Monitoring for the Claybourne Timber Sale, Oconee Ranger District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, Jasper County, Georgia

The Oconee National Forest proposes to complete a commercial timber sale in Jasper County, Georgia. This sale, known as the Claybourne Timber Sale, was previously surveyed and documentation of the effects of this undertaking on archaeological and historic sites was completed in 2014 (Lundgren 2014). Because of the length of time that had passed since the fieldwork was done and the final sale, the Forest Heritage Program Manager (James Wettstaed) decided to revisit all of the sites located within the sale area that had been identified for protection to ensure that they were adequately protected. While most sites in the timber sale area were adequately protected, it was discovered that protective measures were inadequate at two sites (9JA80, 9JA120). Additional fieldwork was carried out at these sites to ensure that they would be protected during the timber sale. This report documents the monitoring conducted for the Claybourne Timber Sale and the results of additional investigations at these three sites. As a result of this work, sites 9JA80 and 9JA120 are considered to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

This work was conducted pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended; 36 CFR 800, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended; guidelines presented in Wettstaed (201la); the Memorandum of Agreement for the Oconee Forest Health and Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project between the Forest, Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Muscogee Creek Nation, and the current Programmatic Agreement regarding the process for compliance with Section 106 for undertakings on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests. All artifacts, notes, maps, GPS data, and other collected materials are temporarily curated at the Supervisor's Office in Gainesville, Georgia pursuant to 36 CFR 79. The archeological collections will be moved to the UGA Laboratory of Archaeology for long-term curation under a Memorandum of Agreement between the UGA Anthropology Department and Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests.