Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
The Forest Service adopted this definition for assessing the potential impacts of the proposed
project on all cultural resources, whether or not they are evaluated as historic properties.
The Forest Service initially determined that the proposed Roca Honda Mine could have the
potential to impact cultural resources through physical impacts to resources, through physical
impacts to natural features in resource settings, and through changes to the visual and audible
character of resource settings. To analyze the potential for these impacts, the Forest Service
established two APEs: a physical APE and a setting APE.
The APE for physical effects includes the areas within which construction or operations activities
would occur, hereafter referred to as the physical APE. The physical APE includes the mine
permit area requested by Roca Honda Resources (Sections 9, 10, and 16 in their entirety), plus
additional areas where associated construction or operations activities would take place. These
additional areas include the haul road routes in Sections 11, 17, and 20; the utility corridor and
access road in Section 15; and the dewatering discharge pipeline corridor and discharge points in
Sections 11, 2, and the unplatted private land to the north. Because the locations of the mine
permit area and the additional areas do not differ between the three alternatives (alternative 1 – no
action, alternative 2 – proposed action, and alternative 3 – one shaft alternative), the boundaries
of the physical APE are the same for all three (figure 61).
Due to the nature of the proposed project, changes to the visual or audible character of resources
or their settings could occur to cultural resources located either within or outside the physical
APE. This is important for certain resources where the setting contributes to the values and
significance of the resource. To analyze the potential for these impacts, the Forest Service
established a setting APE based on the locations from which there is a line-of-sight to the
proposed mine facilities (buildings, structures, and infrastructure), within which both visual and
audible impacts could occur. This area was identified using geographic information systems
technology to find those locations where a 6-foot tall person would have line-of-sight to the
facilities, regardless of distance and vegetation. The setting APE is dependent on the proposed
surface facilities, which differ between the action alternatives. However, the setting APEs for
each alternative are incredibly similar to one another, with only very slight differences and, thus,
are blended together to form one setting APE that is the same for either alternative (figure 61).
This blended setting APE is approximately 75,023 acres in size.
Historical Context of the Project Area
Cultural resources are best understood when viewed within their historical context. Contexts are
the broad patterns or trends in history by which a specific resource is understood and its meaning
(and ultimately its significance) within prehistory and history is made clear (NPS, 1990). The
settlement and land use of the region of the mine project area is well documented in the
archaeological, ethnographic, oral, and archival record. Cultural resources in northwest New
Mexico embody a long progression of time beginning with the Paleoindian occupation of 12,000
years ago and continuing through 470 years of historic use. The following section briefly
describes the major patterns of prehistory and history for the proposed mine project area and its
vicinity. The text in this section is based on information developed for the archaeological studies
of the proposed mine project area and on information provided by the consulted tribes, except
where noted.
300 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest