Historic Properties Treatment Plan for Archeological Sites 9PU37, 9PU57, 9PU69 and 9PU71 in the Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area, Pulaski County, Georgia

The Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department ofNatural Resources (DNR) is proposing to construct an earthen dam across an unnamed, third order tributary of the Ocmulgee River in the Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The dam will create an enlarged public fishing and recreational lake. The project area is located mostly in Pulaski County, but extends into Bleckley County, and is only a few hundred meters east of the Ocmulgee River (Figure 1 ). In addition to the impoundment itself, the project will eventually include a set of lakeside improvements and access points. The project will affect jurisdictional wetlands and requires a Section 404 permit from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, the project area is entirely within state-owned land, and thus is subject to the provisions of the Georgia Environmental Protection Act.

The DNR contracted with Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) in 1999 to conduct a Phase I intensive cultural resources survey (Gresham 1999) and then again in 2000 to conduct Phase II testing investigations of five potentially eligible sites (9PU37, 9PU57, 9PU69, 9PU71 and 9PU72) (Benson et al. 2001). Four of these five sites, 9PU37, 9PU57, 9PU69 and 9PU71, have been determined eligible to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and thus require additional archeological investigation to mitigate against the adverse effects of the proposed lake. Not all sites will be affected equally. 9PU57, the largest of the four sites, will be heavily impacted by the proposed dam. The north end of the proposed dam will adjoin the landform upon which 9PU57 1ies, and much of the fill dirt, staging areas and other associated construction activity will occur on 9PU57. The remaining three sites will be affected by clearing of the proposed lake basin and the impounded waters of the third order, Ocmulgee River tributary. 9PU69 will be completely covered, but only the lower portions of 9PU37 and 9PU71 will be covered by the proposed lake. Mitigation will be confined only to the portions of these four sites that will be either affected by the proposed dam construction (essentially all of 9PU57) or by the impounded waters (all of9PU69 and the lower portions of9PU37 and 9PU71) (Figure 2).