (BAR), the field office secured funding to reconstruct rangeland fencing on BLM administered lands.

The Lee Fire occurred less than 2 miles southwest of Meeker, CO and spans between State Highway 13 and Rio Blanco County Road 5 (CR-5) with one slop over CR-5 to the south across Piceance Creek. This area is characterized by seasonal drainages, many deeply incised, as well as steeply sloped, rocky outcroppings and sandstone cliff faces. Vegetation interface is predominately pinyon-juniper woodland with sparse shrub understory, as well as mixed grass and shrubland, predominately oakbrush and serviceberry. Ground visibility typically exceeded 80% due to fire consumption, however, ash and soot obscured soils. Elevations range between 6,400 – 8,000 ft. Oil and gas industry, livestock grazing activities, and recreation (seasonal hunting) are the main historic and modern uses of the general area.

1.2 Project Description

The BLM WRFO plans to reconstruct 167 miles of fences damaged by the 2025 Lee Fire and requires

Class III cultural resource inventory of BLM-administered land. A 50 ft buffer will be surveyed on either side of each fence alignment for a total of 1,319 acres. Portions of fenceline on slopes greater than 30 degrees have already been removed from the survey area. BLM requests that the entirety of the APE is analyzed and that appropriate mitigation recommendations are discussed in the report by the contractor.

Survey shall include a 100% pedestrian inventory at transect intervals spaced between 15 - 20 meters, to identify, record, and evaluate all cultural resources greater than 50 years old. All previously recorded

Eligible, Needs Data, and Unevaluated sites in the inventory area shall be re-visited. New OAHP (Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation) management data and component forms shall be completed for newly recorded sites as well as sites previously recorded on old versions of site forms; BLM Linear

Management Data and/or BLM Linear Segment Forms shall be used for documenting all linear resources.

The definition of a site and isolated find shall follow the field office standards and procedures. The contractor shall confirm the definitions with the Project Inspector.

Prior to fieldwork the contractor will be responsible for contacting the WRFO archaeologist to discuss procedures for completing the pre-fieldwork records search, survey requirements, and report requirements, including the pre-field files search with the WRFO and the OAHP Compass database.

Inventory will involve linear surveys in the Piceance Basin (See Attached maps).

No contract modifications shall be provided for unanticipated site density or logistic complexity not considered by the contractor in their bid. Known sites in the vicinity of the survey area include a moderate density of historic roads, range features, and homesteads, as well as prehistoric open lithic scatters, open camps, and open architectural. In total, 16 cultural resources are within the APEs, two of which are eligible or potentially eligible: 5RB.3403, and 5RB.9632. Both sites have been recently re-visited in 2018 and 2023. Therefore, unless substantial changes to site condition caused by the effects of the wildfire, re-visitation forms are not required. Note that the contractor should not assume that this overview is anything more than an informed projection of the project area.

1.3 Project Location

The Lee Fire occurred less than 2 miles southwest of Meeker, CO and spans between State Highway 13 and Rio Blanco County Road 5 (CR-5) with one slop over CR-5 to the south across Piceance Creek.

1.4 Access to Work

Access to the location will be provided by the contractor at their expense. Terrain throughout the project area is fairly flat with slopes of 15% or less interspersed with steep finger ridges, and most areas are accessible by 4WD vehicle and/or ATV/UTV. County roads run near the project areas but can become impassable when wet.

1.5 Work Limits

Bidders must have a valid Colorado Permit for Archaeological Investigation (PAI; formerly CRUP) or be able to obtain a permit (see attached BLM Handbook for more information). Bidders must also have, or be able to obtain, a Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation consulting permit prior to conducting work in the field office. In addition, the contractor must also carry a Fieldwork Authorization

(FWA) at all times when conducting fieldwork. Please contact the BLM NWDFA archaeologist for the

FWA after the contract is awarded.

1.6 Selection Criteria

Selection will be based on a lowest price technically acceptable basis. Successful bidders will be selected based on technical details in addressing how standards and procedures for WRFO and Colorado are achieved to ensure a high quality product that requires minimal review and correction by the reviewing official, completed within the timeline of the contract. Selection will also be based on the quality of past work demonstrated by examples of work of similar size and scope in northwest Colorado (Submit a minimum of 2 and no more than 4). Proposals shall list key personnel that will be assigned to the contract along with their qualifications. The Principal Investigator and Field Directors/Crew Chiefs must be listed on the contractors PAI.

2.0 Federal Specifications

Specifications for cultural surveys are outlined in the attached standards and Procedures/BLM Colorado

Handbook.

3.0 Government Furnished Items

BLM WRFO will furnish shapefiles of all polygons that require survey, digital copies of site forms requiring re-visitation, and any maps needed by the contractor.

3.1 Contractor Furnished Items

The contractor will supply all equipment, transportation, and personnel to complete cultural resource inventories described above.

4.0 Deliverables

See Reporting Standards in Section III of the “2026 Procedures and Reporting Standards for Cultural

Resources Consultants Conducting Projects Under A CRUP Permit for The Colorado Northwest District and Grand Junction Field Office, Bureau of Land Management”. The NWDFA archaeologist prefers draft reports and site files to be sent electronically as PDF documents.

Contractors must also follow the BLM Colorado Handbook (revised 2026) and PAI permit stipulations, including the delivery of geospatial data containing inventory and site shapefiles. The Principal

Investigator and Field Director/Crew Chief must be on the selected contractor’s current PAI as qualified to do cultural work in the field office. The Field Director/Crew Chief must be present at all times with crews in the field. The contractor shall also follow the specifications for geospatial data, as detailed in the most recent Digital Data Specifications Guide, which may be found on the BLM website or obtained from either the COR or the Project Inspectors.

After the field office receives acceptable site and inventory shapefiles, the field office shall request a

SHPO document number. Once the SHPO assigns the number (usually the same or next day), it, and the field office report number, shall be sent back to the contractor to incorporate into the documentation.

Contractors are expected to collect a representative sample of obsidian debitage or tools located during survey, for X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis sourcing, by the contractor (see Section II, F of the 2026

Procedures and Reporting Standards).

Diagnostic artifacts should only be collected if the project could damage, destroy or endanger the artifact.

Contractors are expected to call the PI or BLM WRFO archaeologist to determine if the artifact should be collected. Diagnostic artifacts shall be either photographed or illustrated as fine line drawings in the report and appropriate OAHP form. All photographs and illustrations shall have an appropriate scale, and documentation of the artifacts shall include measurements of length, width, and thickness. If other artifacts are collected during this project, a table and paragraph discussing the items collected and their associated numbers shall be included with the report as an appendix. All collected artifacts shall be prepared and delivered to the designated curation facility for the field office not later than 180 days after completion of fieldwork. A spreadsheet listing the BLM Project Number, Author, Title, Township/Range, Section, Site Number, Site Type, Eligibility, Artifact Number and Artifact Description shall accompany the artifacts, and a copy of the spreadsheet shall be provided to the field office.

A. Item 1 payment shall be made based on acceptance of a digital letter report in PDF format that describes the results of the Class III inventory. Payment shall total 35% of the contract cost. The letter report is due to the BLM within two weeks after completion of fieldwork, and shall contain at a minimum:

1. A brief description of each site, which shall include site type, temporal or cultural affiliation, and the NRHP eligibility recommendation. This information can be in table format.

2. A draft shapefile of the site and isolated find results. The contractor will use OAHP’s shapefile template located here: https://sites.google.com/state.co.us/oahp-resource-center/forms-guidance/gis-requirements.

a. BLM will submit requests to OAHP for Smithsonian numbers and the OAHP document number.

3. A copy of a 7.5' topographic map showing the project inventory boundary and site locations.

The COR’s review of the letter report and verbal notification of acceptance of the results to the contractor within two weeks of receipt constitutes completion of this item of the contract.

https://sites.google.com/state.co.us/oahp-resource-center/forms-guidance/gis-requirements https://sites.google.com/state.co.us/oahp-resource-center/forms-guidance/gis-requirements

B. Item 2 payment shall be made based on the digital submission of a Draft Final Report and draft site forms in Word format, along with inventory and site shapefile data. Payment shall total 35% of the contract cost. This documentation must be submitted to the BLM for review within 90 calendar days after completing the fieldwork.

The BLM shall not accept CDs containing the draft documentation (report and forms) and geospatial data. Instead, the contractor may supply these data on a USB flash drive or arrange for digital transfer via an FTP site or other secure internet location (again pursuant to the most current Digital Data

Specifications Guide).

The Draft Final Report, and all required inventory and site forms, shall meet the guidelines established by the Secretary of Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation, BLM

Colorado Handbook (revised 2017), OAHP Guidelines, and the field office standards and procedures. The draft documentation shall not be digitally secured or protected. A complete list of the previous inventories and complete site and isolate numbers found during the literature search may be included as a table and summarized in the text.

A description of the APE, including the potential for direct, indirect and cumulative effects, must be included in the report. The draft report shall also evaluate the sites in the APE for National Register eligibility and make a recommendation regarding a Determination of Effect for the undertaking. Those evaluations should be made in the context of previous investigations and findings in the general area, and management issues for the region. All sites determined to be “needs data” shall include a detailed justification for such a determination; the contractor must conduct a shovel or trowel test prior to recommending a site as “Needs Data,” not to exceed the maximum testing allowed per site under the contractor’s PAI.

The BLM shall provide comments/suggested revisions to the Draft Final Report within 60 days of receipt.

C. Item 3 payment shall be made upon acceptance of the Final Report by BLM. Final payment shall total 30% of the contract cost. Delivery of the Final Report and supporting records is required no later than 180 days after completion of fieldwork. BLM shall notify the contractor of acceptance of the Final

Report within 14 days of receipt which constitutes completion of the contract.

The final report and forms shall respond to the corrections and comments made by WRFO during the review of the Draft Final Report. Additional requirements for the final report and forms are:

• Final payment is contingent upon BLM’s acceptance of the response to the comments and corrections made during the BLM review.

• Cultural resource legal, UTM, or specific narrative descriptions are not to be presented anywhere in the report narrative.

• The report cover page, appendices with legal/UTM locations, and maps with site locations must contain the following statement in large font, bold type “For Official Use Only: Disclosure of site locations prohibited (43 CFR 7.18).”

• The final PDF files of reports and site and isolate forms must follow SHPO file naming conventions, pursuant to the most current Digital Data Specifications Guide and shall not be digitally secured or protected.

• BLM will not accept CDs containing the project documentation (report and forms) and geospatial data. Instead, the contractor may supply this data on a USB flash drive or arrange for digital transfer via an FTP site or other secure internet location (again pursuant to the most current

Digital Data Specifications Guide).

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and Project Inspector (PI) is Wendy Parker, wrparker@blm.gov at (970) 761-8228. The backup COR is Shane Pfeiffer, Spfeiffer@blm.gov at (970)

620-6957.

Period of Performance: August 24, 2026 to April 30, 2027.