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~~~ Staff Recommendations <br />~ ; B ~ SHB AGRA Project E92-7075 <br />Page 7 <br />a. Given the irreplaceable nature of archaeological resources and the substantial <br />cost of adequate data recovery and curatiou if warranted, in situ care of the <br />identified sites within the mining permit area offers the best means of <br />insuring their preservation. The identified sites outside of the mining area <br />should be fully protected form any further disturbance, including the <br />cessation of the agriculture activity on and adjacent to the sites. <br />Southdown's primary policy is avoidance of all significant cultural resources. <br />Where avoidance is not possible, professional data recovery and curation will take <br />place. <br />b. It u understood that disturbance cannot be avoided within the actual mining <br />area. However, in addition to appropriate training of quarry personnel and <br />monitoring of the mining operation by historic/archaeological professionals <br />and American Indian representatives, additional test units should be <br />undertaken, ahead of the mining, where there is a high probability of buried <br />cultural resources. <br />Southdown's consultants will be developing a predictive model for subsurface <br />sites based upon field data from all known surface sites in the project area. This <br />model will be synthesized with a geomorphological characterization of soils <br />within the project area. The Indian tribes consulted on this project clearly <br />preferred no excavation of archaeological sites including test units. Indian <br />observers will be on-site during topsoil stripping operations. <br />c. In addition to compiling and incorporating the results of the America Indian <br />consultations, a cultural anthropological (ethnohistoric and ethnographic) <br />data base should be developed documenting, for example, traditional and <br />present-day uses, settlement localities, sacred sites, migration patterns and <br />resources traditionally used by various groups. <br />As requested by SHPO, an ethnographic and ethnohistoric literature review will <br />be completed in support of a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) analysis. This <br />work can be supplemented with knowledgeable elders in the American Indian <br />community. Tribal consultation is considered as the first priority in current TCP <br />analysis. <br />d. Artifacts collected itr the mine area should be reburied in the same <br />approximate location during reclamation or in another site recommended by <br />the American Indian representatives. Discovery of human remains should be <br />dealt with according to applicable legal procedures and mandates. <br />~~ A G R A <br />Eerth & Environments/Group <br />