Attachment Example RTOP A. FY25_LD_TPF_Big Creek-24LN510_Adverse Effects.pdf
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- Rock Imagery Conservation Services
- Solicitation number
- W912DW-26-R-A050
About this file
This is a Treatment Plan Form documenting adverse effects to the Big Creek Pictograph Site (24LN510), a historic property under the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Secretarial Permit for Archaeological Resources (SWPA). The site has experienced persistent vandalism affecting its physical and cultural integrity, with notable incidents occurring in 1995 (removal of a pictograph panel depicting human figures), 2007 (chalk writing and looter pit excavation), and 2010 (crayon drawings). The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe (CSKT) affirm that recent vandalism contradicts their traditional practices and desecrates their cultural connection to the landscape.
Annual monitoring began in 2010 through summer 2021, followed by contracted intensive monitoring with CSKT beginning spring 2022 to address increased vandalism during peak recreation season. Recent monitoring documented nine pencil hash marks in June 2022 and four additional rock carvings in September 2024, including stick figures, diamond shapes, letters (K, I, E, J), and heart symbols. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) share responsibility under the FCRPS SWPA for identifying and treating adverse effects resulting from project operations and authorized recreation activities. The documentation establishes baseline vandalism incidents and current site conditions to inform treatment recommendations addressing the ongoing threat to this culturally significant historic property.
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Text version
Treatment Plan Form – 06-13-19.docx Page 6
3. Description of the Adverse Effects
Please describe the adverse effects to the historic property(ies) that are relevant to this treatment.
The Big Creek Pictograph Site (24LN510) has a long history of vandalism that impacts the physical and cultural integrity of the historic property and desecrates the CSKT’s traditional practices and connection to the landscape. In accordance with the FCRPS SWPA, USACE and BPA share responsibility to identify and treat adverse effects resulting from the O&M of the Project including those resulting from recreation, an authorized purpose of the Project. Some of the more heinous incidents of vandalism include:
1995 – Looters chiseled and removed a portion of the panel that depicted a standing human figure on one side and an anthropomorph on the other.
2007 – Vandals wrote offensive statements in chalk on numerous pictographs and dug looter pits at the base of the panel.
2010 – Vandals drew in crayon a sun, fish, horse, man and two trees below one of the pictographs.
Annual monitoring of 24LN510 began in 2010 and occurred through the summer of 2021.
Given the sensitive nature of the site and its history of vandalism, the Libby Dam Cooperating Group decided that more frequent monitoring was needed during the peak summer season when recreationalists were more prevalent in the area. As a result, USACE contracted with CSKT in the spring of 2022 to conduct eight monitoring visits between May and September. On their first day out, June 6, 2022, CSKT monitors documented nine vertical hash marks that appeared to be made with a pencil (Askan & Johnson 2022) (Figure 4). While the marks are consistent with one of the precontact ethnographic accounts of time keeping at the site, the CSKT affirmed that this is not a modern practice, and the marks were classified as vandalism. The pencil marks persist, but no additional vandalism to the pictographs were reported during the eight visits that occurred in 2023. On September 24, 2024, four additional concentrations of “carvings”, presumably made with a rock, were recorded throughout the pictograph panel (Caye 2024) (Figure 5-6):
“First carving is located on the west side of the panel directly behind the small fir tree.
This carving includes a stick figure person with a round head.
Second carving is located on the east upper side of the panel and includes two diamond shaped figures.
Third carving is located on the east end of the panel directly below the second carving and includes the letter K, I and 5 hash marking to the right of the letters.
Fourth carving is located on the east end and is below third and includes E heart R with J below the E.”
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