2025 FUEL BREAK MOWING Upper Snake Field, Idaho

The Bureau of Land Management's Idaho Region is soliciting proposals for the 2025 Big Desert Fuel Break Mowing project, seeking a small business contractor to mechanically mow sagebrush and native vegetation along 70 miles of desert roads in southern Idaho. The contract requires a contractor to provide labor and equipment to mow vegetation to an 8-inch height within a 300-foot-wide swath using four-wheel-drive tractors with rotary cutter mowers. The project's primary objective is to reduce fuel loads and modify vegetation composition in the Great Basin sagebrush steppe habitat. Evaluation will be conducted using a best value comparative approach, considering technical capability, prior experience, past performance, and price. Quotes are due by April 9, 2025, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, with offerors required to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and submit a completed bid schedule, work plan, and supporting documentation.

The contract is 100% set-aside for small businesses under NAICS code 561730 with a $9.5 million size standard. The work will be performed in Bingham, Blaine, and Butte Counties, Idaho, approximately 35 miles west of Blackfoot and 15 miles southwest of Atomic City. The performance period is from April 14, 2025, to May 15, 2025, with work permitted only between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to limit impacts on sage-grouse. The total treatment area covers 2,516 acres across six specific road areas, including Arco/Minidoka Road, Big Butte Road, Cox's Well Road, Number 2 Well Road, Serviceberry Butte Road, and Stage Road. Contractors must be prepared to begin work within three days of notification and are prohibited from working if soil or vegetation damage could occur due to wet terrain or other environmental conditions.