SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 3 ⎯ Affected Environment3.3.3.4 Pinon Canyon Maneuver SiteFire Management AreasManagement of wildland fires protects and enhances natural resources on the PCMS. Prescribed firesaccomplish predefined resource management objectives that include: reducing the fuel load contributedby excessive understory vegetation, thereby preventing larger and less easily controlled wildfires;creating buffer zones in and around small arms live-fire ranges to reduce the risk of fire fromtraining activities; manipulating the composition of existing plant communities; enhancing or creatingspecific wildlife habitats; and controlling noxious weeds (DECAM 2002a). Prescribed burns are conductedon the PCMS in the spring, fall, and winter months (USACE 2007b). Fire is suppressed orcontrolled where necessary for safety and to protect high-value resources. Wildfires are typically suppressedon the PCMS because they generally occur when existing conditions are favorable for large,uncontrollable fires (USACE 2007b). A firebreak is being constructed along part of the northernboundary of the PCMS.3.3.4 CULTURAL RESOURCESThe ROI in Colorado includes the geographic extent of FTC and the PCMS. Impacts within the ROIwould result from troop level increases, facility demolition, and construction associated with theSBCT, and increased live-fire and maneuver training. Baseline information for this discussion issummarized from the FTC and PCMS Transformation FEISs (USACE 2007a, b). Stationing of theSBCT at FTC and their use of the PCMS is part of a larger transformation is addressed in the FEISdocuments.FTC is located south of Colorado Springs, Colorado, east of the Rocky Mountain Front Range, andoccupies portions of El Paso, Pueblo, and Fremont Counties. The PCMS is located in southeasternColorado in Las Animas County, approximately 150 miles southeast of FTC. The prehistoric and historiccontexts of these areas are summarized here from the more detailed discussions in the transformationFEISs.3.3.4.1 Prehistoric ContextBoth FTC and PCMS are in the Arkansas River Basin prehistoric context area. Three general stagesof prehistory have been delineated for the Arkansas River Basin of southeastern Colorado: the Paleoindian(11,500 to 7,800 BP), Archaic (7,800 to 1,850 BP), and Late Prehistoric (1,850 to 225 BP).More detailed discussions of these stages of prehistory can be found in Zier and Kalasz (1999). Anearlier stage, the Pre-Clovis, has been proposed, but direct evidence of this stage in the region is lacking.The Paleoindian, Archaic, and Late Prehistoric stages in southeastern Colorado are each subdividedinto three periods. These periods represent specific changes or innovations in the material cultureof prehistoric peoples that suggest broader changes in environmental conditions or political andsocio-economic structure.The Paleoindian (11,500 to7,800 BP) represents the earliest stage of cultural evolution in the archeologicalrecord of southeastern Colorado. This stage spans climatic and environmental transitions fromthe end of the Pleistocene into early Holocene warming. Many large Pleistocene mammals becameextinct during these transitions. This stage in southeastern Colorado is commonly divided into threeperiods based on diagnostic projectile points: Clovis (11,500 to 10,950 BP), Folsom (10,950 to10,250 BP), and Plano (10,250 to 7,800 BP).The beginning of the Archaic Stage (7,800 to 1,850 BP) is marked by another turning point in thenatural environment with the onset of the Altithermal climatic episode, a prolonged early HoloceneFebruary 2008 3–149 2/25th SBCT Final EIS