Heritage Resource Investigations for 2007 Emergency Southern Pine Beetle Suppression Activities on the West Side of the Oconee Ranger District (Compartments 101-120), Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, Jasper County, Georgia

In late May of 2007, resource managers from the Oconee Ranger District (Oconee RD) of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests became aware of an outbreak of the Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) on the Hitchiti Experimental Forest in Jasper County, Georgia. By middle to late June, the SPB was appearing throughout the Oconee RD in Jasper, Jones, and Putnam Counties. Emergency salvage operations were begun to remove infected trees in order to try to halt, or at least limit, the spread of the SPB on National Forest land. This was especially critical because of the presence of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (a federally endangered species) in the area, and its habitat was directly threatened by this outbreak. A Memorandum of Agreement between the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) addressing the treatment of SPB had been in place for 2002-2005, consultation with a representative of the Georgia SHPO's office indicated that the Oconee District should proceed with emergency SPB treatments using. the stipulations of the former agreement. The emergency work conducted in 2007 will be documented in four separate reports. Surveys of 420 acres in the area of potential effect for the for 2007 Emergency Southern Pine Beetle Suppression Activities on the west side of the Oconee Ranger District have recorded a total of 14 new archaeological sites, and revisited six previously recorded sites. Of these 20, 17 are considered to be not eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, while three are recommended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. All sites found eligible for the NRHP were protected from timber harvest activities.