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been conducted and most of the prior archaeological work was undertaken by amateurs who only <br /> examined a very limited area. We think it is fair to say that the site identification is random at best. <br /> Depending on this work by amateurs to make an accurate cultural analysis seems to limit the <br /> reliability of the current study. Dr. Bennihoff suggested that not enough current studies of the site Cos <br /> have been conducted to adequately make informed judgements on the appropriateness of a <br /> subdivision project that may in fact have significant irrevocable adverse impacts on the cultural <br /> integrity of the site. He emphasized the uniqueness of the area in archaeological significance, <br /> because it contains multiple sites with continual use patterns to pre-history. I He further suggests that <br /> the ethnography of the site has never been sufficiently analyzed. Dr. Jerald Johnson, a project <br /> consultant archaeologist, from California State University, mentioned in a phone conversation that the <br /> recent field survey and cultural resources report missed some important sites and was generally an <br /> inadequately prepared document that limits the management plan by inadequate information. The <br /> current assessment by Mills and Associates appears to be a good general effort and I found C47 <br /> enlightening, and I compliment them, but it clearly falls short of what is necessary to adequately <br /> determine if the project can in fact coexist with protection of the cultural integrity of the site. We feel it <br /> is imperative to conduct a comprehensive archaeological investigation of the site before any further <br /> land use determination and planning consideration is made, not after the project is approved. With <br /> this information a reasonable and enlightened decision can be made. To not do so, will be making a <br /> critical decision on rudimentary information, which may lead to the desecration of this one-of-a-kind <br /> site. <br /> The results of the current archaeological field study, 28 October 1991 to 22 November 1991 , <br /> performed by Benjamin Ananian and Carolyn Rice, of Mills Associates, reveal that no boundaries <br /> were found to separate the five Tracy Lakes sites recorded in the past. This indicates that these and <br /> other cultural sites are not localized, but scattered throughout the project site. In other words, the C48 <br /> project will have adverse impacts on cultural sites no matter where the project proponents propose to <br /> locate the houses and the golf course. The project developers are suggesting that development <br /> can be located away from archaeological sites. This suggestion is illogical when considering this <br /> determination that significant sites have no boundaries and are scattered throughout the project site. <br /> We note that there seems to be three major sites, the "Lake site," the Village of Seuamne,"� <br /> and the "River site." We feel that state and federal laws may be applicable for the protection of these C49 <br /> and other sites within the project boundaries. We think it would be appropriate to consider and <br /> address these state and federal protection measures for cultural resources in the study and in the <br /> Draft EIR. <br /> To indicate the problems that can manifest themselves without a properly conducted <br /> archaeological inventory and comprehensive study, we point out the reforestation project currently <br /> underway on the project site. The developers, in an act of good faith to counteract the negative C50 <br /> publicity generated when they cut down thousands of oak trees to accommodate their golf course <br /> layout, began a reforestation project near the Mokelumne River at the south end of the project <br /> boundary. It has since been determined that this good faith gesture was improperly undertaken <br /> because the reforestation project is taking place in one of the most significant archaeological sites <br /> III-73 <br />