PHASE I/ CLASS III AND PHASE II CULTURAL RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS TO LOCATE AND EVALUATE PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL RESOURCES

Summit conducts Phase I/Class III and Phase II Cultural Resources Investigations to identify and evaluate cultural resources that are present within a project area. These investigations are often carried out for road construction projects, housing developments, and large pipeline, transmission line and fiber optic line projects that involve state or federal funding or permits.
Summits cultural resources surveys follow appropriate state and federal guidelines and meet the requirements of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Identification and Evaluation. In consultation with the Agency and SHPO, Summit can develop alternative strategies for clients wishing to reduce their potential impacts to cultural resources.

Summit Case Studies:

Client Name: Paiute Pipeline Company
Location: Carson City, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Pershing, and Washoe Counties, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, USFS, FERC, SHPO

Project Description:
Comprehensive cultural resource services have been provided for Paiute Pipeline’s Northern Nevada Expansion. Work included implementing and documenting a program of archaeological survey, testing and mitigation for proposed pipeline loop segments on federal, state and private lands. Involved agencies included the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Project locations for the various sections included segments near Reno, Carson City, Incline Village, Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Paradise, and Elko. During 1994 and 1995, peak activities included the concurrent mitigation of over twenty sites located in northern Nevada, near Paradise and in the Lake Tahoe area. Crews were kept on call to alternate between new survey of last minute route alternatives, testing of sites as they proceeded through the regulatory process, and mitigation of sites considered unavoidable. Treatment plans, mitigation plans, and avoidance strategies were developed for many of the sites prior to construction. All pipeline routes and cultural resource inventories were complimented with total station mapping, many using GPS positioning. Recorded sites included precontact and historic properties, notably many historic sites representing economic activities, such as logging and lumber milling, associated with the Comstock mining boom in western Nevada.

Client Name: Sierra Pacific Power Company
Location: Nevada

Project Description:
Under the guidance of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, a Class III inventory of the 341 miles of proposed route alternatives was conducted May 24 and July 22. 1999. This section of the Environmental Assessment (EA) examines the effects that construction of the Sierra Pacific Power Company’s Falcon to Gonder Project may have on historic properties identified in that inventory lying within a 500 foot wide study corridor along the various proposed route alternatives. The routes cross through areas administered by three BLM Field Offices, Battle Mountain, Elko, and Ely. Ethnographic investigations were also conducted in collaboration with four tribal entities of the Western Shoshone in order to assist the BLM with the identification, evaluation, and management of traditional cultural properties within the project area, the identification and protection of burials and cultural items, and to provide information for consultation between the BLM and tribal governments.

Client Name: Sierra Pacific Power Company
Location: Reno, Nevada

Project Description:
Summit concurrently conducted a biological assessment and evaluation and a cultural resource inventory for Sierra Pacific’s North Valley 120 kV transmission project. This powerline expansion project affected a 2.9 mile linear segment of the powerline from the North Valley Substation and encompassed approximately 51 acres. The North Valley 120 kV powerline expansion was located within lands managed by the Toiyabe National Forest, Carson Ranger District, Washoe Parks Foundation, Washoe County, and the City of Reno.

Client Name: Peke Resources
Location: Esmeralda County, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, SHPO

Project Description:
Summit conducted a large-acreage Class III inventory for a proposed mining project under the direction of the BLM Tonopah Resource Area. The project involved identifying cultural resources, evaluation, and development of mitigation plans. Because of project proponent needs, negotiations with the BLM allowed a phased clearance process to accommodate planned expansion schedules. By breaking the project into several sub-projects, sensitive areas were identified and mine plans were changed in the planning process to avoid direct impacts to known resources.

Client Name: Earth Power Resources
Location: Churchill County, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, SHPO

Project Description:
Summit conducted a cultural resources inventory, and assisted in project planning for a geothermal power plant. The project involved working with the developers in choosing access, pad location, and planning power line corridors and power plant location.

Client Name: Southwest Gas (Southern Nevada)
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, SHPO

Project Description:
Summit completed a Class III inventory of the Nevada Power 24-inch Reinforcement Project, a natural gas pipeline, locating and recording 21 cultural resource sites. One previously known site was rerecorded and evaluated using a regional model devoted to historic transportation systems and was determined NRHP eligible. A treatment plan was developed for the site, which included fencing sensitive areas, and the property was avoided during construction.

Client Name: Southwest Gas Corporation
Location: Clark County, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, SHPO

Project Description:
Summit conducted a Class III linear corridor survey and inventory under the direction of the Las Vegas District BLM for a natural gas pipeline connecting a casino to a major gas transmission line. The project involved pedestrian survey, recording of found sites, and preparation of a report meeting agency standards.

Client Name: Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca District
Location: Humboldt County, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, SHPO

Project Description:
A Class III cultural resources survey of extensive acreage included in a land exchange project was completed as part of the environmental assessment (EA) document preparation. Summit was responsible for developing survey strategies, relocating and re-recording known sites, and preparing the baseline data required by the Winnemucca District.

Client Name: Confidential
Location: Churchill County, Nevada
Agency Review: BLM, SHPO

Project Description:
A cultural resources inventory of public lands proposed for development of a clay mine was completed. Thirteen precontact sites were recorded and plotted on project maps to allow planning the mine expansion process. The sites are all related to lithic reduction activity in a proposed Wyemaha Valley/Rainbow Mountain Lithic Source Area archaeological district. Eight of the sites were determined possibly to contain information contributing to the understanding of lithic procurement issues relevant to the proposed district. One of the sites contained evidence of habitation in the form of groundstone and fire-cracked rock and may also have a subsurface component. A plan for testing the eight sites was developed and submitted to the BLM and the SHPO.

Client Name: Peke Resources
Location: Southern Nevada

Project Description:
Summit conducted a large acreage Class III inventory for a proposed mining project under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management, Tonapah Resource Area. The project involved identifying cultural resources, evaluation, and development of mitigation plans. Because of project proponent needs, negotiations with the BLM allowed a phased clearance process to accommodate planned expansion schedules. By breaking the project into several sub-projects, sensitive areas were identified and mine plans were changed in the planning process to avoid direct impacts to known resources. Summit successfully served as the cultural resources contractor from the planning process through production.

Client Name: Dos Amigos, Inc.
Location: Inyo National Forest

Project Description:
Summit conducted a cultural resources inventory for a proposed mining operation under the direction of the Inyo National Forest. Following the inventory, Summit prepared avoidance and mitigation plans for sites determined as eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. Working through the planning process, sensitive areas were identified and avoidance strategies were developed in consultation with the US Forest Service and the State Historic Preservation Officer. Treatment of one historic mining site includes incorporating historic landscape recreation and relocation of a stamp mill. In addition to the mine site, alternate access roads were surveyed in order to avoid sensitive resources.

Client Name: Earth Power Resources
Location: Northern Nevada

Project Description:
Summit conducted a cultural resources inventory, and assisted in project planning for a geo-thermal power plant. The project involved working with the developers in choosing access, pad location, and planning power line corridors and power plant location.

Client Name: Southwest Gas (Southern Nevada)
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Project Description:
Summit completed a long linear corridor survey for cultural resources under the direction of the Las Vegas District Bureau of Land Management for a proposed natural gas pipeline. Following completion of the baseline study, and selection of the preferred route, one site was determined to be eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. A treatment plan was developed for the site which included fencing sensitive areas and site monitoring during construction.

Client Name: Southwest Gas (Southern Nevada)
Location: Stateline, Nevada

Project Description:
Summit conducted a linear corridor survey and inventory under the direction of the Las Vegas District BLM for a natural gas pipeline connecting a casino to a major gas transmission line. The project involved pedestrian survey, recording of found sites, and preparation of a report meeting agency standards.

Client Name: Sierra Pacific Power Company
Location: Tracy, Nevada

Project Description:
Summit conducted a surface examination of a large precontact site located at the Tracy Power Station for the Piñon Pine Power Project. The examination focused mainly on the delineation of the site boundaries for Sierra Pacific, as the company planned to move a currently existing fence line closer to the site boundary, but did not wish to disturb the site. The site perimeter was located and indicated with orange pin flags, and the boundaries were further noted on an aerial photograph of the location. The area where the fence line was to be moved was closely scrutinized for the presence of any surface artifacts. The pin flags marking the site boundary were left in place to assist project personnel in identifying and protecting the site until after the fence line was relocated.

Client Name: Sierra Pacific Power Company
Location: Gerlach, Nevada

Project Description:
Summit performed a cultural resource inventory for Sierra Pacific as part of the environmental compliance documentation required for installation of four distribution lines near Gerlach, Nevada. Four individual segments of overhead powerline were to be installed on federal land administered by the BLM, Winnemucca District. The inventory covered over one linear mile, encompassing more than 6 acres.

Client Name: Pacific Legacy
Location: Eldorado Valley, Clark County, Nevada

Project Description:
Summit Envirosolutions was contracted by Pacific Legacy, Inc. of Woodland, CA to perform a cultural resource inventory for a proposed fiber optic cable installation project in Clark County, NV. The proposed route, located in the south end of Eldorado Valley, traversed the valley bottom from the McCullough Dry Lake Substation to U.S. Highway 95, a distance of approximately 4.5 miles. An archive review and pedestrian survey were undertaken for the project area. The investigation demonstrated that no cultural resources would be impacted by the project.