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- Apr 14, 2004
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As part of my ongoing land use efforts, I spent many hours last year helping the BLM craft a Programmatic Agreement for the evaluation and protection of cultural resources in the West Mojave. The Programmatic Agreement was done under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. While the majority of cultural sites are remnants of native occupancy, a significant number are historic remnants of our more recent mining past.
As part of the ongoing identification efforts, the BLM developed an amazing predictive model for locating assets. Using data layers that identified elevation, slope, watersheds, plant species, animal migration patterns, etc., the confluence of multiple elements identified areas of increased probabilities. While the BLM's records up to that point had identified 10,000 cultural sites, the predictive model demonstrated a probability that they would eventually identify 500,000 sites!
Without being a rocket scientist, it took me like a nano-second to realize that identifying and protecting 500,000 sites could have a profound impact on recreational access. So I asked to be a participant. Eventually I asked to become a signatory to the final agreement, committing to a twenty year stint helping the Bureau implement the plan. The State Director signed the PA last September.
Since then, an initial sampling survey was done, which revealed some results that were very disturbing to me. As an FYI, enclosed is my formal protest letter to the BLM regarding what has now been made much clearer by the initial sampling survey.
As part of the ongoing identification efforts, the BLM developed an amazing predictive model for locating assets. Using data layers that identified elevation, slope, watersheds, plant species, animal migration patterns, etc., the confluence of multiple elements identified areas of increased probabilities. While the BLM's records up to that point had identified 10,000 cultural sites, the predictive model demonstrated a probability that they would eventually identify 500,000 sites!
Without being a rocket scientist, it took me like a nano-second to realize that identifying and protecting 500,000 sites could have a profound impact on recreational access. So I asked to be a participant. Eventually I asked to become a signatory to the final agreement, committing to a twenty year stint helping the Bureau implement the plan. The State Director signed the PA last September.
Since then, an initial sampling survey was done, which revealed some results that were very disturbing to me. As an FYI, enclosed is my formal protest letter to the BLM regarding what has now been made much clearer by the initial sampling survey.