History & Culture

Heritage resources in the Bighorn National Forest

Heritage resources are non-renewable resources that include tribal traditional places, prehistoric and historic artifacts, features, structures, sites, historic districts, photographs, landscapes, and archival materials.

The Bighorn National Forest has a rich cultural history. Archaeological and ethnographic investigations indicate that people have lived in the area known as the Bighorn National Forest for at least 10,000 years. Indigenous people used the landscape for traditional cultural practices and subsistence living. Mountain men hunted, trapped, and traded here. Evidence of past uses remains in abundant and widely scattered prehistoric structures and in tie hack flumes, fire lookouts, mining districts, and historic ranger stations and lodges.

The Bighorn's heritage resources face numerous impacts from natural and human disturbances. Population and visitation growth and development impact non-renewable heritage resources both directly and indirectly. Direct impacts include disturbance from construction, vandalism, and excessive or inappropriate visitor use. Indirect impacts include accelerated erosion and visual impacts to cultural landscapes.

Protection and preservation

Archaeological sites are the physical remains of the past that can be studied by archaeologists and other scholars to answer questions about history and prehistory. In many cases they are our only link to understanding our nation's heritage.

Bighorn National Forest archaeologists work diligently to survey and document the forest's irreplaceable heritage sites for the benefit of present and future generations. When a ground-disturbing project is proposed, archaeologists conduct intensive surveys and identify areas of historic value. Depending on the quality and size of the find, the area is either nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places or simply identified as an area to be protected or avoided. Locations of these archaeological finds are not disclosed to the public.

Is it legal to remove arrowheads and other artifacts from public lands?

No. The Antiquities Act of 1906 forbids the disturbance of ruins or archaeological sites on federal lands without the permission of land-management agencies.