Cultural Resource Surveys on the Monongahela National Forest.

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service is soliciting competitive quotations for cultural resource surveys on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, with quotations due August 6, 2026. This is a Total Small Business Set-Aside multiple-award IDIQ contract foreclosing competition from large businesses.

Place of performance covers a ten-county area in West Virginia (Barbour, Grant, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, and Webster) with administrative oversight at Elkins, WV. The procurement requires contractors to locate and identify all cultural resources at least 50 years old, provide a complete cultural resource inventory, and conduct preliminary evaluation of identified historic properties according to National Register of Historic Places eligibility criteria.

Contractor personnel must meet professional qualifications established by the National Park Service (36 CFR Part 61), including a graduate degree in archaeology or related field plus one year of full-time professional experience, four months of supervised field experience in North American archaeology, and demonstrated ability to complete research. Work includes records searches, complete field reconnaissance with pedestrian survey transects at 10–15 meter intervals, subsurface testing with shovel tests at 50-foot intervals, and documentation on West Virginia state archaeological forms and GIS shapefiles with 2–5 meter GPS accuracy.

The Government anticipates awarding three to six contractors for one base year plus four option years, extending through August 23, 2031. Minimum order threshold is $2,500; maximum single order is $1,000,000. The IDIQ is a recompete of prior awards numbered 12343420D0007, 12343420D0008, 12343420D0009, and 12343420D0010. Small business prime contractors may utilize large business subcontractors without penalty.

Evaluation criteria weight technical approach, key personnel qualifications (including West Virginia and upland archaeology experience with expertise in GIS, GPS, geology, and geomorphology), past performance from the last three years, and price fairness. The Government reserves the right to conduct price realism evaluation and exclude unrealistically low bids. Offerors must submit technical narratives and key personnel resumes not exceeding five pages each, project lists with scope descriptions, and pricing per the Schedule of Items. Offers must remain firm for 90 calendar days. Questions were due July 27, 2026. The NAICS code is 541720, Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities; PSC is B503, Special Studies/Analysis—Archeological/Paleontological. Service Contract Act prevailing wage determinations apply across three separate West Virginia wage zones.