Volume 2: Draft Gorst Planned Action Environmental Impact Statement

GORST PLANNED ACTION EIS | AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT, SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION MEASURES• Kitsap County recently approved (January 2013) a shoreline master program undergoing Ecology review. Itincludes several measures designed to protect cultural resources including that “all Tribal Historic PreservationOfficers (THPOs) for tribes with jurisdiction will be provided the opportunity to review and comment on alldevelopment proposals in the Kitsap County shoreline jurisdiction, both terrestrial and aquatic, in order toensure all known or potential archaeological sites, Traditional Cultural Properties and Traditional CulturalLandscapes are acknowledged, properly surveyed and adequately protected.” In addition, “sites with knownor potential archaeological resources, as determined pursuant to the resources listed at the beginning of thissection, shall require a site inspection by a professional archaeologist” and “work on sites with identifiedarchaeological resources shall not re-commence until authorized by the Department of Archaeology andHistoric Preservation through an Archaeological Excavation and Removal Permit, which may conditiondevelopment permits.”• KCC 18.12.020, Eligible lands. The Open Space Act (Chapter 84.34 RCW) describes lands which may beconsidered for current use assessment as open space. Kitsap County has refined this definition to a prioritizedlist of lands which may be eligible for enrollment in the open space taxation program within theunincorporated area of Kitsap County. Kitsap County provides for the preservation of any land area, thepreservation of which in its present use would preserve historic sites.• Bremerton has recently adopted a Shoreline Master Program that would when approved by Ecology includeseveral protective measures including “a site assessment by a qualified professional archaeologist or historicpreservation professional and ensure review by qualified parties including the Washington State Departmentof Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the Suquamish Tribe Archaeology and Historic PreservationProgram” for properties with known cultural resources and “stop work” orders on any newly discoveredcultural features with a requirement for notification of the State and tribes and an assessment.Other Potential Mitigation MeasuresA cultural resources study should be conducted at the applicant’s expense for specific projects within HighProbability Areas (Table 3.10-6 Mitigation Measures) to determine if archaeological sites, TCPs, or historic builtenvironment resources are present that may be significant. This should include but is not limited to backgroundresearch, consultation with appropriate Tribes and interested parties, field study, and reporting. A desktop reviewof existing background information regarding cultural resources should be conducted at a minimum for projectswithin Moderate Probability Areas to determine if resources older than 50 years are present requiring evaluationand/or additional field studies. Table 3.10-6 Cultural Resources Mitigation Measures identifies the potentialmitigation measures for significant cultural resources and when they should be completed.Table 3.10-6Cultural Resources Mitigation MeasuresMitigation Measure DescriptionA. For future projects that are qualified as planned actions and that involve,development, ground disturbance, and/or construction in the Study Area in areasshown as high or moderate probability on the predictive model map in Figure3.10-1 Gorst Creek Watershed: Cultural Resources Probability, Kitsap County orCity of Bremerton should determine if cultural resources are located in thespecific project area (at the applicant’s expense). This should consist ofbackground research, a field visit (particularly for High Probability Areas), andconsultation with the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation(DAHP) and the Tribes to determine if cultural resources (sites, buildings, TCPs)are located within the project area. The following provides guidance for qualifiedplanned action activities requiring land use, construction, or building permitsfrom Kitsap County or City of Bremerton and located within high or moderateprobability areas:TimingPrior to ConstructionDraft | June 2013 3-143