Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Management Plan

important information on climate and environment that can be important in understanding human
occupation of the area. Like all other excavations at INL, paleontological excavations follow a specific
data recovery plan and research design and comply with relevant environmental, safety, and health
requirements. Reporting and documenting the find is mandatory and follows established protocols.
Lava Tube Cave Studies
Lava tube caves at the INL contain archaeological materials, natural features, plants, and animals that
are of high sensitivity and also of importance to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Care is taken by the INL
CRM Office when entering caves and other personnel are also encouraged to respect the fragile materials
located there. The following general protocols are observed when entering INL caves:
Restrict cave access to official business only.
Never enter a cave alone and always consider that snakes, bats, and carnivores make their homes in
caves.
Do not utilize caves for leisure activities or horseplay (picnics, resting, music/radios, yelling, running,
etc.).
Respect and avoid disturbance to sensitive natural formations, plants, and animals.
Provide adequate supervision for tour groups and do not exceed 25 participants.
Protect sensitive cultural materials in and around caves (e.g., never touch pictographs or move
artifacts, bones, basalt cobbles or boulders, or historic artifacts, and avoid ground disturbance).
Protect locational information for caves and distribute for “Official Use Only.” Archaeological
excavations in INL caves are infrequent and are guided by a detailed research design.
For more detailed information see “Cave Procedure” (Environmental Surveillance, Education, and
Research Program: Research and Education Procedure, RP-17, April 4, 2007).
Significance Evaluations
Archaeological significance evaluations play an important part in determining which archaeological
resources warrant consideration with regard to long-term land-use planning, impact-driven planning, and
overall management. Many INL archaeological resources are evaluated against a specific set of guidelines
(36 CFR Part 60.4) established to govern nomination to the National Register. Under these guidelines,
cultural resources must retain integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and
association, and must meet one or more of the following four criteria:
a. Association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history
b. Association with the lives of persons significant in our past
c. Embodiment of the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction—
representative of the work of a master, possessing high artistic values, or representative of a
significant distinguishable entity—whose components may lack individual distinction
d. Yielded or may be likely to yield information important to prehistory or history.
Most archaeological resources are eligible under criterion d, although certain sites may meet any of
the criteria. Historic sites may be especially eligible under criteria a and b. Usually, sites that are eligible
under criterion d will be datable, have stratigraphic integrity, and will contain sufficient materials to
address one or more of the research questions provided in the Research Design in Appendix E.
Subsurface testing may be required to fully assess the National Register potential of many archaeological
sites. In accordance with guidance from the Idaho SHPO, all archaeological sites at INL are considered to
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