Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Agricultural Fields
Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
If agricultural fields were defined within the physical APE, it stands to reason that such fields
could also be located in similar topographic zones throughout the setting APE.
Chaco Roads
As reported above, no archaeological features indicating the presence of Chaco roads or trails
were detected within the physical APE. However, there are alignments within the setting APE that
have been previously identified near the San Mateo great house and the great kiva at San Mateo,
which appear to connect to other known Chaco sites located to the north, west, and southwest.
Besides the great house and great kiva at San Mateo, a known concentration of sites likely to be
related to the Chaco system occurs south of the proposed project, in the vicinity of El Rito
Canyon, and other Chaco sites may be located in other portions of the setting APE. It is possible
that efforts to search for additional Chaco roads or trail alignments could be successful in these
areas and elsewhere in the setting APE, provided the availability of appropriate imagery and the
opportunity for dedicated, well-designed efforts to identify and ground-truth such manifestations.
Mt. Taylor Traditional Cultural Property
Reaching an elevation of 11,301 feet, Mt. Taylor is a prominent landmark, situated within the
larger landform identified as the San Mateo Mountains. The summits of Mt. Taylor and La
Mosca, and the ridge that runs between them, form the high points and are covered in snow much
of the year. These high points are the remnants of the cone of this composite volcano. The
remarkable views from the top of the mountain, and its vast and varied natural resources, have
attracted people to the area for millennia.
Mt. Taylor has been determined eligible to the NRHP as a TCP by the Forest Service. It has also
been listed as a TCP on the SRCP by the State of New Mexico. In this EIS, the term Mt. Taylor
TCP refers to both of these designations together. When there is a need to distinguish them from
one another, such as in this section, they are referred to as either the NRHP-eligible TCP or the
SRCP-listed TCP.
Management
In 2008, the Forest Service conducted a study of American Indian traditional cultural uses and
values associated with Mt. Taylor. While the Forest Service recognized—then and now—that the
mountain holds importance for many cultural groups besides American Indians, it was decided at
the time to limit the study’s scope. The study was prompted by the anticipated increase in mine
exploration and development applications. This study combined cultural, historical, and
ethnographic information into an evaluation of the eligibility of Mt. Taylor for the NRHP. The
Forest Service determined that the mountain is eligible for the NRHP as a TCP due to its
traditional cultural significance (Benedict and Hudson, 2008). This significance is discussed in
more detail below.
The NRHP-eligible TCP is comprised of a vernacular landscape, meaning: (1) the category of
property comprising the TCP is a landscape or a geographic space containing cultural and natural
resources that when taken together are imbued with meaning; and (2) the landscape of this TCP is
composed of cultural and natural resources whose distribution evolved through function or use.
The type of property that was identified and evaluated for NRHP eligibility is categorized as a
site.
DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest 327