Spokane_Hills_Statement_of_Work.pdf

Scope-of-Work for

Class III Inventory and Report Preparation for the Spokane Hills & Ward Ranch Wildland-Urban

Interface Fuels Treatment in Broadwater & Lewis and Clark Counties Project Requiring Cultural

Resources Inventory in Accordance with BLM Montana/Dakotas Cultural Resources Handbook

H-8110-1, Section III.C.

I. General Background.

A. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is required to identify, evaluate, and protect prehistoric and historic cultural resources on public lands under its jurisdiction, and to ensure that Bureau initiated, or Bureau authorized actions do not inadvertently harm or destroy cultural resources. The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) mandates these requirements.

B. A Class III intensive field inventory is a professionally conducted, continuous, intensive survey of an entire target area aimed at locating and recording all cultural properties that have surface and exposed-profile indications. In general, a Class III survey is accomplished through systematic inspection carried out by walking a series of close-interval parallel transects until the area has been thoroughly examined. Artificial exposure of the subsurface (auger probing or shovel testing) is sometimes a necessary part of Class III surveys and should be included in identification efforts if ground/surface visibility is completely obscured by heavy vegetation cover.

II. Specific Background.

A. Setting: The Butte Field Office manages over 300,000 acres of public lands and approximately 650,000 acres of mineral estate in eight counties in southwestern

Montana. These eight counties represent the rich diversity of Montana – ranging from prairie grasslands to timbered mountains. The Butte Field Office is involved with a variety of land disturbing activities that require cultural resource input including fuels reduction, forestry, and habitat improvement projects.

B. The areas proposed for inventory in Fiscal Year 2024 is in Broadwater County in the

Butte Field Office. BLM anticipates up to 5,728.1 acres requiring inventory in Fiscal

Year 2024-2025.

III. Objectives.

A. General Bureau Objective.

To meet its obligations under Sections 106 and 110 of the NHPA.

B. Field Office Objective.

BLM’s objective with the proposed project is to reduce hazardous fuels in a wildland-urban interface environment. The BLM is also planning to have a timber sale and conduct tree thinning to reduce hazardous fuels buildup and improve wildlife and forest habitat.

The overall Field Office objective for the project is to improve wildlife habitat and reduce hazardous fuels in the Butte Field Office.

C. Specific Study Objectives.

1. To identify and evaluate, based primarily on surface indications, cultural resources located on lands identified for survey within the project area. In general, site evaluations shall be conducted using existing guidance from the BLM, Montana SHPO, the National

Register Criteria (36 CFR 60.4), and National Park Service National Register Bulletins.

IV. Statement of Work.

A. The contractor shall perform a Class III block inventory for fuels reduction treatments in Broadwater & Lewis and Clark Counties to reduce hazardous combustible material and to improve rangeland and forest health on the following BLM identified tracts. As this type of treatment is more intensive and involves heavy machinery, 100% of the proposed project area is to be inventoried.

The list of BLM identified tracts are shown in Table 1 of this Statement of Work (see below). Total Acreage amounts 5,728.1 acres of Public Lands managed by the BLM. The

Spokane Hills inventory area consists of 2,256 acres and the Ward Ranch area consists of

3,472.1 acres.

There is a private mining patent in portions of T. 9N, R. 1E, Sec. 1. Lot 5, SENW, SWNE, NWSE This private area is to be avoided and not inventoried. The total area for the isolated private parcel is approximately 20 acres. Also, there are radio towers in T. 9N

R.1W Sec. 14, SWSW. These parcels are privately owned and will need to be avoided.

The total acreage of avoidance is approximately 6 acres. In T. 11N, R. 1W, Se. 31, only the north half of the NESE 40-acre plot should be inventoried, the south half is Private. A shapefile will be provided of the avoidance areas.

B. The Contractor shall conduct a site file and literature search at the State Historic

Preservation Office in Helena, Montana, and shall contact Chris Pettyjohn at the Butte

Field Office for additional resource data. The purpose of this file search is to ensure that the Contractor is familiar with all previous work conducted in the general area of the project. This information is a necessary component of the inventory report.

1. There are two properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the Spokane Hills project area: The McMaster Ranch Historic District and the

Spokane Hills Airway Beacon.

2. Both properties have been thoroughly documented and a detailed site report is not required; Documentation for the properties should be as follows:

a. The Spokane Airway Beacon is the property of MDOT and lies on a small area of BLM that has been leased to the State under a Special Use Permit.

A simple monitoring form will suffice for the purposes of this project.

b. A section on the McMaster Ranch should be included in the report. This does not need to be an exhaustively detailed history but should provide a summation of events and show the impact ranching had on the Spokane

Hills. Similarly, a section on what can be found out about the Ward Ranch history shall be included as well. These can be addressed in Section F of the report.

c. Site or monitoring forms will not be required for the McMaster inholding property. None of the structures or contributing elements to the NR listing are in the project area apart from pastoral lands.

C. The contractor shall clearly identify all previously and newly recorded sites so that they may be avoided, mitigated, or monitored during project implementation. GIS Data will be provided to the field office archaeologist so that sites can be easily relocated in the field.

D. Formal testing shall not be conducted; however, limited hand auger or shovel testing, at the discretion of the field director, may be performed to establish potential for site deposition or site boundaries. Limited hand auger or shovel testing will be performed if it is considered necessary for determining the NRHP eligibility status of a site. Shovel testing is not a requirement for this procurement unless a site eligibility determination is dependent upon it. No shovel tests will be conducted on sites with prehistoric features (i.e. tipi rings, cairns) as they will need to be consulted on regardless.

If historic period architectural structures or remains are located the Contractor is expected to conduct a land title and mineral patent examination as part of the site identification and evaluation effort.

E. The Contractor shall employ BLM criteria for minimum site definition; i.e., The minimum criteria for defining archaeological or cultural properties, requiring use of a site record, are that sites should contain remains of past human activity that are at least 50 years old and consist of one or more of the following: 1. At least 5 artifacts within an area 50 feet in diameter (roughly 15sq meters); 2. One or more archaeological features in spatial association with any number of artifacts; 3.

Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) as defined by National Register Bulletin 38 (H8110-

1.V.b.1 through 3). Sites may also include locations which contain no physical evidence but are important for their associations with the traditions of a group, ethnic community, or Indian Tribes; e.g., National Register Bulletin 38.

Locations containing less than 5 artifacts, shall be recorded as isolated finds. Mining features such as prospect pits and trenches will be recorded in accordance with the BLM

BFO-MT SHPO Mining Programmatic Agreement if applicable. A copy of the agreement will be provided by the BLM BFO.

The contractor will not be responsible for Native American consultation and coordination for the project, this will be completed by BLM.

F. The Contractor shall:

1. Cover the areas to be inventoried on foot by employing standard survey methodology. Transect intervals shall be conducted in a 30-meter block inventory style. Transect intervals may be modified if conditions warrant; e.g., dense grasses and sod, or rough and steep terrain. If transects are widened the

Contractor shall document the rationale employed which justifies the deviation from the standard interval distance. In all cases, coverage shall be thorough.

2. Identify from surface and exposed subsurface soils indications of cultural properties or materials. At each site location emplace a site datum. A digital site datum (GPS point) can be used or a physical datum such as rebar or PVC can be placed at the site. In either instance a UTM coordinate of the datum will need to be used in appropriate resource forms. If a physical datum is used it will not be placed within or directly beside prehistoric features.

3. This survey is to be a non-collection inventory. Exceptions to this would include projectile points that are from the Paleoindian to Early Archaic time periods or prehistoric pottery. Other artifacts that may garner additional interest or study may also be collected at the contractors’ discretion. Diagnostic artifacts such as late prehistoric projectile points should be well documented but do not need to be collected.

4. Locate each cultural property on a United States Geological Survey (USGS)

1:24K topographic map.

5. Record all cultural properties on MT SHPO site and isolated find forms. Site forms can be found online at https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/Forms and instructions can be found in BLM's Handbook for Cultural Resource Inventory and Compliance.

Unless otherwise directed, re-record previously recorded cultural properties located within unit boundaries identified for inventory. Note any change in resource condition from when the site was originally recorded. Try to determine eligibility of the site if it is currently listed as undetermined or unresolved with the

SHPO if possible.

6. Take at least two 3 X 5" non-modified digital photographs of each cultural property. Standing historic structures shall be photographed on all sides to illustrate architectural features. Label all photos and negatives (if applicable) with a description and orientation. A photographic record shall be maintained.

7. Prepare sketch maps of all sites based on the location of the site datum and include topographic contour lines, cultural features, distinguishing natural and man-made features, basic site contents, and locations of all collected artifacts.

While it is not necessary to map all artifacts indicate areas of artifact https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/Forms concentration. All prehistoric cultural properties or historic material scatters shall be mapped by compass and taped or paced in meters. All historic period Euro-

American standing structures and mining features; e.g., houses, barns, etc., shall be mapped in feet. GPS Data may be substituted for the above provided it is of the same or better precision to taping and pacing.

8. The Contractor shall obtain Smithsonian site numbers from the Montana

SHPO, for all cultural properties not previously assigned such numbers. Site forms will be reviewed with the draft report and Smithsonian numbers should be obtained prior to draft report submission. Isolated find numbers will be assigned by the Contractor.

9. The contractor shall provide BLM with GIS Data for all areas inventoried and all sites and isolate finds. GIS Data shall meet the data requirements for GIS Data for the Butte Field Office and MT SHPO.

G. Collections, if Made.

1. Collections shall be labeled and catalogued, using BLM catalog cards, and shall be processed in accordance with Billings Curation Center packaging standards (forms and packaging requirements shall be provided to the Contractor by BLM).

2. All collections belong to the United States Government and will be delivered directly to the Billings Curation Center by the contractor as part of submitting the final inventory report.

3. If collections are made, an additional copy of the final report and cd or thumb drive with the electronic report will be delivered by the contractor to the BCC with the collections.

H. Analysis and Report Preparation.

1. Upon completion of the Class III inventory field work, prepare a professional quality report, addressing the general categories outlined below.

a. Title Sheet. Signed by the Principal Investigator.

b. Abstract. Provide a 250-word or less abstract of the report. The abstract shall outline the report contents and refer to specific highlights from the narrative.

c. Table of Contents. Provide a complete inventory of report contents.

d. Introduction. Provide an overview of the project including its purpose.

Identify the tracts inventoried for this project, by legal description in table form.

e. Literature Search. Provide a brief but complete discussion on the work that has been conducted in the project area. Also provide a table that lists previously recorded sites and one for previous inventories.

f. Environmental and Cultural Setting. Provide a brief but complete overview of the environment in which the survey tracts are located. In addition, discuss the cultural setting, again briefly, including both the prehistoric and historic periods.

g. Inventory Results Provide a summary description of each cultural property found. Indicate results from preliminary evaluation and any problems connected with the property's recordation. Include photographs of cultural properties located during the inventory. Use graphics and tables as appropriate.

i. For Lithic Material Concentration sites lithic tallies should be recorded in a table including material and reduction stage or tool type

h. Summary and Recommendations:

Discuss the results of the inventory in summary form. Include the following:

i. Identify the sites recorded, whether the sites were prehistoric or historic, what type of site is represented, and eligibility recommendation.

ii. Evaluate each cultural property for its eligibility to the National

Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Contractor shall use an appropriate "Context" in which to evaluate cultural properties and shall employ the National Register Criteria in those evaluations.

Contractor shall clearly describe the rationale used to determine which sites are eligible, potentially eligible, and not eligible. If a sites eligibility cannot be determined based on potential buried deposits alone; shovel testing or auger probing will need to be used in an effort to help make that determination.

If a determination is not possible, the Contractor shall recommend treatment needed to determine eligibility on those sites.

i. References Cited. Include a list of all sources cited in report.

j. Appendices. Provide an appendix to incorporate typed unit forms and descriptions, copies of USGS maps with the depicted units, and photographs of individual units. Combine these elements (unit forms and descriptions, copies of USGS maps, and photographs) into separate unit summaries within the appendix.

k. Maps and Graphics. Provide appropriate maps, charts, tabulations, and graphics necessary to support the report narrative.

l. Preservation, Packing, Packaging, Submitted collections must adhere to the standards identified for the Billings Curation Center.

V. Specifications and Standards.

A. Inventory guidelines and standards for BLM generated cultural resource investigations can be found in Montana State Office Handbook H-8110-1 entitled Guidelines for

Identifying Cultural Resources. If the Contractor does not have a copy of the handbook, a digital copy will be made available by the Butte Field Office upon request.

VI. The Contractor Shall Not:

A. Complete consultation with affected Native American Groups.

B. Sign off on environmental documents for cultural resources.

VII. Inspection.

A. If requested, contractor shall make all field notes, photographs, and other items related

(including e-mails and phone conversation logs) to the performance of this contract available to the BLM.

VIII. Government Provided Information

A. Shapefiles for all project areas and areas to be inventoried. In addition, the contractor will have access to site and project files located at the Butte Field Office.

IX. Deliverables.

A. The Contractor will prepare reports, and associated forms for project inventoried under Section A of this scope of work.

B. Address for deliverables:

Bureau of Land Management

Butte Field Office

Attn: Chris Pettyjohn

106 N. Parkmont

Butte, Montana 59701

C. One set of draft site forms with photograph as specified above.

D. One copy of the draft Class III cultural resource inventory report.

E. One unbound original, plus 1 copy of the final Class III cultural resource inventory report. The report shall be typed and printed on 8 .5" x 11" paper and shall be single spaced. One copy of final site forms with Smithsonian site numbers and with photos.

Additionally, two copies of the final report, site forms and GIS data (see section I below) shall be submitted on thumb drives.

F. 1:24,000 maps showing the locations of survey areas and all cultural resource sites and isolated finds identified on inventoried tracts should be included in the report. Sites and survey areas shall be labeled with site and unit numbers and neatly printed.

G. One copy of photographic record.

H. One copy of all field notes.

I. Shape files should be in a BLM-SHPO GIS compatible format/ coordinate system.

Shape files should include inventoried area boundaries, site boundaries as polygons and site datums, diagnostic artifacts, features if present, and artifact concentrations, and any disturbances or unique features in or affecting the site as point or polygonal data.

X. Period of Performance

-The period of Performance is Sept 1st, 2024, to March 31st, 2026.

-All field work shall be completed no later than October 15th, 2025.

-A complete list of identified sites with GIS shapefiles, a brief description of each site, and potential eligibility recommendation shall be submitted no later than October 30th, 2025.

-The draft report shall be submitted to BLM no later than March 1st, 2026.

-BLM shall review the draft report within two weeks of submittal.

-The final report, site forms and artifacts to be curated are due no later than March 31st, 2026.

XI. Payment

Payment shall be made on the following criteria:

1. Completion of Pre-field Meeting, Documentation of File Search Completion and submission of Field Work Authorization Request 10%

2. Documentation of Completion of Fieldwork 20%

3. Provide a List of Sites, Brief Description (1 or 2 sentences), Eligibility

Recommendation, GIS site polygons 10%

4. BLM Approval of Draft Report 35%

5. BLM Acceptance of Final Report and Acceptance of Any Collections by

Billings Curation Center. BLM will bear curation costs 25%

TABLE ONE

BLM IDENTIFED TRACTS to be INVENTORIED in 2024-2025

SPOKANE HILLS INVENTORY AREA

T. 9N, R. 1W

Sec. 10 SE 160.0 Acres

E2SW 80.0 Acres

Sec. 11 N1/2 320.0 Acres

SW 160.0 Acres

W2SE 80.0 Acres

Sec. 12 N1/2 342.0 Acres

Sec. 14 All minus Towers 634.0 Acres

Sec. 15 N1/2 320.0 Acres

SE 160.0 Acres

Total: 2,256 Acres

WARD RANCH INVENTORY AREA

T. 10N, R. 1W

Sec. 5 Lot 3 9.2 Acres

Lot 4 39.7 Acres

Lot 5 33.8 Acres

Sec. 6 Lot 1 18.0 Acres (BLM Only)

T. 11N, R. 1W

Sec. 30 All 620.5 Acres

Sec. 31 NE 160.0 Acres

W2NW 80.0 Acres

NESE (N1/2 only) 20.0 Acres

Lot 1 34.8 Acres

Lot 2 35.1 Acres

Lot 3 31.2 Acres

Lot 4 19.4 Acres

Lot 5 35.7 Acres

Lot 6 34.9 Acres

Sec. 32 All 641.0 Acres

T. 11N, R. 2W

Sec. 13 SWNE 40.0 Acres

SESW 40.0 Acres

SWSE 40.0 Acres

Lot 4 40.5 Acres

Lot 5 29.3 Acres

Lot 6 13.2 Acres

Lot 7 30.1 Acres

Lot 9 46.5 Acres

Lot 11 18.4 Acres

Lot 14 39.9 Acres

Sec. 24 E1/2 320.0 Acres

Lot 4 18.9 Acres

Lot 5 28.1 Acres

Lot 6 6.5 Acres

Lot 7 27.4 Acres

Sec. 25 E1/2 320.0 Acres

NW 160.0 Acres

N2SW 80.0 Acres

SESW 40.0 Acres

Sec. 36 NE 160.0 Acres

N2SE 80.0 Acres

E2NW 80.0 Acres

Total: 3472.1 Acres

Combined Total: 5728.1 Acres