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Date: | Thu, 19 Aug 1999 12:42:54 -0400 |
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Ned Heite wrote:
> Consider this: An archaeological organization primarily interested in
> prehistoric sites was assigned the task of surveying a highway right-of-way
> that crossed a National Register railroad right-of-way, at the location
> where wooden crossties were first introduced into the United States.
(snip)
> Section 106 was not invoked, and the SHPO concurred in destroying the
> resource without study.
(snip)
> So what good is a National Register if it is administered with cavalier
> disregard for any significance outside the excavator's hobbyhorse, or the
> bias of the SHPO reviewer?
>
> (snip)
> This is a disturbing trend.
Perhaps lightly armored with rhinoceros hide and with a monomoniacal focus,
changes are possible, viz:
Section 106 regs allow for interested parties to be part of the proceedings.
Direct involvement at the SHPO level by the specialists on any site is one way
that works. If the SHPO refuses to consider the IA component or any other for
that matter, we can always march the thing upstairs to the ACHP. That does
work, or at least the threat of it works.
For non-106 issues, the news media often work wonders, perhaps not for the
site in question, but once burned, twice wary and the next time the ignoring
types may not ignore.
These mail-lists are also a potent weapon in the arsenal. Professional input
from informed sources can work.
The biggest and initial problem is discovering that a project is underway, and
that someone is working on a project who isn't cognizant of the issues
involved. How does one get to know of the problem until one reads the report?
What I have tried is a blanket letter to the SHPO which states that the
specialist wishes to be an interested party on any project in which that
particular specialist expertise is a part in a 106 undertaking or which
potentially affects a NR property. There ought to be in each SHPO office a
specialist consult list for the various esoteric fields which SHPO staff use
regularly. Pie in the sky perhaps, but workable and better for us all.
Lyle
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