Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Management Plan

Goodale’s Cutoff of the Oregon Trail
The Middle Butte Cave rock art site and
traditional cultural area.
National Register nominations require detailed
documentation in a format specified by the
National Park Service. Data collection is often
necessary to accumulate the required information.
Methods for collecting data to meet eligibility
requirements vary for archaeological sites, historic
architectural properties, and traditional use or
sacred areas. For archaeological sites, data
necessary for nomination may be collected via:
Surface mapping
Artifact collection, when necessary for
research purposes or to protect cultural
resources
Test excavations
Laboratory analyses.
Information in local archives and repositories
may also be of value in understanding
archaeological sites and historic architectural
properties. Information on resources from the
more recent past is also available from current and
former INL employees and in archival form,
including records that are housed and maintained
at the INL Records Storage Center, publications
that are cataloged and made available at the INL
Technical Library, and recently, data in various
media that are being gathered by the INL Cultural
Resource Management Office staff for eventual
disposition in the future INL Archive Center.
Finally, information on traditional-use areas
and sacred sites, beyond general statements about
large regions and features, is only available
through communication with the local land users.
Protection and Preservation
Elements of resource protection and
preservation are included in every aspect of the
CRM Program. The paragraphs to follow include
descriptions of program elements that are part of
long-term planning and the overall management
goal of maintaining resource preservation.
Monitoring. The purpose of the comprehensive
sitewide cultural resource monitoring program is
to identify, track, and reduce impacts to known
resources throughout INL. The INL CRM Office
conducts monitoring activities for DOE-ID to
determine the effectiveness of DOE-ID and
contractor policies and to safeguard cultural
resources from destruction and deterioration
caused by natural or human processes. Each year,
the INL CRM Office selects a few locations for
monitoring based on such factors as stakeholder
feedback, National Register status/eligibility, ease
of public access, history of adverse effects, and
proposed work in the area. INL monitoring forms
are completed and a report submitted to DOE-ID,
who then undertakes appropriate actions to address
findings following the process outlined in the INL
Monitoring Plan in Appendix L.
The INL CRM Office staff has conducted
monitoring of several historic architectural
properties and has identified impacts to resources.
INL management has been notified of the impacts
and is addressing these issues.
Another key element of the site-wide
monitoring program is that INL is a restricted area
and an active security force regularly monitors the
Laboratory via ground patrols and security
surveillance of public points of access. When
encountered, trespassers are removed immediately
and may face criminal charges. Largely as a result
of these restrictions, many archaeological sites on
INL are relatively undisturbed. In addition,
vandalism of cultural resources seldom occurs
because of their location in a secured area.
The INL CRM Office has notified INL
security forces when discovering unlawful
intrusions during archaeological site monitoring,
which resulted in increased security patrols in
some areas, the placement of additional “No
Trespassing” signs in others. INL security officials
are also valuable partners in investigations of
cultural resource damage and they have assisted in
the identification and punishment of vandals. In
other instances gravel barriers have been
established to prevent stream erosion on highly
significant archaeological locations, and barriers
have been installed to prevent unauthorized
access.
Project Files and Databases. Archival
systems are created to protect, conserve, and make
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