El Paso 280 Mile Survey

WestLand was contracted by El Paso Electric Company to conduct a cultural resources survey of 280- miles of existing transmission and distribution lines to prepare for upcoming easement renewals from the Bureau of Land Management and the New Mexico State Land Office. Much of the line had been built prior to the need for cultural resources survey and the advent of GPS technology. A component of the project was to GPS all electric facilities to assist the client in updating their Right-of-Way maps. Early in the project it became obvious that the actual right-of-way on the ground did not match the maps provided by the client. The documentation of the location of each power pole allowed the client to update their systems maps. A total of 93 archaeological sites were located and assessed for National Register of Historic Places eligibility. In addition 14 historic cultural properties were assessed and documented on New Mexico state historic building inventory forms.  The resulting report was written to National Historic Preservation Act standards and will be used as a component of future NEPA efforts.