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Show Affect, Living on the Shores of Something Great, and outreach programs designed to educate people about lake resources and issues. The MLP for GSL specifies DFFSL will work with mineral lessees to provide interpretive displays of mineral development sites with particular emphasis on contributions to Utah's economy and recognizing effective mitigation efforts on the lake. Cultural Resources on Great Salt Lake Human activity in the region has been drawn to the lake shore for thousands of years. Prehistoric archaeological sites have been documented in and adjacent to lake wetlands. Several of the oldest documented cultural sites in the mainland U. S., Danger and Hogup Caves, are in the lake environment. Jim Bridger is credited with the Anglo discovery of the lake. The lake was the focus of early mountain man expeditions, government expeditions and wagon trains which crossed close to the shore, sometimes with ill- fated results. With the arrival of the Mormon pioneers, resorts and other economic enterprises sprang up along the lake shore. Cultural resources of GSL have been the subject of much research, primarily by agencies and institutions external to DNR. State agencies are required to consult with the Division of State History prior to the initiation of any project which may disturb cultural resources. Prehistoric Resources Use of GSL wetlands started with Paleoindian cultures as long as 10,000 years ago. Cultures primarily utilized areas immediately adjacent to wetlands. Paleoindian and later Archaic cultures utilized areas adjacent to wetlands for thousand of years. The Fremont Culture which flourished in the GSL valley from 500- 2,000 years ago built permanent villages along the wetland margins. The Fremont, Paleoindian and Archaic groups hunted and gathered in the wetland ecosystem. The Fremont added farming corn, beans and squash to their subsistence base. Fremont remains are found connected to nearly every wetland around the lake. Subsequent cultures, the late prehistoric and historical tribes, also made extensive use of GSL wetlands. Today, there are nearly 400,000 acres of wetlands on GSL. Several hundred Native American archaeological sites have been identified in GSL wetlands. Well known sites such as Danger Cave and Hogup Cave are situated near wetlands of former Lake Bonneville. Cultural deposits along GSL have supplied valuable information about prehistoric cultures. Currently, most protection of cultural resources is done through state and federal agencies, to ensure development complies with state and federal law. Cultural deposits in GSL wetlands can be difficult to locate as they are usually buried under the surface or obscured by vegetation. Often erosional events, such as wave action associated with high lake levels, expose previously buried archaeological sites and, in the past, Native American human burials have been exposed.. The most immediate threat to prehistoric cultural resources is construction activity 141 |