A Cultural Resource Management Plan for Annadel State Park

As the agency responsible for state parks, the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has stewardship and management responsibilities at Annadel State Park to preserve and protect all cultural resources within the park boundaries. Since budget constraints have inhibited preparation of a comprehensive cultural resources management plan for the park, this document has been written to meet this need. Effort has been made to design the plan to be compatible with the existing DPR management framework, and thus to facilitate consideration of cultural resource management concerns on a routine basis as integral parts of management decisions. Building upon the results of previous archaeological studies of Annadel State Park, a study was undertaken to provide a more comprehensive inventory of cultural resources within the state park unit. This study included prefield archival research, field reconnaissance and inventory of sites identified during field survey, and assessment of their potential for public interpretation. As a result of this study, 50 previously unrecorded cultural resource locations were identified and recorded. These newly recorded resources include seven stone fences, five prehistoric obsidian flake scatters, three historic basaltic andesite quarry complexes, three special task sites with dirt access roads (possible historic charcoal-making sites), three historic trash dumps, two historic stone quarries, two historic roads, two cupule boulder /bedrock milling stations, two prehistoric obsidian lithic scatters, one historic rhyolite quarry, one historic composite fence (stone, split wooden posts & rails), one historic post & wire fence, one historic concrete & stone weir I dam, one historic railroad right-of-way, one earth dam & associated marsh, and 14 isolated artifacts: six isolated obsidian biface fragments, four isolated deposits of historic motor vehicle remains, two isolated edge-modified obsidian flakes, one isolated obsidian biface, and one isolated deposit of historic metal artifacts. Supplemental site records were prepared for 33 previously recorded sites. Eight of these resulted in the expansion of historic quarry site records to include additional features recognized as comprising more of the same quarry complex. This most recent study brought the total number of archaeological cultural resources located within Annadel State Park to 144. Of these, 120 are recorded sites and 24 are isolated artifact locations. Of the 120 sites, 60 have only prehistoric components, 49 have only historic components, and 11 have both prehistoric and historic components. Assessments of current site condition for the sites recorded and rerecorded during this study form the basis for the management recommendations included herein. These recommendations are oriented to the continued preservation and protection of these non-renewable resources and address specific concerns including disturbance by feral pigs, erosion, the presence of official and unofficial trails across and adjacent to sites, as well as the potential for damage to the resources through casual collection or vandalism by park visitors. Recommendations for enhancing appreciation of the cultural heritage preserved in these archaeological cultural resources through an enhanced and expanded public interpretation program are included as well.