Methow Valley Sport Trail Association – a non-profit organized to guide, manage, and develop outdoor opportunities in the Methow Valley – is planning to make improvements to the existing trail head at Mazama. The area of potential effect (Project Area), covers approximately 4.5 acres. The current trail head facility includes a dirt parking area, a kiosk, a horse corral, a utility building, a shack, grass field, and a stand of trees. The kiosk will be relocated 400 feet northeast of its current location, the horse corral will be relocated 300 feet north of its current location, and the shack will be relocated 200 feet north of its current location – all relocations will be outside of the Project Area boundary. The utility shed will be dismantled. The stand of trees consists of a few dozen Ponderosa trees 2-10 inches in diameter, of which half will be removed.
Cultural resource survey of the Mazama Trailhead Project is intended to identify previously unrecorded archaeological resources and potential historic properties in the Project Area prior to planned construction activities. Pre-field research revealed one site and three previously conducted cultural resource surveys within 1.0 mile of the Project Area.
The fieldwork included inspection techniques to identify both surface and subsurface archaeological resources. The cultural resource survey and subsurface investigations for the Mazama Trailhead Project resulted in no newly recorded cultural resources. Plateau recommends that the proposed undertaking will result in No Historic Properties Affected, and no further archaeological investigations are recommended prior to or during the execution of this project.
Location: Okanogan County, Washington
