4-BPM006639_ADOT Environmental On-call 2025, Method and Approach.pdf

Desert Archaeology, Inc. │ Tucson, Tempe, and Prescott Arizona

Arizona Department of Transportation Request for Proposal Solicitation No. BPM006639

On-Call Environmental Consulting Services:

Method and Approach

Desert Archaeology, Inc. has demonstrated experience in all cultural resources technical skills (Item 4.2.7) required by the ADOT On-Call Environmental Consulting Services contract. All work conducted by Desert Archaeology follows guidelines and standards of the Arizona State Museum (ASM) and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Desert Archaeology holds a current blanket Arizona Antiquities Act (AAA) permit (2025-023bl) with the ASM and utilizes qualified field directors who meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards (48 CFR 44716). Project-specific AAA permits are obtained from the ASM, as needed.

ADOT projects impact many jurisdictions. We also hold permits for many of the other land management agencies in the state, including the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Navajo Nation. In addition, the company has a commitment, above and beyond the regulatory standards, to provide our clients with the best solutions for achieving project goals while safeguarding the cultural resource values of the community. Here, we describe our methods and technical approach, tying them to the line-item number identified in the Request for Proposal (RFP) Solicitation No.

BPM006639. We also describe our project management team and workflow to monitor and manage tasks, identify key personnel, and ensure project deliverables are met in a timely manner. We describe our approach to management and changes in the discussion of company qualifications and quality control submitted in the separate document Firm History and Key Personnel.

Cultural Resources Records Review and Reporting; Development of Consultation Letters (Item 4.2.7.1)

Desert Archaeology is thoroughly familiar with the process of conducting archival records checks, background research, and literature searches for cultural resources projects. Consulting available records is the first step in assessing the potential for significant cultural resources on a property. Desert Archaeology field directors are trained in archival research and use of the ASM site files. Standard sources include: the AZSITE online database of designated archaeological sites; the Archaeological Records Office (ARO) at ASM; the Arizona Historical Society; SHPO; historical maps produced by the General Land Office (GLO), the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); historical aerial photographs; records housed at various federal land-holding agencies such as the BLM and the USFS; and Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) files.

Information gathered in the early stages of a project can be used effectively for planning purposes, which can result in significant time and cost savings. These tasks can be an independent effort, or they may be combined with other field survey and excavation tasks. Desert Archaeology has completed several stand-alone site overviews, including the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]) and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).

Arizona Department of Transportation RFP Solicitation No. BPM006639 for On-Call Environmental Consulting Services: Method and Approach

Desert Archaeology, Inc. │ Tucson, Tempe, and Prescott Arizona

Desert Archaeology regularly develops consultation letters for clients as part of the regulatory compliance process. We have experience developing consultation letters for state and federal consultation, for entities such as SHPO, THPOs, and federal permitting agencies. Consultation letters help keep key stakeholders informed of project progress, allowing them to comment on project findings, adequacy of reporting, and management recommendations prior to project completion, and they enable our clients to achieve regulatory compliance and project approval.

Cultural Resources Surveys and Site Recordation and National Register of Historic Places Assessment (Items 4.2.7.2 and 4.2.7.3)

Desert Archaeology has conducted more than 1,500 intensive field surveys subject to all levels of compliance (federal, Tribal, state, and local). Cultural resources surveys document evidence for past human use on a property. The physical remains that are present are described, photographed, and mapped. Desert Archaeology draws on decades of experience across Arizona in evaluating the significance and integrity of archaeological sites and standing buildings/structures found during survey.

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the nation’s inventory of historic properties. In addition, the State of Arizona maintains the Arizona Register of Historic Places (ARHP). Criteria have been established for evaluating the eligibility of archaeological sites and historical buildings/structures for inclusion in the national and state registers in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), as amended, and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Act of 1982 (SHPA), as amended.

Desert Archaeology has decades of experience evaluating the significance and integrity of archaeological sites and standing buildings/structures based on national, state, and local criteria. For archaeological sites, surface features or architecture such as ballcourts, platform mounds, or buildings, evidence of intensive occupation from trash mounds or dense artifact scatters, and indications of mortuary features/ areas are all strong evidence for sites that meet NRHP eligibility criteria. Architecture is assessed for significance, including eligibility for inclusion on the NRHP and the ARHP, with information gathered from archival research and the surface documentation of a site or property. When surface evidence is sparse, the geomorphological setting of a project area may also indicate potential for significant cultural resources. For example, discoveries over the last 25 years on the terraces of the Santa Cruz River and its major tributaries have identified substantial, deeply buried sites dating to the Early Agricultural period. Desert Archaeology’s extensive investigations within the floodplain of the Santa Cruz River have demonstrated the strong role geomorphology plays in understanding buried sites.

Once it is established that historic properties that meet NRHP eligibility criteria are present within a project area, the effects of specific proposed actions on those properties are assessed. Recommendations for treatment are designed to address those effects. Survey results are reported and records curated in accordance with standards established by the ASM and the SHPO. Desert Archaeology maintains a current blanket State Antiquities Permit for conducting field surveys in Arizona (2025-023bl), which is renewable annually.

Testing, Data Recovery, and Monitoring Plans (Item 4.2.7.4)

All projects, whether testing, data recovery, or monitoring, begin with a planning document, whether a response to a Scope of Work or development of a planning document that addresses the scale and scope of the project, describes past work in the project area, situates the project within a known culture history, Desert Archaeology, Inc. │ Tucson, Tempe, and Prescott Arizona and identifies the research questions that will guide the project. Plans are developed proportionate to the development project impacts. The plan of work identifies the steps needed to conduct the work, including the acquisition of permits, repository agreements, environmental permits (dust control, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans), and right-of-way permits. The plan identifies the methods to be used to explore sites, sample and excavate features, and postfield methods for the artifact and sample analyses that will help answer the posed research questions. Plans describe the treatment of ancestors and identify how inadvertent discoveries will be treated. Desert Archaeology has written more than 55 such plans, including two monitoring and discovery plans for the City of Tucson and City of Phoenix, described below.

In 2011, Desert Archaeology prepared A Plan for Monitoring and Discovery within Public Right-of-way in Eleven Archaeological Sensitivity Zones in the City of Tucson and Pima County for the City of Tucson.

The project resulted in a major update of site definition and locational information in AZSITE for the evaluated areas.

In 2019, Dr. T. Kathleen Henderson completed a new General Monitoring and Discovery Plan for the City of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. This plan updated and expanded the content of the previous (2004) monitoring and discovery plan for the city. Following opening discussions that describe the municipal, state, and federal regulations that govern the protection and study of cultural resources, the plan presents sections that comprehensively describe the environmental (physiography and ecology) and cultural (cultural history) contexts of the city, in addition to in-depth discussions of the types of cultural resources, inclusive of precontact canals, precontact sites, and historic sites and canals, that might be encountered during monitoring projects within the city. A research design that identifies topics and questions that could be realistically addressed through archaeological monitoring is presented, followed by a plan of work that supplies a general set of procedures and methods to be used during city-directed monitoring projects. The plan was developed in consultation with the City Archaeology Office, city departments’ staff, ASM, and the SHPO; the plan was approved by all.

Archaeological Excavation and Monitoring Fieldwork, Analysis, and Reporting (Item 4.2.7.5)

As a full-service cultural resources management company, Desert Archaeology has the capability to conduct the full range of fieldwork, and most types of analysis of artifacts and samples recovered from fieldwork, as well as delivering reports that describe and synthesize the results.

Testing

For those sites at which surface evidence is not sufficient to determine the nature, extent, significance, and NRHP eligibility of cultural resources, Desert Archaeology has the expertise to gather information from sites quickly and cost effectively through testing programs. Testing procedures include non-intrusive techniques such as high-resolution mapping, intensive surface collection, and hand- and machine-excavation strategies. Most importantly, Desert Archaeology staff has the skills and experience to interpret the results. For example, selective testing along the Interstate 10 (I-10) corridor, guided by floodplain geomorphology data, resulted in the discovery of several buried sites of major significance.

The investigation of these sites has revealed some of the earliest known evidence of settled villages supported by floodplain farming in the Tucson Basin and some of the earliest canal irrigation in all of North America. Archaeological testing is also a critical tool in developing strategies for further data recovery efforts, if needed.

Desert Archaeology, Inc. │ Tucson, Tempe, and Prescott Arizona

Data Recovery

Desert Archaeology has exceptional depth of experience in conducting archaeological data recovery projects. These projects are designed to gather the vital information contained in a site when other mitigation options, such as preservation or avoidance, are not possible. This is generally done prior to a land modification project, the extent of which determines the sites addressed and the scale of the excavations. Work is tied to a treatment plan that includes a research design to develop sampling strategies that effectively meet the research and management goals. Burial agreements guide the treatment of human remains on these projects, and osteologists will conduct in-field analyses and postfield analyses.

Efficient implementation of fieldwork is essential to meeting project schedules and recovering the information needed to address project research themes and meet scientific standards. Complex projects in urban areas require careful coordination about issues such as safety, traffic control, the potential to interfere with business, and dirt management; all such coordination is well within our experience.

Data recovery is often phased. If a site is evaluated as eligible for inclusion in the NRHP-based on surface evidence, Phase 1 data recovery includes exploratory methods that parallel those used in archaeological testing. Phase 2 data recovery, which is subsequent to testing or Phase 1 data recovery, is a more substantial effort that involves intensive excavation of features according to a sampling program and that often includes the use of mechanical methods to remove site overburden and the hand-excavation of individual features.

Desert Archaeology has developed a toolbox of methods that is both standardized and flexible. We collect the standardized information necessary to meet project research goals and allow comparative analyses among sites, features, and projects, but our methods can be adopted as we learn more about site preservation and potential during fieldwork. For example, we can use standard trenching with a 2-ft-wide backhoe bucket to explore subsurface deposits. When features prove too subtle to be seen in vertical profile, we have also used a 7-ft-wide blade to create “strip trenches” that expose archaeological remains in horizontal exposures to assess feature distribution. This is also a less impactful method in areas with a high likelihood of mortuary features. The best method depends on the geomorphic context and site formation processes.

Standard data recovery practices include a mix of excavation of controlled units for quantification of archaeological deposits and judgmental units for more extensive excavations, excavation of 20-cm levels within natural stratigraphy, and screening fill through ¼-inch screens of near-floor deposits and control units. More intensive excavation and collection methods are used for sensitive and rarer features.

Depending on project size, the field director might be responsible for one or more archaeological crews comprised of some combination of field director, crew chief, assistant crew chief, field crew, and labor.

Crew and labor may be temporary hires.

Monitoring

In many cases, due to the high density of precontact and historic remains within Arizona’s urban areas, construction work occurs within the boundaries of archaeological sites. Monitoring, which includes recording features and collecting artifacts and samples, may be the best way to document these archaeological resources because many of these areas have already been extensively disturbed or are in very narrow project areas. Desert Archaeology works closely with its clients and their construction contractors to ensure that archaeological investigations do not interfere with construction schedules.

Desert Archaeology, Inc. │ Tucson, Tempe, and Prescott Arizona

Direct coordination between the archaeologist and construction crews has been important while monitoring subsurface work in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, and we have been very successful at minimizing delays to construction while recording archaeological resources exposed by these excavations. Upon receiving Notice to Proceed for emergency archaeological monitoring or data recovery, Desert Archaeology will provide personnel on site within 24 hours.

Reporting

All Desert Archaeology projects result in the production of one or more reports, which are the primary products of our project efforts. Because the size and outcome of our projects are varied, we have developed several report formats for presenting results. Reports serve to allow for construction or land-modification activities to proceed (compliance recommendation reports), to document project status (Project Reports), to convey research results (Technical Reports and Anthropological Papers), and to provide information to the public (newsletters, booklets, and popular reports in the Archaeology Library series). We are committed to the production of high-quality reports that meet ASM and SHPO standards and that satisfy all compliance requirements. To accomplish this, we have developed procedures to ensure the quality of each report. Report production efforts are integrated and involve the field director, analyst authors, production staff, and management staff. Our full-time in-house production staff ensure consistent quality and timely report production.

Project Management Team

The company is managed by president and majority owner Dr. Sarah Herr, and environmental coordinators/managers Ms. Patricia Castalia and Mr. Daniel Martinez. They meet weekly with a Coordination Group, members of which represent all company departments. The Coordination Group streamlines workflow, anticipates project needs, and identifies and resolves concerns that may affect projects, including changes to the project and key personnel. Our staff work together from the initial planning and coordination stages through final report production. Each project is managed by a team that includes the cultural principal investigator, the environmental coordinator, and a field director. Together, they identify personnel, subconsultants, and other resources required for successful implementation of the task. These team members and their capabilities are identified in the firm’s Key Personnel document.

Their bios are also submitted separately. Monthly research meetings facilitate cross-project discussions and dissemination of project results. General information about completed, ongoing, and forthcoming projects, as well as the personnel assigned to those projects, is shared in monthly staff meetings.

Desert Archaeology staff are well versed in working together to take projects from the initial planning and coordination stages through detailed and accurate field documentation to final report production.

Each project is managed by a team that includes the cultural principal investigator, environmental coordinator/manager, and the assigned field director.

The cultural principal investigator provides managerial capacity, working with the president and the environmental coordinators/managers on evaluating, implementing, and tracking. Upon Notice to Proceed, the management team will identify the staff or subcontractors and other resources required for implementation and will develop a budget, schedule, and workflow for the task. The management team will meet with departmental managers to outline objectives for the project and to identify specific project needs. An archaeologist will be identified as the field director, and other personnel and support staff will be identified and their project roles described. The management team and field director coordinate with subconsultants, vendors, and equipment suppliers as necessary. This group will ensure that all planning documents are prepared, reviewed internally, and submitted to ADOT in accordance with the project

Desert Archaeology, Inc. │ Tucson, Tempe, and Prescott Arizona schedule. The field director and the laboratory director will obtain any necessary permits and repository agreements and ensure that all permitting requirements are met; they will also access permissions obtained. The field director will be responsible for daily implementation of the tasks outlined in the Scope of Work, including hiring temporary staff, scheduling staff and subcontractors, overseeing the daily logistics, communicating safety protocols, working within Desert Archaeology’s quality control protocols, assessing progress, and producing or compiling and reviewing deliverables. Our goal is to meet ADOT requirements with minimal, if any, need for revisions/changes upon project review. The cultural principal investigator and environmental coordinators/managers will be the primary points of contact for contracting and project implementation issues; the field director will be included in emails related to purchase order implementation.