2023-07-24_PERMIT FILE - C1981019

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2023 Cultural Resource Site Assessments for Collom Expansion Project Colowyo Tetra Tech June 2023 7 For Official Use Only: Disclosure of Site Locations Prohibited (43 CFR 7.18) 4.0 CULTURAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT RESULTS Tetra Tech was able to relocate, revisit, and assess all 15 sites. Overall, the sites have changed little since field work was conducted for the 2019 site assessments. Current mine activities have not adversely impacted any of the revisited sites. Observed impacts were caused by natural processes and none were significant enough to impact the site’s NRHP status. Vegetation coverage was significantly denser in 2023 than in 2019, 2015, or 2005. Dense vegetation coverage and active aeolian sedimentation were the primary inhibiting factors in the relocation of several artifacts and a few features. 4.1 Assessed Cultural Resource Sites 5MF.969 – Prehistoric Artifact Scatter, Needs Data Site 5MF.969 was originally recorded in 1980 as a prehistoric kill site with artifacts and features by the BLM for a Class II sampling survey for Utah International coal lease. The site originally consisted of two bison bones – a left distal fragment of a humerus and a complete left femur. Damaged portions on the bones are indicative of Paleoindian butchering patterns. No other artifacts were located. Since the original recording, the site has been revisited five additional times. It was revisited in 1981 by the BLM, in 1983 by the BLM and Mariah Associates Inc. for a Class III survey for the Utah International coal lease, in 1995 by the BLM and Metcalf Archaeological Consultants for the Colowyo Coal Company Lease and Exploration Areas: Class III Cultural Resource Inventory project, in 2005 by TRC for the Collom Mine Expansion Class III Inventory project, and in 2015 by Tetra Tech for the Collom Mine Expansion Site Assessment project. The only reported major change was during the 2005 revisit, when groundstone artifacts were observed during wall scraping along the arroyo banks that had not previously been documented. In 2015, Tetra Tech revisited the site as part of the ongoing Collom Mine Expansion Site Assessment project. No major changes in condition were observed at the site. The landscape was unchanged with minor natural erosion occurring along the arroyo walls. The BLM and Mariah Associates’ datums were not found. The 2005 groundstone artifacts were found in a subsurface context and were likely reburied due to continued erosion of the arroyo banks. No other artifacts or features were observed; however, the site has been visited multiple times over the past 30 years and has had multiple surface collections take place. The UTM coordinates for the original datum did not conform to the site form pictures, plan view map, and landform and features descriptions on the site form. A new site boundary was taken to update the locational information for the site. In 2019, Tetra Tech revisited the site as part of the second round of assessments. The site had not been adversely affected by mining activities. No artifacts or features were observed in 2019. The site had been significantly impacted by natural erosion that had impacted site integrity. A significant potential exists that all previously identified cultural material has been either reburied or washed downslope since 2015. The natural impacts had not yet reached the level of an adverse impact. Tetra Tech recommended that mining activities continue to avoid the site until further assessment. In 2023, Tetra Tech revisited the site as part of the third round of assessments (Figure 4). The site has not been adversely affected by mining activities. No artifacts or features were observed in 2023. The site has been previously impacted by natural erosion that has degraded site integrity. A significant potential exists that all previously identified cultural material has been either reburied