Amended Performance Work Statement Amendment 0003

Performance Work Statement

Cultural Resource Evaluation and Documentation
Dakota Prairie Grasslands

DESCRIPTION OF WORK and PROJECT LOCATION

Project Location
The Sand Creek Road Cultural Site Evaluation project is evaluation of 25 previously identified cultural sites along approximately 6 miles of road located in McKenzie County on the McKenzie Ranger District of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands in T153N R96W Sec. 5, 6, 9,10, 11, 12. Map of the project area will be included. Cultural Resource Evaluation and Documentation

The USFS is requesting that 25 unevaluated sites within a 50 ft ROW of Sand Creek Road (McKenzie County Road 2) have evaluative testing. A list of these sites is provided in Table 1. The testing will be done in two phases. The intent of this contract is phase one. Phase one is shovel testing to determine the presence or absence of buried cultural material. Phase two will be formal testing to determine if found cultural deposits represent intact cultural components will be done at a later time and is not part of this contract. Many of the cairn sites have lithic materials found at these locations. The presence of lithic materials suggests that there may be evidence of open camp activities. Complete evaluation of 25 sites. The entire site area should be evaluated with focus on the portions of the sites within the 50 ft ROW of Sand Creek Road. Complete shovel testing to determine if there are intact deposits remaining. No shovel testing is to be conducted within 5 m of cairns. All cairns are to be reassessed to determine if they are field clearing piles. No shovel testing is to be conducted inside of or within 2 m of stone circles All sites are to be remapped with the sketch maps illustrating all of the known disturbances and the location of the shovel testing. All cultural material (except FCR) recovered from shovel testing is to be collected and curated at the ND Heritage Center. All shovel tests need to be a minimum of 30 cm in diameter and excavated bedrock soils or sediments that are not conducive to having cultural material. Soil profiles need to be described using standard archaeological methodology. All disturbances observed within the soil profiles need to be noted. Examples of these disturbances may include but are not limited to historic cultivation, road construction, and pipeline construction.

Shovel testing results will need to be documented in a Class III Cultural Resource report. The report must meet North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) guidelines. Provide a draft copy (digital) of the report to the district archaeologist for review. The Forest Service archeologist will review the report to meet the quality and requirements of the agency and the SHPO guidelines. If needed, the report will be sent back to the contractor for corrections. Once all corrections have been made, the Forest Service will approve the report.