Fence Lake Project: Archaeological Data Recovery in the New Mexico Transportation Corridor (CD-ROM)

Statistical Research, Inc., was the cultural resource management consultant for data recovery at 16 prehistoric and historical-period archaeological sites located in the Fence Lake Coal Mine (FLCM) project area and along the New Mexico Transportation Corridor (NMTC). From 2001 through 2005, SRI rose to the challenges posed by a complicated project with multiple stakeholders, permitting requirements, and logistical needs. The proposed FLCM was to have been a 17,600-acre surface coal mine in Catron and Cibola Counties. The FLCM would have connected to the existing Coronado Generation Station, some 6 miles north of St. Johns, Arizona, by means of a private, 44-mile-long, coal-haul railroad. The New Mexico portion of the transportation corridor was about 30 miles long and 150–250 feet wide and was located entirely within Catron County. It would have extended from the Arizona-New Mexico border eastward to a central loading location within the proposed FLCM, about 14 miles northwest of Quemado, New Mexico. Although SRP ultimately canceled the FLCM, the project yielded significant new information, including the oldest directly dated maize in the United States.