E6.0 CULTURAL RESOURCES This chapter of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC] Project No. 2082) Exhibit E provides a report on the historical and archeological resources potentially affected by the Project as stipulated in Title 18 Section 4.51 (f) (4) of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): The report must discuss the historical and archeological resources in the Project area and the impact of the Project on those resources. The report must be prepared in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer and the National Park Service. Consultation must be documented by appending to the report a letter from each agency consulted that indicates the nature, extent, and results of the consultation. The report must contain: (i) Identification of any sites either listed or determined to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places that are located in the Project area, or that would be affected by operation of the Project or by new development of Project facilities (including facilities proposed in this exhibit); (ii) A description of any measures recommended by the agencies consulted for the purpose of locating, identifying, and salvaging historical or archaeological resources that would be affected by operation of the Project, or by new development of Project facilities (including facilities proposed in this exhibit), together with a statement of what measures the applicant proposes to implement and an explanation of why the applicant rejects any measures recommended by an agency. (iii) The following materials and information regarding the survey and salvage activities described under paragraph (f)(4)(ii) of this section: (A) A schedule for the activities, showing the intervals following issuance of a license when the activities would be commenced and completed; and (B) An estimate of the costs of the activities, including a statement of the sources and extent of financing. E6.1 EXISTING CULTURAL RESOURCES AND FACTORS AFFECTING CULTURAL RESOURCES E6.1.1 Environmental Context The Klamath River bisects the Cascade Range, a geographic region characterized by a chain of large and recently active volcanic cones that extend northward from Lassen Volcanic National Park, in California, through Oregon and Washington and into British Columbia. However, the local environmental variability is high for the 65.5-mile-long stretch of the field inventory corridor (FIC) study area along the Upper Klamath River. © February 2004 PacifiCorp Exhibit E Cultural Resources.DOC Exhibit E Page 6-1 PacifiCorp Klamath Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 2082 E6.1.1.1 Modern Conditions The Project is embedded within a region that extends from Upper Klamath Lake, at an elevation of about 4,140 feet (1,262 meters) and within the basin and range topography, down through the steep gorge of the Klamath River canyons. At the lower end of the project FIC near Iron Gate dam, at an elevation of approximately 2,070 feet (about 630 meters), the topography transitions into the rolling, older ranges of the Siskiyou-Klamath Mountains. The following is a review of modern conditions (geology, soils, hydrology, climate, flora, and fauna) within the Upper Klamath River region followed by a paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on local and regional research. Geology and Soils The geology of the Cascade Range (High Cascade Province) includes undifferentiated Tertiary- age volcanic rocks, including andesite, basalt, and volcanic conglomerates, as well as sandstone and mudstone. Complicating the geology are occasional exposures of the softer, shaley rocks of the Hornbrook formation. These Cretaceous-aged deposits of the Hornbrook formation, in places, include fossils of animals that lived in an inland sea that existed east of the Klamath Mountains (Alt and Hyndman, 1995). However, most of the rock in the rugged Klamath River Canyon represents river downcutting through rock deposited by volcanic activity of predominantly Miocene age (10 to 25 million years ago). In some places, such as near the Copco dam, volcanic activity was as recent as the Pleistocene. The predominantly basaltic rim of the Klamath River Canyon now towers nearly 1,000 feet above the continually downcutting river. The Upper Klamath basin is at the western margin of the basin and range geological province that directly results from the fault-controlled uplift of generally north-south trending mountain ranges and downdropping of basins. This faulting dates to at least the Miocene. The uplifted mountains with their great relief relative to the valley floors are subject to extensive erosion, and as the erosion and uplift continue, the sediments flood into the basins (Fiero, 1986). Sediment in the Upper Klamath basin is hundreds, if not thousands, of feet thick, and the result is a broad plain, much of which is now converted to farmland or pasture. Downstream, near the lowest segment of the project FIC, the geology fades from the volcanic- dominated Cascade Range terrain into the older, metamorphic and plutonic rocks of the Siskiyou and Klamath mountain ranges. This transition to older rock basement generally occurs just downstream of Interstate 5, but some exposures are slightly upstream (Hickman, 1993). One theory places the Klamath Mountains as a faulted block, offset from the northern edge of the Sierra Nevada, that moved 60 miles to the west on a small tectonic plate (a microplate) more than 100 million years ago (Alt and Hyndman, 1995). The rich gold and precious mineral deposits sought by mid-nineteenth miners coincide with the upstream extent of these granitic and metamorphic rocks. Mining of economically valuable deposits, including gold, is not known for the immediate project area, but the influences of mining does extend upstream from the nearest deposits in the Henley area (less than 10 miles downstream of the Iron Gate dam). Understanding the local and regional geology conditions was a necessary prerequisite to historical mining and agriculture interests, and this knowledge underpins archaeological © February 2004 PacifiCorp Exhibit E Page 6-2 Exhibit E Cultural Resources.DOC PacifiCorp Klamath Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 2082 investigations with a better understanding of the lithic raw material potential available to prehistoric peoples in the local and regional landscape. In the Klamath River region, flaked stone tool manufacture included the use of chert1 and basalt (both locally available) and obsidian. Local rock variability includes several forms of basalt capable of holding a cutting edge, and local andesites irregularly contain veins of amygaloidal opal and other cherts, presenting another potential prehistoric toolstone source (California Division of Mines and Geology, 1964). The geographically closest known obsidian source is in the Medicine Lake Highlands, located more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of the Project area. Other important obsidian sources in the region include Spodue/Sycan, Blue Mountain, Massacre Lake, and the Warner Mountains, all of which are within a few hundred miles of the Upper Klamath River Canyon (see Mack, 1997; Sampson, 1985; Wilson et al. 1996). Sediments in the region strongly reflect past Cascade volcanism. Soils range from shallow to deep, formed from colluvial and alluvial forces. Downstream, soils derived from extrusive or plutonic igneous rock are well drained, with surface layers of clay and clay loam. In the Klamath River Canyon, soils originate as colluvium, sometimes further weathered as alluvium. Local drainages have altered soils in several locations, forming poorly drained floodplains derived from igneous sources, with material weathered from andesite, basalt, tuff, and volcanic ash (Cahoon, 1985; Johnson, 1994; Soil Conservation Service, 1983). Source materials incorporated into Upper Klamath basin soils include igneous sources (predominantly ash) with the addition of diatomaceous and other ancient seafloor sediments. On the low terraces within the project FIC, soils are very deep, moderately well drained to somewhat poorly drained, and sometimes slightly alkaline. In places, the soil is underlain by a hardpan at 20 to 40 inches below the surface. Floodplains have poorly drained silt loam, with relatively high water tables (within 2 to 6 feet of the surface, depending on local conditions) and slow permeability (Cahoon, 1985). Hydrology and Modern Climate The Klamath River represents the principal streamcourse in northern California, extending well into southern Oregon. The head of the Klamath River is Upper Klamath Lake (although the 1.25 miles between Lake Ewauna and Upper Klamath Lake are known as Link River), with Upper Klamath Lake fed by tributaries that include the Sprague, Williamson, and Wood rivers. After spilling out of Upper Klamath Lake, the river makes its way southwest into California, passing through the Klamath Mountains and six hydropower dams before reaching the Pacific Ocean, 263 river miles (423 kilometers) below Upper Klamath Lake. In the Upper Klamath basin, irrigation projects and drainage canals replace the former influence of water movement through the Lost River, a drainage that both moved water into and out of the Klamath River. Formerly, the Upper Klamath River basin was dominated by more than 300,000 acres of natural wetlands, including tule marshes and other waterfowl wetland habitats. Approximately 80 percent of that acreage has been converted in the last century into irrigated 1 Following Luedtke (1992), “chert is used as the