Ranch On Swauk BOCC Packet 9-17-24

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Allyson Brooks Ph.D., Director State Historic Preservation Officer July 8, 2024 Jamey Ayling Planning Manager Kittitas County 411 N. Ruby St; Suite 2 Ellensburg, WA 98926 In future correspondence please refer to: Project Tracking Code: 2024-07-04762 Property: Kittitas County_The Ranch on Swauk Creek Development Agreement (DV-24-00001) Re: DAHP Comments Dear Jamey Ayling: Thank you for contacting the Washington State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) and providing documentation regarding the above referenced project. These comments are based on the information available at the time of this review and on behalf of the SHPO in conformance Washington State law. Should additional information become available, our assessment may be revised. Please review our following comments: No references to cultural resources are made in either of the documents provided for review, nor are cultural resources discussed in the additional documents available on the Kittitas County website. However, at least one cultural resources survey has been completed within this project area as part of a Forest Practices Application (see Orvald 2006), and at least one precontact archaeological site (KT02711) and one historic archaeological site (KT02712) have been identified. Orvald recommended avoidance of these archaeological sites, as well as archaeological monitoring of ground disturbance related to road construction (2006:19). Further, Orvald recommended that any areas added to the Ranch on Swauk Creek project area should be reviewed for the presence of cultural resources (2006:20). The current project area appears to be larger than the project area surveyed in 2006. Therefore, DAHP recommends that the added areas be surveyed by a professional archaeologist. We also recommend that the areas surveyed in 2006 be re -surveyed, as the previous cultural resources survey is now nearly 20 years old and did not include any subsurface testing despite low ground visibility (Orvald 2006:13). The survey report should meet DAHP's Standards for Cultural Resource Re ortin . Any disturbance to KT02711 will require a permit from DAHP, as it is a precontact site. The historic archaeological site (KT02712) is unevaluated for its eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. If this site must be disturbed, it should first be evaluated for its eligibility for the NRHP. If it is eligible, disturbance to it will also require a State of Washington • Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation b P.O. Box 48343 • Olympia, -Washington 98504-8343 • (360) 586-3065 x www.dahp.wa.gov �� F R �'1 FBlN E`