West Mojave Plan FEIR/S - Desert Managers Group

NAMEFinger Rock (Hercules’ Finger)Black CanyonCalico Ghost Town/MiningDistrictCoolgardie CampInscription CanyonCULTURAL RESOURCE VALUESPublic; site of 1840 battle between ranchers and rustlers.Scientific, conservation, traditional use, publicPublic; silver mining districtPublic; 1890s gold mining camp.Scientific, conservation, traditional use; publicA number of other sites/districts are currently being nominated for listing in the NationalRegister and many sites have been determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register.Table 3-64 describes the areas of critical environmental concern that have beendesignated within the West Mojave planning area.Most archaeological sites have not been evaluated for their significance or eligibility forlisting in any formal roster of significant sites. Because one of the criteria for determiningwhether or not a site may be eligible for listing in the National Register is that the site has“yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history” (36 CFR 60)many site types are a priori eligible for listing and are treated as such for management purposesregardless of whether or not formal determinations have been made. Such site types includepermanent or semi-permanent habitation sites (“villages”); temporary camps containing multipletool types, especially if they contain obsidian; and utilized shelters or caves that contain the sametypes of materials. As analytical techniques improve or new technologies are perfected, thekinds of data that can be extracted from archaeological materials increase. In contrast to mostarchaeological sites, which generally provide information on aspects of material culture andrelationships between sites and groups of people, sites containing rock art (petroglyphs andpictographs) can provide glimpses into the intellectual and spiritual aspects of culture.Historic sites may yield information on industrial technologies and how they were usedor adapted in individual situations; ethnic, gender and age make-up of working populations; foodpreferences; availability of luxury items to various groups; and even how speculation on WallStreet affected small mining operations in the western United States (Barnes 2001).All of this means that many, many archaeological sites, both recorded and unrecorded,are likely to be found to be significant and eligible for listing in the National Register of HistoricPlaces if formally evaluated. For these reasons the actual number of sites listed in the NationalRegister is not an accurate indicator of the significance of the resource base as a whole3.7.1.6 Potentially Significant AreasAll of the lands within the planning area that are administered by the BLM’s RidgecrestField Office may be characterized as sensitive for cultural resources with a few exceptions.Reasons for the intensity of prehistoric occupation include the presence in the past of a series ofPleistocene lakes and the Owens River as well as the fact that this area is on the boundarybetween the Mojave Desert and the Great Basin and presents a greater than usual variety ofenvironments and associated natural resources.Chapter 3 3-284