2026 ELY hazardous fuels terrestrial aim

The Bureau of Land Management's Nevada Region solicited terrestrial Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) data collection services to evaluate the effectiveness of hazardous fuels reduction efforts within the Ely District using approved methodologies for measuring upland vegetation and soils. The procurement required contractors to collect data at up to 80 monitoring points during the 2026 field season (May 15–September 30, 2026) following the BLM's Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland, and Savanna Ecosystems, with core methods including plot characterization, soil pit documentation, line-point intercept measurements, vegetation height assessments, gap intercept analysis, and soil aggregate stability testing. Key contractor qualifications included employment of a project manager with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences and two years of project management experience, a field botanist or rangeland management specialist capable of species-level plant identification, and a field soil scientist. Evaluation was to be conducted on a best-value basis, with technical capability and past performance weighted more heavily than price. The original proposal due date was March 10, 2026, at 1:00 PM Pacific Time, with questions required by March 4, 2026; however, Amendment 0001, effective March 9, 2026, cancelled the entire solicitation with no award to be made.

The solicitation was designated as a women-owned small business (WOSB) set-aside with a size standard of $19 million under NAICS code 541620. The contract would have included a base requirement of 60 points for the Ely Field Office with an optional 20-point task for the Bristlecone Field Office, with the performance period running from March 16, 2026, through January 30, 2027. Payment was structured across seven milestones totaling 100 percent of the award value, ranging from 15 percent for initial training through 5 percent for final quality control completion. The work was to be performed primarily in the Ely District of Nevada, with contract administration through the BLM Nevada State Office in Reno and deliverables submitted to the BLM-NV Ely Field Office. All contractor personnel were required to complete BLM-led Terrestrial AIM Core Methods training prior to data collection, and contractors were subject to Service Contract Labor Standards and prevailing wage requirements under Wage Determination 2015-5601 for Nevada counties including White Pine County.