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AASHTO 2018 Joint Meeting Cultural Resources Subcommittee July 17, 2018 Archaeology and the Fish Passage Barrier Federal Court Injunction in Washington State

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AASHTO 2018 Joint Meeting

Cultural Resources SubcommitteeJuly 17, 2018

Archaeology and the Fish Passage

Barrier Federal Court Injunction in

Washington State

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“[the] right of taking fish, secured to the

Tribes in the Stevens Treaties, imposes

a duty upon the State to refrain from

building or operating culverts under

State-maintained roads that hinder fish

passage and thereby diminish the

number of fish that would otherwise be

available for Tribal harvest.”

Photo by Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun

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2013 Federal Court Injunction

A federal court injunction, issued in March 2013, requires the state

to significantly increase the effort for removing state-owned

culverts in western Washington that block habitat for salmon

and steelhead.

• The injunction requires WSDOT to fix more than 800 barriers by 2030.

• Barrier culverts blocking up to 10% of the total blocked habitat can be

deferred until ‘end of life’ or corrected as part of other transportation projects.

As a result, WSDOT estimates that approximately 418 culverts need to be

corrected to open up 90% of the habitat as required by the injunction.

• The general cost estimate for meeting the injunction is $2.4 billion.

Significantly more funding is needed.

Injunction was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2018

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Fish Passage Projects

WSDOT has been working for many years to remove fish passage

barriers, completing a total of 319 fish passage projects

statewide as of July 2017.

• In 2018, WSDOT plans to correct an additional 18 barriers, opening up 147.3

miles of stream habitat.

Nordstrom Creek project — BEFORE

The former culvert at the State Route 112 crossing Nordstrom Creek

was a barrier to fish passage because of high water velocities and

drops that were too high for fish to jump.

Nordstrom Creek project — AFTER

A new 17-foot wide concrete box structure was constructed in 2017 for

$2.3 million. The new structure provides access to 3 miles of habitat

for coho salmon, steelhead, searun cutthroat and resident trout.

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Given their location along streams and shorelines, most projects

have a high potential for encountering archaeological resources.

• Barrier culverts need to be removed and replaced with bridges or ‘stream

simulation’ culverts, which in most cases will have a larger footprint than the

existing culvert.

Fish Passage Projects and Archaeology

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Fish Barriers Subject to Injunction

According to the DAHP

Archaeology Predictive

Model, roughly 75% are in

areas of very high or high

risk

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Fish Barriers Subject to Injunction

Surprisingly, only 35

recorded sites are

intersected when a 500

foot buffer is included for

each culvert.

Low numbers are likely

due to the fact that very

few of the culvert locations

have been previously

surveyed.

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WSDOT survey in 2013 identified archaeological site 45KP233 on Sinclair

Inlet in Puget Sound. Data recovery excavations were completed in 2015.

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culverts

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Xe’1xELStEtca’bEts

Du3xö’i

Seshwa’p

Sq3a’le

Txqiaba’dib

Tc3lcadxu

Tca3tLtce’labid

Qw3Eq3ks

Base map: US Coast and Geodetic Survey, Sinclair Inlet, 1909

Mouth of creek is associated with an

ethnographic place name meaning

“good”

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AD 900 – 930

▪ earthquake on Seattle Fault uplifted the site landform

▪ at least 200 years before site occupation

~AD 1155 to 1255

▪ initial site occupation

▪ hunting and fishing camp, but no shellfish

▪ lithic re-sharpening and tool maintenance

~AD 1275 to 1800(?)

▪ shell midden

▪ seasonal hunting/fishing/shellfishing camp (harvest and processing)

▪ still hunting land mammals, but fish relatively more important

▪ bone tools continue, but very few lithics

~AD 1850s to 1890s?

▪ trade beads and small assemblage of other Euro-American goods, but

also traditional (e.g. bone) tools

▪ continued to hunt and fish same species, but limited evidence of

shellfish use

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Roughly 100 pounds of shell were cleaned, sorted and

identified to species.

clam species dominated, but there were surprisingly high

numbers of dogwinkles (20% by weight)

Bone assemblage dominated by fish remains (64%)

salmonids dominate the identified fishes

salmonid (66%), flatfish (22%), spiny dogfish (5%)

Significant amounts of mammal remains (29%)

deer and elk dominate the identified mammal remains

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Modified Bone

Sandstone Abrader

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The triangular point on the lower

left had rabbit blood residue on it,

and the flake tool above had

trout/salmon residue.

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88 stone artifacts made of

jasper (52%), chert,

chalcedony, obsidian, and

basalt.

Mostly small flakes

Mostly from Layer 7

12 pieces of obsidian, sourced to

Glass Buttes, Oregon

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cm

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British shilling dating to the 1860s

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