Addendum Report: Phase 1B Archaeological Survey, Deerfield Wind Project, Towns of Searsburg and Readsboro, Bennington County, Vermont

On behalf of Deerfield Wind, LLC, a subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., Portland, Oregon, The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Berger), Albany, New York, has completed an addendum report to the Phase IB Archaeological Survey for the proposed Deerfield Wind Project in the towns of Searsburg and Readsboro, Bennington County, Vermont. The Phase IB investigation was completed in two stages. Stage 1 took place between October and November 2007; Stage 2 was completed in May 2008. This addendum report is in response to changes made by Iberdrola in June 2008. Berger completed its addendum Phase IB investigation between June 19 and 20, and on June 25, 2008.

The proposed project (Project) would occupy not more than 80 acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands in the Manchester Ranger District of the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) in the towns of Searsburg and Readsboro, Bennington County, Vermont, generally lying on two separate ridgelines east and west of Vermont Route 8, referred to as the proposed eastern project area and the proposed western project area, respectively. Iberdrola made changes to the Project layout in June 2008, principally to address concerns raised by other parties related to potential impacts on black bear habitat in the project area.

The objective of this addendum Phase IB survey was to determine if there were archaeological resources within parts of the project area which had altered slightly from the time of the original Phase IB archaeological survey. For the addendum Phase IB archaeological survey, Berger conducted a field reconnaissance of the entire project area, and revisited four of the original 12 sensitive areas investigated during the Phase IB by Berger (2008) and outlined in the ARA completed by Berger in 2007. The 29 shovel tests excavated during the Phase IB addendum investigation did not identify any prehistoric or historical archaeological resources within the APE for the Deerfield Wind Project. As a result of these investigations, no cultural materials were identified or recovered in the APE of the Deerfield Wind Project, and it is Berger’s opinion that no additional work is warranted within the project area.