Evaluation of the Effect of the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement on the Archaeological Record within the Permian Basin PA Area: Field Survey and Document Review of 164 Projects

The Carlsbad Field Office contracted Versar, Inc. to conduct field survey and document review for 164 oil and gas industry project parcels released for development under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement (PBPA) during a 3-year period between 1 May 2013 and 30 June 2016. The project parcels are located among 28 United States Geological Survey quadrangles on lands administered through the PBPA by the Carlsbad Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management in southeastern New Mexico. The project was designed to evaluate whether the operation of the PBPA resulted in adverse effects or loss of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites and, if so, the magnitude of such effects and losses. The field survey component of the project examined 134 project parcels. An additional 30 previously surveyed parcels with no sites were included in the review. The total of 164 parcels represents a 10 percent stratified random sample of the 1,658 PBPA projects reviewed during the 3-year period.
Including the previously surveyed parcels, 15 archaeological sites and 104 Isolated Manifestations were documented in the 164 parcels. The background of the PBPA, sampling design, and results of the surveys and reviews of existing survey information are reviewed. A statistical review of the results and estimated site loss and impacts is presented, along with recommendations for improving the PBPA review process to reduce site impacts and site loss