What's New
- African-American Landmarks. Staff of the National Historic Landmarks program are developing a list of potential African-American National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) that are archaeological sites or that are properties with substantial archaeological resources. They especially need help with California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. There is a real possibility that funding will be made available to document at least one qualifying archaeological site among these states.
If you would like to suggest an African-American archaeological site with NHL potential please send your suggestion by e-mail to Mark_Rudo@NPS.GOV who will compile a list and forward it to the NHL program archaeologist in Washington D.C. and report back to the SCA membership. Suggestions have already been received for Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park and three 9th Cavalry sites: a road network at Sequoia-Kings Canyon, the Arboretum at Yosemite, and components of Ft. Vancouver in Oregon.
NHLs are similar to National Register properties except they all have a national level of significance, fit within a national context, and have a high level of integrity. The evaluation criteria are also somewhat different (see http://www.nps.gov/nhl/QA.htm for more information). Ideally, the property you suggest will not already be listed as a National Register property.
- ACRA Conference. This year’s American Cultural Resource Association (ACRA) conference will be held at the University Marriott in Tucson, Arizona, from September 25 to 28, 2008. ACRA is dedicated to serving the practical needs of the cultural resource management (CRM) industry. The conference will feature a day-long workshop, the Business of CRM, a day and a half of sessions, an awards ceremony highlighting best practices in the industry, and tours that introduce conference participants to the local archaeology, architecture, and Sonoran Desert environment. One of the highlights of the plenary session will be an interactive panel discussion with speakers Lynne Sebastian, Tom King, and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer, Jim Garrison, discussing their sometimes controversial views of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the key piece of legislation enabling the CRM industry. For more information and updates, please visit http://acra-crm.org/ and look for “Events.”
- New Officers. The new members of SCA's Executive Board were announced at the SCA Annual Meeting in Burbank. C. Kristina Roper becomes President-Elect, while Mark Allen moves up to President and Stephen Horne becomes Immediate Past President. The new Northern Vice President is Jennifer Farquhar, and SCA's Secretary is Jamie L. Dotie.
- SHRC White Papers. The State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC) Archaeology Committee continues to work on the draft position (white) papers regarding the practice of archaeology within California. The comment period on the white papers is now over for archaeologists, and the committee is currently focused on reaching other interest groups such as Native Americans, local governments, and the building industry. The OHP now has a link which details the current status of the draft White Papers: http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24556. Questions can be emailed to SHRC_ARC@yahoo.com.
- OHP Webpage. The California Office of Historic Preservation has made available a webpage with an assortment of bulletins, guidelines, and forms to be used in documenting and evaluating archaeological resources.
- Changes in the SCA Business Office. The SCA has reopened at a new location, with a new business model, operations plan, and new day-to-day manager, Denise Wills. We anticipate increased efficiency, productivity, and member services in the year to come.
- Membership Renewal Reminder. Last year, SCA began the transition to calendar year membership. In 2007 all Regular, Student, Senior, Spouse, Institutional, Contributing, and Corporate members were asked to renew their SCA membership using a pro-rated system that allowed payment for a span of service to terminate December 31, 2007. On January 1, 2008, all new and renewal memberships shifted to the full calendar year, and new membership filed at any time during 2008 will pay the full year's rate.
- SCA Student Webpages -- New pages have been added to SCAhome with information addressed to student members, thanks to the efforts of by Student Affairs Committee Chair Shannon Tushingham. Among the features are a new listserv function and information on academic programs in California anthropology, SCA meetings, awards, membership, and organization.
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