Wind Project Siting & Environ. Compliance 2018

POSTER: The How and the Why of Cultural Resource Background Reviews: Understanding the importance and utility of culture resources constraints analyses in the development of wind farms.

20 Mar 18
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Tracks: Permitting and Environmental Considerations, Poster Presentation

Speaker(s): Christian Hartnett, Texas Gulf Coast Regional GIS Coordinator, SWCA Environmental Consultants, Inc.

The development of wind farms includes understanding and taking stock of sensitive issues/constraints prior to construction. Cultural resources are one of those sensitive constraints that may impact or delay construction of a project. Often the first step to mitigating these potential impacts is to perform a cultural resource background review. This paper aims to be a primer for wind developers to understand the importance of implementing a cultural resource background review, in terms of a federal, state, and/or tribal regulatory requirements or due diligence efforts, as well as what resources can be incorporated into these analyses. Additionally, we will outline common mistakes and omissions that can be found in these reviews, which may delay or derail a project. Finally, we will examine how all this information can be used to model the potential impact of the wind farm on previously unrecorded cultural resources within the project area through the use of GIS probability analyses.