ACRA offers the ONLY online continuing education opportunities specifically tailored to cultural resource management professionals. Our webinars focus on increasing the business efficacy of CRM firms, advocacy for the CRM industry, and improving the practice of CRM. 

This year's webinar schedule has been carefully crafted with ACRA members in mind. Some sessions focus specifically on meeting the federal requirements on which our industry is based, such as Resolving Disputes in Section 106 on June 11. Others are meant to help your firm run more efficiently, like Emerging Technology for Heritage Management & Section 106 Compliance on July 16.

Check out our full slate of sessions for 2020 below, and remember that ACRA members always receive a reduced rate. Space is limited - make sure to reserve your spot today!

Spring 2020 (Date TBA)	CRM Health and Safety Programs in the 21st Century
June 11	ACHP: Resolving Disputes in Section 106	Register
July 16	Emerging Technology for Heritage Management & Section 106 Compliance	Register
August 13	Data Preservation and Access in the Digital Age of CRM	Register
September 10	Technical Writing for CRM: Developing More Efficient Communication	Register
October 22	A, B, C, easy as 1, 2, 3: Evaluating Cultural Resources Under the “Other” National Register Criteria	Register
November 12	Aerial Archaeology, Then and Now	Register
December 10	ACHP: So you think you need a PA…	Register

Are you looking for a way to get involved in ACRA’s 2020 Conference in San Antonio later this year? Has your company completed studies at a space-related facility? We have an opportunity for you!

America’s space-related building stock is quickly reaching 50 years in age and archaeological sites at bases concurrently reflect the growth of this industry. We are looking for potential panelists to populate a session on space-related CRM projects. In particular, we are seeking individuals with data on Programmatic Agreements or other projects that can highlight the process of such tasks and how CRM is dealing with these kinds of resources. If you are interested, send Kerri Barile (Committee Chair) an email.

Remember that we are actively collecting proposals on other sessions as well! See the ACRA Conference Call for Sessions for more information. The deadline for proposals is only a few weeks away. All proposals must be received by March 15th. Submit yours today!

By now you have probably heard about the proposed changes to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations that will affect cultural resources. Maybe you attended the Coalition for American Heritage webinar on the subject, or maybe you have read the proposal yourself and are concerned. Now is it time for you to take action! 

The Coalition for American Heritage, of which ACRA is a founding partner, has created a sample letter that you can use to submit your own comments to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). There are three main issues that we wish to highlight:

1. New criteria that will result in fewer actions being subject to NEPA review
   
2. New rules unnecessarily limit public involvement
   
3. The alternatives analysis will be constrained and will lead to poor decision-making
   

The Coalition for American Heritage makes it easy to take action on this, and contacting both the CEQ and your legislators takes just a few minutes. Simply add your own experiences and data to the sample letter and send!

ACRA is submitting comments as an organization (which we will share with membership when ready), but the more comments that are submitted, the louder we will be heard in Washington. Make your voice heard and submit comments to CEQ now - the deadline is March 10!

Submit Comments to CEQ

As a part of our partnership with NAEP, ACRA members are eligible to receive the member price for NAEP webinars. See below for information on an upcoming webinar on NEPA regulations, and access the discount code here.

Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act

Presented by Ted Boling

March 3, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM (PT)

The National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) will host the Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.

On January 9, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking titled “Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.” For the first time since CEQ promulgated its regulations over 40 years ago, CEQ is proposing to comprehensively update its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. CEQ proposes to modernize and clarify the CEQ regulations to facilitate more efficient, effective, and timely NEPA reviews by simplifying and clarifying regulatory requirements, incorporating key elements of the One Federal Decision policy, codifying certain case law and CEQ guidance, updating the regulations to reflect current technologies and agency practices, eliminating obsolete provisions, and improving the format and readability of the regulations. The proposed rule seeks to reduce unnecessary paperwork and delays and to promote better decision-making consistent with NEPA’s statutory requirements.

Register Today

Presenters

Ted Boling
Associate Director for NEPA, Council on Environmental Quality

Ted Boling is the Associate Director for the National Environmental Policy Act at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Ted served as Deputy Solicitor for Parks & Wildlife at the U.S. Department of the Interior for five years, where he supervised the work of the Solicitor's Office in support of programs of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Sharon Buccino
Senior Director, Lands, Nature Program

Sharon Buccino is a Senior Attorney and Director of the Land program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Originally from central Florida, Ms. Buccino has spent over 25 years in NRDC’s Washington DC office. Her current work focuses on energy policy and transparent government. Prior to joining NRDC, Ms. Buccino practiced environmental and administrative law with a private firm in Washington, DC.

Nick Goldstein
Assistant General Counsel, American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)

Nick Goldstein, a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, joined the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) staff in September 2004. He is responsible for the oversight and litigation of environmental and regulatory issues affecting the transportation construction industry. Nick also handles association-related legal issues for ARTBA and coordinates the ARTBA Political Action Committee (ARTBA-PAC).

2020 CRM Day on the Hill: May 4-5

You're invited! Join your fellow ACRA members in Washington, D.C. on May 4-5, 2020 for CRM Day on Capitol Hill!

We’ll be meeting with Senators and Representatives to discuss the CRM industry. We’ll be visiting our champions in Congress to ask them for their continued support of our work and introducing new legislators to ACRA as we forge new relationships.

ACRA will arrange your meetings for you and provide training beforehand. You will talk with Members of Congress and their staff about the most pressing concerns for CRM.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to influence the national policies that affect you, your firm, and your community. Help make a difference for CRM businesses across America - join us!

Register Now

This post is authored by Duane E. Peter (DP Heritage Consulting) and Richard Martynec.*

The archaeological community has expressed great concern regarding the potential impact of construction activities on cultural properties along the United States/Mexico border several times over the past three decades. This concern was sometimes warranted but frequently the concern was based on a lack of understanding of what was actually happening along the border. The following article provides a historical perspective of construction activities along the border and the associated efforts to protect the environment and cultural properties. The waiving of environmental regulations in 2017 to facilitate border wall construction has increased the potential for significant impacts to both natural and cultural resources.

Potential impacts to natural and cultural resources along the United States/Mexico border became a subject of concern with the creation of Joint Task Force-Six (JTF-6) in 1989 in response to President George H. W. Bush’s renewed counterdrug efforts (Joint Task Force North 2017). The perceived need for greater surveillance along the U.S. southern border required the development of infrastructure (primarily roads); therefore, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act, the potential impacts of the proposed federal action were assessed. JTF-6 sponsored a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) addressing the potential impacts to the environment and cultural properties in the early 1990s (U.S. Army 1994). Admittedly, the approach used a broad brush because the EIS addressed a 50-mile-wide corridor parallel to the border; nevertheless, all existing data were synthesized and natural and cultural resource inventory surveys were conducted immediately adjacent to the border and where road construction was projected to take place. These efforts were initiated in 1990 and natural and cultural resource surveys continued for well over a decade. Professional teams, consisting of both biologists and archaeologists, have actively monitored construction activities along the border since 1990.

There has been a continuing effort to avoid impacts to biological and cultural resources, but the system for avoidance has not been perfect. Much of the border is within a desert environment in which wind and water erosion may either bury or expose sites; consequently, new sites may be encountered or previously recorded sites may be less visible. Inadvertent impacts to sites have happened. Monitoring crews are frequently spread across significant distances and multiple construction crews. Mitigation of impacts has occurred in some instances.

Much of the environmental compliance conducted along the border since 1995 has been accomplished through reliance on the original Programmatic EIS or tiering new documentation off the original EIS. Some would argue that reliance on a document produced over 25 years ago is irresponsible; nonetheless, there has been a good-faith effort to avoid impacts to natural and cultural resources. In August of 2017, however, the Trump administration waived numerous major environmental laws to build a wall and fencing along the border with Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the waiver citing its authority under a 2005 law to set aside any laws and regulations, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, when necessary for border infrastructure. DHS made the following statement at the time of the announcement:

“While the waiver eliminates DHS’s obligation to comply with various laws with respect to covered projects, the department remains committed to environmental stewardship with respect to these projects.” “DHS has been coordinating and consulting — and intends to continue doing so — with other federal and state resource agencies to ensure impacts to the environment, wildlife, and cultural and historic artifacts are analyzed and minimized, to the extent possible.” (Cama 2017)

It is true that multiple companies are currently providing archaeological monitoring along the border. We are aware of one company providing multiple monitoring teams consisting of an archaeologist and a member of the Tohono O’odham nation. Elsewhere a single archaeologist may be responsible for oversight of multiple construction crews over a 26-mile segment of the border. The pace of the construction is impacting the ability of DHS to ensure that archaeological sites are avoided.

The Tohono O’odham and professional archaeologists (both independent archaeologists and National Park Service staff at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument have recently brought the potential for archaeological sites to be impacted to the attention of DHS and the public. Three sites are of major concern to the Tohono O’odham: Quitobaquito Springs at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and two sites (Las Playas and an O’odham-style cist burial) at Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The latter two sites are within the 60-foot swath of the construction zone along the border. Quitobaquito Springs is less than 400 meters north of the border. The concern at Quitobaquito Springs is focused equally on the impact of the border construction on the water supply and the associated archaeological remains.

Aside from the well-known archaeological remains at Quitobaquito there are other important sites that are imperiled by the on-going construction of the border wall. At least portions of 17 sites farther west will be directly impacted, and another three are near the construction zone known as the Roosevelt Corridor. Two of the sites are important, one is a burial and the other is a rare intaglio (Martynec and Martynec 2011; 2014).

Intaglios or giant ground figures have been observed along the Colorado River, Sierra Pinacate and now in the western Papaguería. Those along the Colorado River have been attributed to Yuman or Patayan groups whereas the images in Sierra Pinacate are thought to have been made by Amargosan Pinacateños, or ancestral O’odham. The figures along the Colorado River are often representational and are mostly devoid of artifacts or evidence of reuse. This is not the case for those in Sierra Pinacate and the recently discovered intaglio in Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Many of the latter, including the Las Playas Intaglio west of Ajo, are complex with indications they were reused and, in some cases, over a considerable amount of time.

The Las Playas Intaglio measures 84 m north-south by 15 m east-west and was created by clearing the dark colored pebbles forming desert pavement and tamping down the underlying light colored sandy silt 2-3 cm below the surrounding ground surface thus creating a startling contrasting image.

All of the rocks associated with this feature are as dark as the surrounding desert pavement and at various points in time rocks have been placed in and around this giant ground figure. A total of ten head-size basalt rocks are in four different locations adjacent to the tamped down areas, and at the south end is a 1.5-m diameter cluster of basalt rocks and there is another concentration of six basalt rocks blocking a narrow, old, north-south tamped down trail that bisects this feature. Several of the rocks in the cluster at the south end exhibit shell caliche on exposed surfaces. This characteristic, which indicates fairly recent activity, was only observed at this location and on one of the large rocks inside the intaglio.

While it is obvious that a majority of the surrounding site is the product of camping episodes or short-term occupations, the overall impression the Las Playas Intaglio site and the surrounding landscape imparts is one of special purpose. It is apparent that this location held a special meaning for the prehistoric inhabitants of the area and Tohono O’odham elders have confirmed that ceremonies occurred at this locale. The near absence of artifacts in the intaglio (only two) supports the conclusion of its special importance, especially when one considers the numerous artifacts elsewhere within the surrounding site.

This giant ground figure appears to be old, dating at least to the Formative period (A.D. 800-1500), and possibly even earlier. All of the rocks in the tamped down areas are light colored in distinct contrast with the dark colored surrounding desert pavement and, except for the rock concentration at the south end, only one of the large, ancillary rocks exhibits shell caliche on exposed surfaces. Because of this it is reasoned that the rock concentration at the south end is a recent construct signifying reuse, as does the blocked interior trail.

The intaglio extends well into the Roosevelt Corridor and the burial is within 15 feet of the current wall. It is unclear if avoidance of these sites is part of the current construction plan. The Tohono O’odham requested that a buffer zone be created for these three sites; however, DHS denied that request (letter to Chairman Ned Norris of the Tohono O’odham Nation from Roy D. Villareal the Chief Patrol Agent, Tucson Sector Chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection dated 1/10/20). Current observation of the border construction activities indicates that the pace of work is increasing and that avoidance of environmental or cultural resources is not occurring. It is very clear that impacts to the use of the traditional cultural landscape are being ignored.

In summary, we feel that JTF-6 and DHS proceeded with good intentions and have historically made a good faith effort to avoid impacts to environmental and cultural resources. In 2004 and 2005 when the original vehicle barrier was being installed near the Las Playas Intaglio site, Arizona Site Stewards placed many small rocks at the south end of the intaglio near the road. They also showed the construction team the intaglio and explained that it was on a slightly elevated flat that would be an ideal location for Border Patrol agents to park for surveillance. The construction team placed huge boulders among the comparatively small rocks the Stewards had positioned, thereby protecting the area. There was sufficient time and a sense of cooperation that is not occurring today. The perceived urgency for a Border Wall and the resulting fast-paced construction is jeopardizing the environment and the cultural properties that these agencies have identified and evaluated. A recent Washington Post article (Firozi 2020) regarding the potential impact of burials on Monument Hill within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is primary evidence of the increased potential for impacts to important archaeological sites. Specific details regarding the impacts are not known; however, no human burials had been encountered as of 9 February. Such fanfare could have been avoided through early cooperative planning among DHS, the construction company, the archaeological monitors, and the Tohono O’odham nation. Significant archaeological sites could have been avoided or mitigated in a timely manner and construction could have proceeded. Respect for differing views, cooperation, and commonsense solutions can achieve the same goal as regulations. Nevertheless, the waiver or elimination of environmental regulations is hardly a sound basis for a sustainable environment for future generations. Regulations are essential to ensure that the natural and cultural environment are protected.

*This perspective of construction along the U.S./Mexico Border and its potential impacts to the environment and cultural properties reflects the participation of both authors with the survey and monitoring efforts conducted during the 1990s and the continued work of Rick and Sandy Martynec as independent researchers of the border region and as Arizona Site Stewards. This article reflects the opinions of the authors only.

References

Cama, Timothy

2017	DHS Waives Environmental Laws to Speed Border Wall Construction. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/344772-trump-admin-waives-environmental-laws-for-border-wall-construction. accessed February 6, 2020.

Firozi, Paulina

2020	Sacred Native American burial sites are being blown up for Trump’s border wall, lawmaker says. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2020/02/09/border-wall-native-american-burial-sites/

Joint Task Force North

2017	History – Joint Task Force North. https://www.jtfn.northcom.mil/About-Us/History/. accessed February 6, 2020.

Martynec, Richard J. and Sandra K. Martynec

2011	Las Playas. Ajo Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society Archaeological Series, Number 6.
2014	Las Playas. Kiva 80(1): 71-105.

U.S. Army

1994	Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, JTF-6 activities along the U.S.-Mexico Border. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Fort Worth, Texas.

If you missed yesterday's joint ACRA and NAEP webinar on Harnessing the Power of the People in NEPA and Section 106 Compliance, now you can watch it on your own schedule!

This session provided concrete examples of successful public engagement processes utilized by a variety of agencies including the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Air Force, and the Federal Transit Authority. Our expert panel, including a Section 106 expert, a NEPA expert, and a representative of a Federal Agency, reviewed how agencies can and have engaged the public during the NEPA and Section 106 processes to refine and enhance their projects. 

Reminder: students can rent this webinar for just $19! Click here for the discount code.

You can rent the session on our Webinars on Demand page. For ACRA members, be sure to access the presentation through the members-only page which provides you with the discount code. 

Rent Harnessing the Power of the People Now

Kerri Barile, President of ACRA member firm Dovetail Cultural Resource Group and ACRA Conference Chair, has been selected by Enterprising Women magazine as one of their 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year. From the press release:

The Enterprising Women of the Year Award is widely considered one of the most prestigious recognition programs for women business owners. Recipients of the 2020 Awards include women entrepreneurs from across the United States and the world. Kerri was recognized based on the success and growth of Dovetail, but more importantly for her commitment to mentoring and supporting other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship, and her ardent support of community service both in professional and personal capacities. Kerri will be recognized and celebrated, along with other award winners, in March at the 18th Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration & Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

Dr. Kerri Barile co-founded her business, Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, in 2005. Dovetail is a historic preservation consulting firm with offices in Fredericksburg, Virginia and Wilmington, Delaware. Since its founding, her firm has grown from two people to a company of nearly 50 preservation professionals completing almost 1,000 projects throughout the eastern United States. They have helped scores of local/state/federal agencies and a myriad of companies achieve their cultural resource goals. They also work closely with individuals and non-profit groups to nominate buildings, objects and landscapes to the National Register of Historic Places, excavate significant archaeological sites, and create educational materials to share historical data with the public. Beyond completing technical studies, Dovetail is deeply vested in their community, donating over a quarter million dollars to charity, sponsoring thousands of volunteer and pro bono hours towards preservation projects, and establishing a scholarship in historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.

Dr. Barile has almost 30 years of experience in the fields of historic preservation, architectural history, historic research, archaeology, and cultural resource management. She received her B.A. in Historic Preservation from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia; an M.A. in Anthropology and a Master's Certificate in Museum Management from the University of South Carolina in Columbia; and a Ph.D. in Archaeology and Architectural History from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to business activities, Dr. Barile teaches university courses in historic preservation and preservation law, architectural history, and archaeology, and she is a volunteer on almost two dozen local, state, and national boards and committees. She is also a passionate mentor to young woman and girls in her community to pay it forward to future business leaders and entrepreneurs. On the home front, she is mom to two spoiled mini schnauzers and a precocious cat, and she is also a foster parent through the Fredericksburg Department of Social Services to help children in the Fredericksburg region.

Congratulations to Kerri! For more information about the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration and Conference, visit http://enterprisingwomen.com.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comments on forms regularly used by Section 106 practitioners. Forms 620 and 621 are used to inform stakeholders, including SHPOs, THPOs, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and other reviewers, of certain proposed wireless infrastructure projects. The reviewers use the information provided in the forms to assess potential effects of such projects on historic properties. 

From the FCC Public Notice:

Forms 620 and 621 have not been substantially revised since they were created in 2004.2 In light of technological and regulatory changes since then, as well as many years of experience using the forms, we believe it should be possible to make them easier to complete and to review without impeding their underlying purpose. 3 Clarifications to the instructions for the forms also may be useful.

Form 620 is used for proposed new towers; Form 621 is used for proposed collocations on existing structures. These forms and the instructions accompanying them require applicants to submit information that is required by the Wireless Facilities NPA for each proposed new tower or collocation. We seek comment on whether to modify any of the forms’ organization, format (including format for downloading or printing out forms), or instructions (including specifications of required attachments). We also invite commenters to address potential changes that might make the forms or attachments more suitable for reviews of small cell facilities being deployed in connection with the introduction of 5G technologies and services.

The FCC is particularly seeking comment on whether the review process can be improved with modification to the following sections:

Read the full Public Notice for more information on the feedback the FCC is looking for and for submission instructions. ACRA will be submitting comments as an organization, and members are encouraged to comment in an individual capacity as well. Comments must be received by March 28, 2020.

THREE Questions is a new blog series highlighting ACRA member firms and their experiences in the CRM industry.

About Our Member: Chad Moffett is Market Leader for Mead & Hunt’s Cultural Resources business unit, a team of 20 historians and architectural historians working on projects involving historic properties throughout the United States. As a project manager of cultural resource projects Chad leads the research, inventory, and evaluation of a wide range of properties with a specialization in historic roads and bridges, historic districts, and cultural landscapes. Chad received a master’s degree in Cultural Resources Preservation from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in the Department of Landscape Architecture. He specializes in the development and application of National Register Criteria for Evaluation to develop survey and evaluation methodologies for complex and large projects. Chad has been active in ACRA since 2000 and served as a past board member.

When engaging a general audience, what stands out as the one thing people are most surprised to learn about your company or the CRM industry?

CM: People are often surprised that I make a decent living as an architectural historian/historian. I do not think many people have an appreciation of the business side of CRM consulting and the many “hats” we wear and the many different skills that are required to be successful. Not enough people appreciate that we are professionals and that our profession requires advanced schooling and years of experience. I also do not think people know that architectural historians/historians, and CRM practitioners in general, have standards and guidelines in which we operate and that what we do is not subjective or arbitrary. One thing that surprises people is how we have to translate site-specific history obtained through local research or interviews into information that is relevant in terms of National Register Criteria for Evaluation. To make a clear and concise case whether a property is or is not eligible based on facts and the guidelines requires specific terminology – so the correct language is very important. Once done, however, I sometimes find that people don’t understand the terminology and how it is used within our profession. Due to this, sometimes I am asked where the personal memories, family history, or stories that are unrelated or don’t translate into National Register significance fit into the compliance process. Ultimately, to the public, I feel there is a broader confusion between historic preservation advocacy and the work of local historical societies compared to the CRM industry.

Do you have a favorite piece of personal experience that is your “go-to” for engaging clients and/or the public as to why CRM work is important?

CM: For clients, I focus on the importance of the process and the importance of doing the process correctly. I highlight that if CRM work is done poorly or if late it has the potential to delay the project due to NEPA or Section 106 (and/or other regulations). I also discuss the importance of quality work. I talk to clients about the benefits on not doing re-work or addressing lengthy agency comments, which saves project budget and helps to maintain schedule. For the public, I like to highlight the outcomes of CRM work, which can be a re-design of a project to avoid or reduce effects to historic properties or the many great outcomes from mitigation. Mitigation results in documentation of properties and /or publicly-oriented historic interpretation that would not exist without Section 106. Losing historic properties is regrettable but doing quality and relevant mitigation for this loss is a public benefit.

We all know that most CRM staff believe in what we do, but how do you engage those under you in the business aspects of your firm? Do you find that an increased awareness of the challenges of running a business is related to professional satisfaction, employee retention, and/or project success?

CM: The business side of our work is made very transparent at our company and within our Cultural Resources group. We have project management and technical expertise tracks in which training programs are provided and we hold biennial in-person conferences to share information and stay up-to-date on topics, trends and technology. This allows people to grow and advance in areas that interest them most. I think transparency and a focus on training comes from being an employee-owned company. I also feel that constantly talking about the business aspects in a positive manner leads to an appreciation on how business decisions are made and why managing scopes and budgets on projects is so important. Hearing this and understanding the basics through training gives our staff more autonomy and provides satisfaction, increases retention, and helps to identify the leaders of tomorrow.