Heritage Survey at Rabbit Ears Manganese Mine

Background
The USDA Forest Service is issuing this solicitation for a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Call Order related to Heritage Survey Services for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland.

The primary goal of this contract is to conduct a cultural heritage survey at the Rabbit Ears Manganese Mine site, which is located on USFS land in Jackson County, Colorado. This project aims to address the remediation of historic mining activities and assess the cultural resources associated with the site.

Work Details
The contractor will perform a Class III, intensive pedestrian cultural resource inventory over approximately 16.6 acres, conducting transects at 15-meter intervals.

The work includes:
1) Cultural Heritage Class III Survey (16.6 acres),
2) Cultural Heritage Site Recordation (1 each).

The contractor will also conduct recordation and a National Register evaluation of the Rabbit Ears Manganese Mine Site, documenting all features associated with the historic mine to determine its boundary and researching its history for eligibility determination.

Period of Performance
The period of performance for this Call Order is from June 1, 2026, through November 30, 2026. Specific item due dates or deliverable due dates are mandatory and must be met accordingly.

Place of Performance
The work will be performed at the Rabbit Ears Pass Manganese Site located in Jackson County, Colorado, specifically within the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District.

Incumbent Analysis (see Incumbents section for more detail)
This opportunity for a Class III heritage survey and National Register evaluation at the Rabbit Ears Manganese Mine appears to align with an existing cultural resources IDIQ/IDIQ BPA framework under the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland, with Hope Archaeology (1240LP21D0008, $863,984; 08/23/21–06/30/26) performing Level/Class I–III inventories, site evaluations, and heritage surveys across the same forests/grasslands. The prior work described under these awards includes intensive pedestrian surveys and site recordation/evaluations in support of historic property determinations, which is consistent with the current call order’s Class III inventory over ~16.6 acres and documentation of mine features for eligibility/boundary assessment.