Cultural Resources

Mono County's cultural heritage is a rich and valuable resource. Excellent examples of Native American, mining, ranching, and recreational settlements exist in the county and several sites are nationally known. In Mono County, cultural resources include buildings, sites, structures, objects and districts of interest to Mono County, the region, California and the nation. The term "cultural resources" includes both archaeological and historical resources.

Despite cultural resources planning efforts at the federal, state and local levels, a large number of cultural resources outside settled communities remain uninventoried and without any type of preservation or protection. The chance that these resources will remain intact is diminishing rapidly. Ignorance, economic pressures, and increased development and recreational use contribute to the ongoing damage sustained by the county's cultural resources.

As is true for all of the county's resources, most of the cultural resources in the county are found on public lands. There are extensive federal and state laws governing the protection of cultural resources, both archaeological and historical. The USFS and the BLM have policies governing their implementation of these laws. The federal land management agencies also have inventories of cultural resources on their property.

There are several museums in the county, numerous historic sites, and numerous archaeological sites. The Native American groups in the area are active in cultural resources preservation, as are the museums, the USFS, and the BLM. There is an opportunity to coordinate these efforts.