Bureau of Land Management's Decision Record and Environmental

Jersey Valley Geothermal Development Project
Environmental Assessment: NV063-EAO8-091
with native oral history can reveal information pertaining to past cultural activities and
associated social practices, trade routes, subsistence activities, environmental changes, etc.
Roads leading to project activities, can experience further use by members of the public to access
formerly inaccessible locations. If members of the general public increasingly utilize Project
roads, the cultural/traditional/spiritual integrity of any adjacent Native use site may be
compromised.
Also, the act of drilling wells (regardless of the data being sought) is often viewed by traditional
practitioners and believers as being harmful to “mother earth” due to impacts to underground and
surface waters, which are considered the “life blood of the Earth and all who dwell upon it.”
Other than consumption by people, wildlife, and plant species, certain hot and cold spring
locations are also used for healing and spiritual purposes. For this specific Project to date,
contemporary traditional/cultural uses have not been identified within or near the Project
boundaries. However, continued consultation may reveal otherwise.
During the Project activities, if any cultural properties, items, or artifacts (stone tools, Projectile
points, etc...) are encountered, it must be stressed to those involved in the proposed Project
activities that such items are not to be collected. Cultural and Archaeological resources are
protected under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (16 U.s.c 470ii) and the Federal
Land Management Policy Act (43 U.S.C. 1701). The above language is applicable to previously
identified artifacts and site locations, surface artifacts possibly missed during the original survey,
and any subsurface artifacts (below ground).
Though the possibility of disturbing Native American gravesites within most Project areas is
extremely low, inadvertent discovery procedures must be noted. Under the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, section (3)(d)(l), it states that the discovering individual
must notify the land manager in writing of such a discovery. If the discovery occurs in
connection with an authorized use, the activity, which caused the discovery, is to cease and the
materials are to be protected until the land manager can respond to the situation.
If any traditional cultural properties or artifacts are identified before or during development
activities, a protective “buffer zone” may be acceptable, where physical avoidance is an issue,
and if doing so satisfies the needs of the BLM, the proponent, and affected Tribe. The size of any
“buffer zone” would be determined through coordination and communication between all
participating entities. All NRHP-eligible and unevaluated cultural sites that were identified
during the cultural resources inventory would be avoided.
3.4.2.2 Alternative 1
The impacts to Native American Religious Concerns from the construction, operation,
maintenance and reclamation of Alternative 1 would be the same as those described for the
Proposed Action.
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