Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Management Plan

Appendix L
Idaho National Laboratory
Cultural Resource Monitoring Plan
INTRODUCTION
INL has been a federal reservation with public access restricted since the early 1940s. Due to both its
continuous access restriction and geographic remoteness, many prehistoric and historic resources within
the INL boundaries are relatively well preserved. However, access restrictions and security patrols do not
prevent all impacts, and damage to cultural resources may occur through six primary sources:
1. Natural processes (e.g. erosion from wind or water, animal burrowing)
2. Livestock grazing, herding, and associated operations
3. Unauthorized access to sensitive areas and unauthorized artifact collection
4. INL projects that fail to comply with recommendations to protect cultural resources as outlined in
Environmental Checklists or other environmental guidance
5. Lack of regular maintenance or inappropriate preservation treatments for historic architectural
properties.
6. Emergency Response or prevention activities (i.e., firebreaks, controlled burns).
The INL CRM Office maintains an ongoing program for monitoring, assessing, and developing
strategies to identify and mitigate impacts to cultural resources as a result of these sources of impact.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the INL cultural resource monitoring program is twofold:
1. Monitoring targeted cultural resources during and after completion of INL site projects that may
affect those resources ensures compliance with site contractor management commitments to mitigate
project impacts to INL cultural resources. Other special project-related circumstances, such as soil
disturbance in known sensitive areas, may require monitoring on a case-by-case basis.
2. Monitoring cultural resources allows the opportunity to assess their integrity, thereby fulfilling federal
stewardship responsibility. Monitoring enables DOE-ID to document whether the integrity of
resources has been, or is being compromised and implement protections, as necessary.
By identifying impacts to INL cultural resources, site contractors can implement the appropriate
actions to prevent or minimize further deterioration. Cultural resources will be monitored in
accordance with an annual schedule. This schedule is based on the selection criteria listed in the
following section and may vary and/or be amended as warranted and determined by the INL CRM
Office.
Process of Selection
Specific cultural resources are chosen for monitoring based on feedback from DOE-ID, the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Heritage Tribal Office (HeTO), and INL stakeholders. The INL CRM files are
also consulted for appropriate candidates for yearly monitoring. Both DOE-ID and the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are often directly involved in fieldwork during the monitoring activities and
INL project managers and other stakeholders, such as the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office
461