ii CULTURAL RESOURCE PLAN FOR THE DENALI HIGHWAY LANDS, CENTRAL ALASKA By Richard VanderHoek October 2011 Office of History and Archaeology Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation Alaska Department of Natural Resources 550 West 7th Avenue, Suite 1310 Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3565 OFFICE OF HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT NUMBER 112 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to thank the numerous Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land and Water, and Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation personnel for providing information and advice as well as reading and commenting on drafts of this plan. Other agencies that have provided assistance and information that have improved this plan include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is the hope of the author and the Office of History and Archaeology that this plan is a useful tool in the management of the cultural resources in the Denali Highway region. iv ABSTRACT In 2003 the Bureau of Land Management began the process of conveying 200,000 acres of land in several blocks to the State in areas north of the Denali Highway in central Alaska, as part of statehood land selections. One of these, termed Denali Block I, contains the northern fifth of the Tangle Lakes Archaeological District (TLAD), a 226,660 acre unit listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This document is intended to provide guidance in the management of the cultural resources on state lands in the TLAD, and on other state lands in the Denali Highway region. It provides internal guidance to staff within OHA as well as management recommendations and guidelines for state agencies and developers within the planning area. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land and Water (DMLW) is the state agency with the authority and responsibility for managing resources on general state lands. It is the responsibility of Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation/Office of History and Archaeology (OHA) to advise DMLW on the management of cultural resources on state lands. Most of the Denali Highway lands are considered multiple use, with the exception of a special use area that encloses the northern section of the TLAD. This report sets out cultural resource protection guidelines for OHA and guidance for DMLW on managing the cultural resources in the TLAD and Denali Highway region. It also gives guidance for agencies and commercial interests to follow, enabling them to comply with laws and regulations protecting cultural resources. Resource extraction, road and trail development and modification, and other human activities all have potential to impact cultural resources. The primary mechanism of disturbance for archaeological sites in the TLAD has been Off Highway Vehicles (OHVs). Recommendations in this plan on trail management are based in part on OHA’s experience managing cultural resources on Denali lands since 2003. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi TABLE OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... x TABLE OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ x LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................... xi PLAN OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................ xii I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 A. Purpose of the Plan .................................................................................................. 1 B. Planning Area ........................................................................................................... 1 C. Plan Development .................................................................................................... 3 D. Management Authority and Responsibility ........................................................... 3 II. REGIONAL LAND MANAGEMENT ...................................................................... 7 A. Management Plans for Denali Highway Lands ..................................................... 7 B. Land Designations for Denali Highway Lands ...................................................... 7 C. Subsistence Hunting on State Lands ...................................................................... 7 D. Generally Allowed Uses on State Lands ................................................................ 7 E. Tangle Lakes Archaeological District/Special Use Area Restrictions ................. 8 F. DMLW Permits, Leases, Easements and Mining Claims ..................................... 8 1. Lands Section ........................................................................................................ 8 2. Mining Section ....................................................................................................... 9 G. Collaboration with Bureau of Land Management................................................ 9 H. Existing Memoranda of Agreement with Bureau of Land Management ........... 9 III. REGIONAL LAND USE ......................................................................................... 11 A. Current Use of State Denali Highway Lands ...................................................... 11 B. Land Use on Bureau of Land Management Denali Highway Lands ................. 11 C. Projected Regional Land Use ................................................................................ 11 IV. CULTURAL RESOURCE PROGRAM FOR THE DENALI HIGHWAY LANDS ............................................................................................................................. 12 A. History of Cultural Resource Management ......................................................... 12 B. History of Cultural Resource Monitoring and Survey ....................................... 13 C. Curation of Cultural Resources ............................................................................ 14 1. BLM ..................................................................................................................... 14 2. State of Alaska ..................................................................................................... 14 3. Curation by Other Groups ................................................................................. 14 D. Human Occupation of the Tangle Lakes Region ................................................ 15 E. Cultural Site Locations and Types ....................................................................... 15 1. Historic Sites ........................................................................................................ 16 a. Exploration ....................................................................................................... 16 b. Transportation Corridors ................................................................................. 16 c. Mining............................................................................................................... 16 d. Hunting and Trapping ..................................................................................... 16 e. Settlements ........................................................................................................ 16 2. Prehistoric Sites ................................................................................................... 16 vi a. Overlook Sites ................................................................................................... 17 b. Transportation Corridors ................................................................................. 17 c. Lake and Stream Related Sites ........................................................................ 17 d. Alpine Ice Patches ............................................................................................ 17 e. Lithic Procurement Sites .................................................................................. 18 f. Multiple-Resource Spike Camps ...................................................................... 18 F. Methodology, Survey Strategies and Landscape Histories................................. 18 V. POTENTIAL ADVERSE IMPACTS TO CULTURAL RESOURCES ON DENALI HIGHWAY LANDS ....................................................................................... 20 A. Human Disturbance Factors ................................................................................. 21 1. Off-Highway-Vehicle Trails in the TLAD/SUA ............................................... 21 a. Landmark Gap Trail ........................................................................................ 21 b. Glacier Gap to Sevenmile Lake Trail .............................................................. 21 c. Maclaren Summit Trail .................................................................................... 22 d. Sevenmile Lake Trail ....................................................................................... 22 e. Unauthorized OHV Trails in the TLAD/SUA