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TR-76 2.04-8 (Revised 7/25/2022) <br />A file search of the Colorado Inventory of Cultural Resources by the Colorado Historical <br />Society in 1984, revealed that no cultural properties in the proposed impact area. These results are <br />presented in Exhibit 7, Archeologic Information. <br />The intensive field investigations recorded no significant cultural resources. The only <br />phenomena of cultural origins observed in the area was a stock pond, located in the drainage <br />bottom immediately north of the highway (Figure 1a, Regional Map Showing Locations of Project Area). <br />This feature consists of an earthen dam piled in a curvilinear shape across the width of the drainage. A <br />small pond (now dry) is impounded behind this embankment. It is considered to be of fairly recent age. <br />No significant cultural resources were observed on the PPA. Though the likelihood of <br />cultural resources being found in this area is greater than for the RDA, that possibility was <br />negated by deposits of underground development waste. <br />No cultural resources were recorded in the proposed project area. Consequently, no <br />further archaeological work is considered to be necessary in those localities and clearance is <br />recommended. <br />During 2011 a Cultural Resource Inventory was performed on the proposed RDA#l <br />expansion area and the associated RDA#l geotechnical investigation area. One site was <br />recorded. The site is not within the area of proposed disturbance. The report is located in Exhibit 7, <br />The entire length of the former C&W railroad grade (5LA.7112) is previously determined eligible <br />for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In 2021, a cultural resources survey was <br />conducted to record and evaluate the NRHP eligibility of extant bridges and culverts along the former <br />C&W railroad grade. Two features potentially 45 years old or older were identified within the Project <br />area between the mine and the intersection of the CP&W entrance road to the State Wildlife Area. Both <br />features (5LA.14442 and 5LA.14443) are ubiquitous corrugated metal culverts surrounded by riprap. <br />Both were recommended as not individually eligible for NRHP listing, as well as non-contributing <br />features of the NRHP-eligible C&W railroad grade. A description of these sites is provided in the Cultural <br />Resources report contained in Exhibit 7. <br />The 2021 cultural resources survey recommended the former C&W railroad grade between Allen <br />Mine and Madrid as eligible for NRHP listing under Criterion A for significance in the areas of <br />Transportation, Commerce, and Industry. The segment of the former C&W between Allen Mine and <br />Weston containing the haul road was found to retain its integrity of location, overall setting, design, <br />materials (in terms of bridges and culverts), feeling, and association. The rail line was removed in 2004 <br />and part of NECC future plan is to reinstall the rail line. <br />The NRHP-eligible former C&W railroad grade (5LA.7112) was affected by the construction of a <br />haul road between the mine and the intersection of the CP&W entrance road to the State Wildlife Area <br />prior to DRMS approval. Neither the construction of the haul road nor the future reinstallation of the rail <br />line within the former C&W railroad corridor alters or will alter the former C&W’s alignment or height. <br />The construction of the haul road and the future reinstallation of the rail line within the former C&W <br />railroad corridor is intended to return the historic resource to its original use, and therefore is consistent <br />with the first two of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation: 1) A property will be used <br />as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal changes to its distinctive materials, <br />features, spaces, and spatial relationships; and 2) The historic character of a property will be retained and <br />preserved. Any new construction associated with the Project will likewise be consistent with the Secretary <br />of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. <br />As the construction of the haul road introduces an effect to the resource, the Criteria of Adverse <br />Effects were applied. The construction of a haul road does not cause the physical destruction of or <br />damage to all or part of the property, does not alter the property in a way that is not consistent with the