Notes from BLM Archaeologist Diane Pritchard's Lecture

6/17/02

Diane discussed the responsibilities and general tasks of her job as a BLM cultural resource manager. She discussed the difference between NHPA Section 106 and NHPA Section 110 work and emphasized how most of her job focused on Section 106 compliance.

In addition, she discussed the BLM's general mission of managing 135 million acres in 11 western states (excluding Alaska, which is 1/4 BLM-managed).

Diane meets with the Burns Paiute archaeologist and the tribal elders at least two or three times a year. She discussed Castle Rock as a sacred area for the Burns Paiute and provided a brief historical overview of the area and the allotment and contraction of the Malheur Reservation.

This reservation originally consisted of 6 million acres set aside in 1872. In 1876, the U.S. Cavalry moved the tribe off the land and then proclaimed it vacant and sold it to homesteading ranchers. Most of the tribe moved to Winnemucca or Yakima following this removal.

There are three field projects within southeastern Oregon that fall under the administration of the Vale District BLM in the summer of 2002: (1) WSU's Birch Creek Field School; (2) Mark Plew and Boise State University have a select group of six graduate students conducting a project north of Succor Creek State Park; this project's goal is to assess the status of a heavily looted rockshelter to determine if any cultural materials remain; and (3) the University of Nevada-Reno and DRI have a Paleoindian project going in White Horse Basin near McDermott.

Questions from the students prompted a discussion of Diane's responsibilities for protecting area cultural resources from looters, collectors, and the uniformed public. Her candid response was that to successfully prosecute offenders she had to "catch them in the act." She discussed one regional collector, Forest Amant, who assembled a collection of over 2,000 projectile points. Mr. Amant took notes on his finds, and these and the collection are currently housed at the Four Rivers Cultural Center and Treasure Valley Community College.

This explanation lead to a discussion concerning the recent fires in the district and the procedures that follow a fire burn. Diane plans on contracting out archaeological surveys to assess the damage caused by the fires, to comply with Section 106 in relation to replanting and revegetation projects that will follow, and because of the increased ground visibility following a burn. She told of her district's policy to reseed the area to decrease erosion, decrease the possibility of the establishment of nonnative species (i.e., cheatgrass), and prevent nonvegetative islands around sites that delineate sites for archaeologists as well as pothunters.

Diane allows the biologists to furrow a site once over to seed a denuded area. Her logic is that the zone of trampling in this area is 10 cm thick, and the reseeding projects cause minimal impact below this zone.

As for the current status of interest among area tribes, Diane said that the Burns Paiute would be interested in the site but are not an aggressive tribe in relation to participation and input on research in the area. She stated that the Fort Hall Shoshone Bannock claim they were never in this region but stayed south of the area. However, she believes they do have ties to the area and did live in the region and will express a greater interest in the area in the future.