90 FR 50 pgs. 12349-12350 - Notice of Intended Disposition: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, San Juan National Forest, Durango, CO
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 50Pages: 12349 - 12350
Pages: 12349, 12350Docket number: [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039430; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-04172 Filed 3-14-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Interior Department
Sub Agency: National Park Service
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039430; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Disposition: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, San Juan National Forest, Durango, CO
AGENCY:
National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY:
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, San Juan National Forest (Forest Service) intends to carry out the disposition of human remains and associated funerary objects removed from Federal or Tribal lands to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization with priority for disposition in this notice.
DATES:
Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after April 16, 2025. If no claim for disposition is received by March 17, 2026, the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice will become unclaimed human remains and associated funerary objects.
ADDRESSES:
Michelle Stevens, U.S. Forest Service, San Juan National Forest, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301, telephone (970) 385-1250, email michelle.stevens@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[top] This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations in this notice are the
Abstract of Information Available
Based on the information available, human remains representing, at least, 10 individuals have been reasonably identified. The one associated funerary object is one lot of 10 pottery sherds from one fragmented bowl.
Between June 25 and September 7, 2021, human remains representing at least nine individuals and one associated funerary object were recovered from Forest Service site 02130203595/5MT2189. The one associated funerary object is one lot of 10 pottery sherds from a fragmented Chapin Gray bowl.
Between July 2 and July 15, 2022, human remains representing one individual were recovered from Forest Service site 02130203976/5MT5308. Both sites are within National Register of Historic Places Archaeological District 5MT6599. The human remains and associated funerary object were recovered by the U.S. Forest Service when found eroding from the shorelines of McPhee Reservoir on the Dolores Ranger District, San Juan National Forest, Montezuma County, CO.
Forest Service site 02130203595/5MT2189 consists of a large Pueblo I habitation with two room blocks, a midden, 23 features, and an associated artifact scatter comprised of pottery sherds, flaked and ground stone, non-human bone, and adobe fragments. Diagnostic pottery suggests that this site was occupied by ancestral Puebloans during the Pueblo I period, A.D. 750-900.
Site 02130203976/5MT5308 consists of two artifact concentrations with flaked stone and a pottery sherd. No temporally diagnostic artifacts are present. Based on archaeological context and geographic location, the site was occupied by Native Americans between the Basketmaker III and post-Puebloan periods, A.D. 500-1840.
Determinations
The Forest Service has determined that:
• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 10 individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The one associated funerary object described in this notice is reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
• Based on archaeological context and geographic location the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico, & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Santo Domingo Pueblo; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico have priority for disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice.
Claims for Disposition
Written claims for disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the appropriate official identified in this notice under ADDRESSES . If no claim for disposition is received by March 17, 2026, the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice will become unclaimed human remains and associated funerary objects. Claims for disposition may be submitted by:
1. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that they have priority for disposition.
Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after April 16, 2025. If competing claims for disposition are received, the Forest Service must determine the most appropriate claimant prior to disposition. Requests for joint disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Forest Service is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3002, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.7.
Dated: January 28, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-04172 Filed 3-14-25; 8:45 am]
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