[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 50 (Monday, March 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12349-12350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04172]


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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.

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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 [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the

[[Page 12350]]

sole responsibility of the Forest Service, and additional information 
on the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the related 
records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
identifications in this notice.

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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