SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 3 ⎯ Affected Environmentranches began to challenge for control of the range, often buying up water sources and allowing theirherds to roam across public and private land.Stage stations had been established near PCMS in the 1860s along stage routes following the Santa FeTrail. In the spring of 1871, Barlow & Sanderson’s Southern Overland Mail & Express Company establisheda new route that left the Santa Fe Trail at Iron Spring and meandered southeast throughSheep Canyon to what would later be PCMS lands. The stage line was soon superseded by the arrivalof the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad.Southern Colorado’s coal mining industry began in 1875, primarily to the west along the FrontRange. Several small-scale mining operations have been recorded in the Welsh Canyon area of thePCMS. In 1927, the Colorado Interstate Gas Company constructed a natural gas pipeline betweenClayton, New Mexico and Denver, Colorado. The pipeline crosses PCMS from north to south, andone of its booster stations is near the southern boundary. PCMS remained largely a ranching regionwith scattered small mining operations. In 1985, PCMS was obtained for the expansion of militaryexercises from FTC.ArchaeologyArchaeological resources had been identified in PCMS prior to 1980, but in the early 1980s, preparationfor the opening of PCMS and amended regulations implementing the NHPA generated a series oflarge-scale archaeological investigations. A total of 5,064 archeological sites have been recorded onthe PCMS to date. Of these, 479 are currently determined to be eligible for inclusion in the NationalRegister, with 4,585 sites determined to be not eligible. Prehistoric sites number 3,893, historic sitesnumber 690, 481 sites are multi-component, that is having both prehistoric and historic components,and approximately 240 sites contain either historic or prehistoric rock art. There are 11 propertiesmanaged as National Register historic district-eligible: 1 Hispanic plaza settlement; 6 ranching complexes;3 stage stations; and the remnants of 1 natural gas pipeline company town. The cantonmentarea of the PCMS has been 100 percent surveyed for cultural resources and is devoid of known prehistoricsites (USACE 2007b). Based on densities of known sites, 65,600 acres of unsurveyed areasmay contain approximately 2,040 undocumented sites, and 406 of those may be eligible for theNRHP.Historic Built EnvironmentIntact architectural properties at PCMS are predominantly farms, ranches, or related rural sites. Thesewere all abandoned by 1983. There is also an early pipeline booster station with an associated companysettlement. These sites are treated as both archaeological sites and historic architectural properties.They include 11 eligible historic districts.Properties of Traditional, Religious, or Cultural SignificanceThe same eleven federally recognized tribes that expressed cultural affiliation with FTC also expressedcultural affiliation with PCMS. In 2005, 10 of the tribes signed a CA, and the following year,the Jicarilla Apache signed a separate CA (USACE 2006b).TCPs and sacred sites identified for PCMS during consultation comprised five sacred sites, threeTCPs, and two PTRCSs. Several rock art sites were also linked to the traditions of the JicarillaApache, Kiowa, Comanche, and Southern Cheyenne.February 2008 3–155 2/25th SBCT Final EIS