Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
Resources that have a direct association with, and are significant to, a living cultural group may
be considered ethnographic resources. Ethnographic resources are associated with the cultural
practices, beliefs, and traditional history of a community. They are used within social, spiritual,
political, and/or economic contexts, and are important to the preservation and viability of a
culture. Examples of ethnographic resources include, but are not limited to, places that play an
important role in oral histories, such as a particular rock formation, the confluence of two rivers,
or a rock pile (cairn); large areas where resources are interrelated, such as landscapes and
viewsheds; sacred sites and places important for religious practices; natural resources
traditionally used by people such as plant communities or clay deposits; and “traditional
infrastructure” such as trails or camping locations. The features of an ethnographic resource can
be manmade or natural. It is important to note that a single cultural resource can possess both
archaeological and ethnographic components.
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is a listing of buildings, structures, sites,
districts, and objects that are considered significant at a national, state, or local level. Listed
resources can have significance in the areas of history, archaeology, architecture, engineering, or
culture. Cultural resources that are listed on the NRHP, or have been determined eligible for
listing, have been documented and evaluated according to uniform standards and found to meet
criteria of significance and integrity. Cultural resources that meet the criteria for listing on the
NRHP are called “historic properties.” Resources that have undetermined eligibility are treated as
historic properties until a determination otherwise is made. More information on the evaluation of
historic properties is provided below. Thus it is important for the reader to understand that the
broad category of cultural resources includes a subcategory of resources called historic properties.
All historic properties are cultural resources; however, not all cultural resources meet the criteria
to be historic properties. The identification of resources and analysis of effects to those resources
in this EIS tries to be very clear which group of resources is being discussed in any particular
section.
Regulatory Setting
Federal Laws and Regulations
A number of Federal laws address cultural resources and Federal responsibilities regarding them.
The long history of legal jurisdiction over cultural resources, dating back to the 1906 passage of
the Antiquities Act (16 United States Code (U.S.C.) 431–433), demonstrates a continuing concern
on the part of Americans for such resources. Cultural resources include historic properties, as
defined in the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 470); cultural items, as
defined in the Archeological and Historic Preservation Act (AHPA) (16 U.S.C. 469); cultural
items and human remains, as defined by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA) (25 U.S.C. 3001); archaeological resources, as defined by the Archeological
Resources Protection Act (ARPA) (16 U.S.C. 470aa-mm); the cultural environment, as defined by
Executive Order (EO) 11593, Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment (36
Federal Register (FR) 8921); Indian sacred sites to which access is provided under the American
Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) (42 U.S.C. 1996) and as defined in EO 13007 Indian
Sacred Sites (61 FR 26771); and religious practices as addressed in AIRFA and the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) (42 U.S.C. 2000bb). Similarly, Section 101(b)(4) of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) establishes a Federal policy for the conservation of
historic and cultural aspects of the nation’s heritage. Requirements set forth in this legislation, and
DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest 297