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2023 Cultural Resource Site Assessments for Collom Expansion Project Colowyo <br />Tetra Tech June 2023 1 <br />For Official Use Only: Disclosure of Site Locations Prohibited (43 CFR 7.18) <br />1.0 UNDERTAKING/PROJECT DESCRIPTION <br />Colowyo Coal Company (Colowyo) has developed the Collom pit and related facilities as part of <br />the Collom Mine Project (Collom) located north of their current coal mining operations north of the <br />community of Meeker in Moffat and Rio Blanco Counties, Colorado. The Collom expansion project <br />encompasses privately held, Bureau of Land Management, and State of Colorado-administered <br />lands. The plan of development is an approximately 1,800-acre open pit, haul road, and <br />associated facilities. In 2005, Collom contracted TRC Mariah Associates (TRC), through Maxim <br />Technologies, to conduct a baseline Class III cultural resource inventory as part of a coal leasing <br />application filed with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The inventory surveyed portions of <br />the lease area not previously subjected to cultural resource inventory and revisited previously <br />recorded sites within the previously inventoried portions (Lowe et al. 2006). The inventory <br />encountered 51 previously recorded sites, 73 newly recorded sites, and 69 isolated finds. The <br />resulting technical report was used as part of the BLM’s consultation with Colorado Office of <br />Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) and in support of an Environmental Assessment <br />for leasing the coal in conformance with the National Environmental Policy Act. <br />As a result, the OAHP, through the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS), <br />is requiring regular condition assessments for 15 cultural resource sites within the permit area <br />(Figure 1). The sites are currently listed as either eligible for inclusion on the National Register of <br />Historic Places (NRHP) or as “Needs Data” prior to making formal NRHP eligibility determinations. <br />Colowyo plans to avoid the 15 sites throughout the project. The assessments are to ensure that <br />the 15 sites are being sufficiently avoided by Colowyo, document any changes of condition, and <br />determine the source of any changes. The results of the assessments are to be reported to <br />Colowyo and OAHP to determine if any specific management actions are required as a result for <br />observed changes (if any). The assessments are to be repeated at four-year intervals for a <br />minimum of 12 years. <br />In 2015, Tetra Tech conducted the initial round of cultural resource site condition assessments <br />for the OAHP designated 15 previously recorded NRHP eligible or “Needs Data” sites within the <br />Collom project area (Karpinski and Dugmore 2015). The assessments occurred prior to the <br />beginning of any ground disturbing activities planned for the expansion. The 2015 assessments <br />are the first condition assessments for the sites since revisit and recordation for the Collom <br />baseline report (Lowe et al. 2006). In 2017, construction began on the haul road, facilities, and pit <br />within the Collom Mine permit area. All 15 sites were avoided by all project-related activities. In <br />2019, Tetra Tech conducted the second round of site assessments and found no significant <br />changes to the cultural resource sites (Karpinski et al. 2019). In 2023, Tetra Tech completed the <br />third round of site assessments, and the following report details the results of those assessments. <br />