The August 2012 Crane Road Fire burned approximately 11,130 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and private property. The BLM and WDFW proposed to reseed approximately 130 acres of land with native species including bitterbrush and water birch shrubs for the Crane Road Fire – Shrub Restoration Project. Included on WDFW property is the installation of an irrigation system, intended to replace a previous system that had melted in the fire. Prior to execution of the shrub restoration project and construction of the replacement irrigation system, Plateau completed an inventory of archaeological sites, historic sites, and paleontological resources on select properties in the Central Ferry State Wildlife Recreation Area and on BLM’s property in and near Dougherty Canyon.
Pedestrian survey covered all the parcels with transects spaced at 30 meter or closer spaced intervals. No archaeological sites, historic sites, features, or artifacts were identified, nor were any paleontological resources observed. Four items were noted, but not recorded including two drill seeder press wheels, a bottle base, and a chipped pebble. Plateau also excavated 40 probes along the route of the proposed pipeline installation. The probe spoils were screened through ¼-inch mesh, resulting in the exploration of 2.9 cubic meters of sediment. Aside from one fragment of clear glass from a headlight, no cultural materials, artifacts, features, or evidence of archaeological deposits were noted in the shovel probes.
Location: Douglas County, Washington
