volume 14-5 edition - wild apricot€¦ · paso robles, california nurit golden finn wapsi valley...

ACRA Lifetime Achievement Award: Nellie Longsworth pg 3by Mike Polk

Conference Summary pg 8by Sarah Herr, T. Majewski, W. Doelle, T. Euler and W. Self

ACRA Board Meeting pg 12by Mike Polk and Lucy Wayne

Annual Business Meeting pg 15by Lucy Wayne and Mike Polk

ACRA Awards Table Topics pg 16

ACRA Awards Presentation pg 21by Charissa Durst & Teresita Majewski

People’s Choice Award pg 25by Teresita Majewski

Annual Conference Sessions pg 26by Sarah Herr, T. Majewski, W. Doelle, T. Euler and W. Self

The ACRA Elections pg 30by Teresita Majewski

Legislative Update pg 33The Election Issues - Obama vs McCain

by Nellie Longsworth

In This Issue...

Volume 14-5

October 2008

E D I T I O NT h e V o i c e o f t h e C u l t u r a l R e s o u r c e I n d u s t r y

Lawrence Alexander Alexander ArchaeologicalConsultants

Wildwood, Georgia

Steve J. Dasovich SCI Engineering, Inc. St. Charles, Missouri

Joan Deming Archaeological Consultants Inc.Sarasota, Florida

Charissa Durst Hardlines Design CompanyColumbus, Ohio

Tom Euler SWCA Environmental ConsultantsTucson, Arizona

Nancy Farrell Cultural Resource Management ServicesPaso Robles, California

Nurit Golden Finn Wapsi Valley Archaeology, Inc.Anamosa, Iowa

Elizabeth Jacox TAG Historical Research & Consultinga/b/n The Arrowrock Group, Inc.

Boise , Idaho

Joe Joseph New South Associates, Inc.Stone Mountain , Georgia

Loretta Lautzenheiser Coastal Carolina Research, Inc.Tarboro, North Carolina

Hope Luhman The Louis Berger Group, Inc.Albany, New York

Teresita Majewski Statistical Research, Inc. Tucson, Arizona

Ellen Marlat Independent Archaeological Consulting, LLCPortsmouth, New Hampshire

John Morrison Earthworks, Inc.Bismarck, North Dakota

Tom Motsinger PaleoWest: Solutions in Archaeology, Inc.Phoenix, Arizona

Duane Peter Geo-Marine Inc.Plano, Texas

Kimberly Redman Alpine Archaeological Consultants Inc.Montrose, Colorado

Keith Seramur ConsultantBoone, North Carolina

Elizabeth Sheldon SITE, Inc.Montgomery, Alabama

Ellen Shlasko Integrated Archaeological Services Inc.Bluffton, South Carolina

Guy Weaver Weaver & Associates L.L.C.Memphis, Tennesee

(Officers are listed on Page 2)

ACRA Board of Directors

The 2008-2009 ACRA Board Members at annual meeting in Tucson, Arizona.

CONFERENCE ISSUE

Executive - Mike Polk, Sagebrush Consultants L.L.C.

Government Relations - Jeanne Ward, Applied Archaeology &History Associates

Awards - Charissa Wang Durst, Hardlines Design Company, Inc.

Communications Steering Committee - Loretta Lautzenheiser,Coastal Carolina Research Inc.

Competitive Practices - Nurit Finn, Wapsi Valley Archaeology

Conference - Joan Deming, Archaeological Consultants Inc.

Education - James Karbula, William Self Associates, Inc.

Headquarters Oversight Committee - Joe Joseph, New SouthAssicoates, Inc.

Membership - Steve Dasovich, SCI Engineering, Inc.

NAICS - Christopher Dore, Metcalf ArchaeologicalConsultants, Inc.

Newsletter - Lucy Wayne, SouthArc, Inc.

Policy - Loretta Lautzenheiser, Coastal Carolina Research Inc.

Salary Survey - Brian Thomas, TRC

Strategic Planning - Teresita Majewski, Statistical Research,Inc.

Worker Safety - Bill Self, William Self Associates, Inc.

Liaison Committee - Elizabeth Jacox, TAG Historical Research &Consulting

Finance Committee - Colin Busby, Basin Research Associates, Inc.

October 2008

A C R A E D I T I O N

2008 COMMITTEE CHAIRS

ACRA’s MissionOur mission is to promote the professional, ethical,

and business practices of the cultural resources industry,including all of its affiliated disciplines, for the benefit of theresources, the public, and the members of the associationby:

- promoting and supporting the business needs of culturalresources practitioners;

- promoting professionalism in the cultural resourcesindustry;

- promoting and providing educational and trainingopportunities for the cultural resources industry; and

- promoting public awareness of cultural resources and itsdiverse fields.

A basic tenet of ACRA’s philosophy is the costefficiency of private-sector firms in meeting the need forexpertise in cultural resource management. ACRA isstrongly opposed to unfair competition from tax-supportedcontracting programs. We believe that a greater benefit tosociety, and to the resources, derives from the existence ofa healthy community of tax-paying, job-generating, private-sector CRM businesses.

ACRA OFFICERS

PresidentMichael R. Polk, Sagebrush Consultants L.L.C.

President Elect Lucy Wayne, SouthArc, Inc.

Vice President (gov’t relations)Jeanne Ward, Applied Archaeology & HistoryAssociates

Executive DirectorCrista LeGrand, Clemons and Associates, Inc.

Treasurer Colin Busby, Basin Research Associates, Inc.

Secretary Chad Moffett, Mead & Hunt, Inc.

A m e r i c a n C u l t u r a l R e s o u r c e s A s s o c i a t i o n


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It takes a lot of living, alot of hard work and a lotof creative intelligence toreach a point where oneis considered for theprestigious ACRALifetime AchievementAward. One needs tohave "paid their dues" so

to speak, to have made a difference in the cause ofcultural resources management, and in the process,positively touched many lives. Nellie Longsworth is oneof those people.

Nellie Longsworth has been a champion of thecause of historic preservation since the mid 1970s. Sheis a graduate of Smith College with a major in Americanstudies, and a mother of three children. Her interestshave taken her from, among other things, involvementwith politics in Michigan, to serving as the developmentdirector for Planned Parenthood in Washington.

Nellie’s passion for historic preservation beganin 1975 with a casual conversation at a cocktail party. Afriend mentioned a conversation that she had had withTersh Boasberg about organizing a national grassrootslobby for historic preservation. She was very interestedand interviewed for a job in a new organization called"Preservation Action" in the fall of 1975.

She found out that she was behind a steepcurve in understanding the players in the preservationbattle, what the issues were and where the lines hadbeen drawn. While the first real test of her new-foundfield of interest did not take place in Washington, itserved the purpose of honing her skills in negotiationand persistence and a don't-quit attitude. In 1975 she

learned that her alma mater, Smith College, hadannounced plans for a new library that would requirethe demolition of the Alumnae Gymnasium to create anadequate site.

According to Nellie (Miller and Longsworth 2001:12):

"The Alumnae Gym, built in 1890, was the firstbuilding for physical education donated to awomen's college by its alumnae. It was aninteresting building, not a spectacular one, buthad long since outlived its use as a gymnasium.Any thought of adaptive reuse for the structuredid not resonate during the planning process. Istepped into the battle with a terrific, thoughsmall, group of alumnae and students who werefighting the demolition decision made by thetrustees and supported by the administration andpresident of the college. This was not aPreservation battle, but one that more than fit myneed to understand historic preservation in thereal world".

This battle consumed most of Nellie's time untilthe end of 1976 when it was confirmed that the Trusteeshad made a "new" decision to save the building, not,they said, because of preservation, but rather due toenvironmental reasons--that there would be a loss ofgreen space on campus. Whatever. It served thepurpose, and it's often the case that capitulation in asituation such as this, that the real reasons for a changeof heart are attributed to obscure or completely differentreasons.

Thus, she had her first test, one of many, many

ACRA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: NELLIE LONGSWORTH

By Michael R Polk

October 2008



to follow in Washington and elsewhere in the historicpreservation fight. Nellie began formal preservationwork in 1976 as a staff member (the only one) of a neworganization called Preservation Action, a grassrootspreservation advocacy organization. It took a lot of hardwork learning about Congress and the laws that bothhindered and helped the preservation cause. She dealtwith Hill staffers on a regular basis, many of whom weresympathetic to the cause and were more than willing tohelp. She also had to be the fund raiser forPreservation Action. Since it was not tax exempt, shehad to figure out ways to solicit and obtain donations tocontinue operating. Quite a feat.

There were no end of opportunities to getinvolved with endangered buildings and otherproperties, which was a tremendous help in bothdeveloping important contacts in Congress and the DCcommunity, but also in raising needed funds to continueoperation of Preservation Action.

Allies to the cause include the National ParkService, the Advisory Council, National Trust, SAA andSHA. This informal group became the NationalPreservation Coordinating Council.

Nellie retired in 1998 after a glorious 22 years ofwork in the preservation field.

Nellie became ACRA's Government Relationsconsultant early in this decade. Interestingly, Nellie waspresent at our first annual meeting in Washington whereshe spoke for Preservation Action. Attention to what ishappening in Washington politics has always been ofthe highest priority for ACRA. It's not a wonder whenmost of the work carried out by its constituent membersis the direct result of implementation of a series of lawsand regulations aimed at protecting our culturalheritage, particularly the National Historic PreservationAct. ACRA had found out how important our directparticipation was in helping to stem attacks on theselaws and regulations in 1995 when several members ofCongress made a direct frontal assault on the existence

of the Advisory Council. This battle was fought hard byACRA and, more than anything in my memory, servedto galvanize and solidify the organization through agrassroots effort of our own, primarily using the faxmachine and sending people to key Congressmen'soffices.

Fortunately, we brought Nellie in to work with usseveral years before the next assault was launched in2005, by a heretofore, relatively little known Congress-man by the name of Richard Pombo, from the SanJoaquin Valley of California. Among other things,Pombo and his allies proposed a strategy altering theinterpretation of determinations of eligibility of sites tothe National Register. By requiring all sites to be"listed", rather than just determined eligible to beprotected, he saw the opportunity in one fell swoop todisrupt the system of protections for sites which hadbeen ongoing for decades, and allowing development toproceed much more unfettered. Through Nellie'sleadership, networks of people called, emailed, faxedand visited key members of Congress and their staffers.There was even a debate held at the 2005 ACRAAnnual Meeting in Washington, where a Pombo staffer

“Off the top of my head: In many ways, ACRAwas started by Chuck Niquette, LorettaNeumann and me. Loretta was, at the time, agovernment relations specialist (not lobbyist)and had been a congressional staffer. After 3years or so (as I recall, but check the timing)Loretta had to drop out and recommended Nelliewho by that time was no longer working full timeas Executive Director of Preservation Action(which she founded). Nellie had been to our firstconference in DC as a speaker and as arepresentative of Preservation Action, although Idid not attend the session she was in. The hiringdecision was, as always, a board decision; but Idid push strongly for her. .”

- Tom Wheaton



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prestigious Louise DuPont Crowninshield Award fromthe National Trust for Historic Preservation. Shereceived this award for her "political savvy andboundless energy." "Leader, partner, pathfinder, andconsensus-builder; in a career that spans more than 30years, this remarkable woman has taken on all of theseroles, and played them well," said Richard Moe,President of the National Trust. Nellie has taught atColumbia University and taken on interns in thepreservation field. She also established the "NellieLongsworth Fund," a part of the Center for PreservationInitiatives that was formed upon her retirement. "It is adedicated fund to enhance career advancement forpreservation master's degree recipients who arequalified and highly motivated to advance preservationthrough their leadership of a national, state, or local

and a Democratic opposition staffer debated the meritsand problems posed by the Section 106 process.

Ultimately, the forces bent on retaining the extantwording in the National Register regulations weresuccessful. Interestingly, at the next election, RichardPombo was also voted out of office. Not that the twoevents were directly related, but who knows?

Since then, Nellie has kept us abreast of eventsand rumblings in Washington. She was essential in ourinvolvement with cell tower regulation development.She has continued to help us know where to be apositive force in helping to pass legislation, such as theso important Farm Bill of recent years. One of the mostimportant things that Nellie has done for all of us inACRA is to explain the maze of people and processesin Washington. She knows who to talk to, where to goand when to go to have the most effect on historicpreservation issues that affect our businesses. She hasbeen, and continues to be our eyes and ears inWashington, letting us know when there are clouds onthe horizon and when there are opportunities to takeadvantage of.

Nellie may seem a very unassuming lady, butshe is a powerhouse. In 2007 she received the

“I think my favorite memories of Nellie aredrinking martinis with her in Washingtonand chasing her down as she jumped oversecurity barriers at the Capital and otherfacilities to get us in to see some ofWashington's mover's and shakers...thelatter didn't (necessarily) follow the former.Her assertiveness and asking forforgiveness rather than permissiongenerally isn't my style, but is a skill that Ilearned from her and have successfullyapplied in subsequent lobbying trips.”

- Chris Dore

“We all know and appreciate Nellie's work as agovernment liaison, but when I think of Nellie, Ithink of Nellie my friend. A devoted, proudmother and grandmother, an enthusiasticgardner and a fun person. She's always readyto go have a few drinks and a good dinner afterthe work is done--plus she knows all the bestplaces to eat in DC. She'll drop whatever she'sdoing to meet an ACRA member in DC--even if itis just to have lunch and chat. She abandonedcleaning up a collapsed wall in her garden tomeet me on a rainy day just for lunch! Sheseems to always remember what you've told herabout your family and to ask about them whenyou see her. Nellie is also adventurous--shetakes hiking trips in our National Parks as wellas travelling abroad. She's always ready toinvestigate a new town--particularly itsrestaurants, but also its quirky shops and hotels.The words that come to mind when I think ofNellie are intelligent, humorous, kind, thoughtful,friendly, outgoing, adventurous and fun.”

- Lucy Wayne

October 2008



organization in either the public or private sector."(National Trust for Historic Preservation 2007).

We anticipate that Nellie will continue her strongconsultant role with ACRA (and her similar role with theSociety for Historical Archaeology) for many years tocome. In recognition of her many achievements in thepreservation field, many of which I have not eventouched on here, and her outstanding accomplishmentsfor the cultural resources management field, includingher patient education of consultants, I am proud toaward ACRA's Lifetime Achievement Award to NellieLongsworth.

NOTE: Portions of this presentation were drawn fromtwo publications:

Miller, Page Putnam and Nellie Longsworth2001 Nellie Longsworth: Champion for HistoricPreservation. The Public Historian

23(1): 9-25.

National Trust for Historic Preservation2007 NTHP Presents Crowninshield Award to NellieLongsworth. Press Center,

National Trust for Historic Preservation, St. Paul,Minn. October 4.

Michael R. PolkPresident, American Cultural Resources AssociationACRA 2008 Annual MeetingMarriott University Park, Tucson, AZSeptember 26, 2008

A Tribute to Nellie From Tom Wheaton

Here are a few words about Nellie for theaward. I have a lot of memories of working togetherand becoming friends. Every time I would meetsomeone new in historic preservation, Nellie wouldalready have been friends with them for years. Shewas impossible to keep ahead of. A friend I made at aparty at her house is the reason I am now in Mexico.Please tell her how much I enjoyed working with her,and that she has a guest room in the Queretarohistoric district any time she wants it.

Working with Nellie was a delight. From thefirst time a few of us had a breakfast meeting with herbefore she squired us to meetings with the staffs ofvarious congressional committees, to the party shehosted for the representative who authored thecultural resource set asides in the Farm Bill, tomeetings with the Advisory Council on cell towers, tothe en masse assault on Capitol Hill during ACRA'sWashington conference, and a bunch of other thingsin between, Nellie always made us feel like we couldmake a difference despite our nervousness aboutmeeting those in power. Her energy and excitementmade it not only successful, but fun.

She was always available to me to explainwhat was going on and why, and how ACRA couldmake our views known to the people who mattered. Itruly miss interacting with her and having her guideme around Washington.

I remember, after a long day of meetingsduring one of my first days working with her, she tookme and a couple of others to a large governmentoffice building. It was well after hours, and she wentin and talked to the guard (this was pre 9/11), andthen led us into the National Building Museum to seesome of the biggest columns and most impressivebuildings we had ever seen, with eerie shadowsmaking the scene all the more intriguing. Later, I



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often visited this building for ICOMOS boardmeetings, and always remembered my introductionone dark night.

If anyone deserves recognition for whateverACRA may have accomplished in Washington, it isNellie. She knows everyone and is not bashfulabout bringing people together whom she thinksmight benefit from knowing each other. At first shewas new to private sector cultural resourcesconsulting, but she learned quickly, and I cannotimagine anyone else in her position. She was and isthe right person at the right place at the right time.

I forgot to mention:

I did not know Nellie's political affiliation foryears, in part because she had to keep on goodterms with both sides of the aisle. Like Obama shewanted and needed to be able to talk to the "enemy."Even in private, she would rarely say anythingremotely disparaging about staffers who clearly didnot have the best interests of cultural resources atheart. I, on the other hand, could be pleasant whendiscussing issues with uncooperative staffers, but inprivate, I had to vent, usually to Nellie. I learned a lotfrom Nellie, but that is one thing I never quite pickedup on, and why I would never make it as agovernment relations specialist, but she is so goodat it.

Nellie at Opening Session of Columbus ACRAmeeting 2006

Just a reminder of who is who atHeadquarters:

Crista LeGrand, Executive Director - 410-933-3454

Stacey Johnson, Association Coordinator (questions ondues, member contact information updates, etc.) - 410-933-3453

John Conway, Association Coordinator (websitequestions, login information) - 410-933-3464

ACRA Headquarters5024-R Campbell Blvd.Baltimore, MD 21236 www.acra-crm.org

www.acra-crm.org

October 2008



CONFERENCE SUMMARY

TUCSON, ARIZONA

On the weekend of September 25th to 28th, overninety-three ACRA members and their families, a dozenstudents from local universities, more than a dozenspeakers, and an audience that included those working inthe private sector, non-profit, university, state, local andtribal governments gathered in Tucson for the 13th AnnualACRA conference. Of note were: (1) that all pastpresidents were in attendance on Friday, (2) our newdisplay and new logo premiered, and (3) this was the firstconference held with our new Executive Director, CristaLeGrand, and Associate Director, CJ Summers.

There was an opening reception at the TucsonUniversity Park Marriott on the eve of the conference anda wonderful reception at the Arizona State Museum onFriday evening. After a day and a half of sessions, described below, theconference closed with a Saturday afternoon walk and dinner at the ArizonaSonora Desert Museum. Under the watchful yellow eyes of one screech owl, asnowy barn owl and a multi-eyed tarantula, ACRA members had hor d'oeuvres inthe Desert Garden before moving to the restaurant terraces. Dinner was served,and we watched the moon rise above the Tucson Mountains.

By Sarah Herr, Terestia Majewski, William Doelle, Tom Euler and Willaim Self

Past Presidents Lunch: Mike Polk, Christopher Dore, Ian Burrow, CoryBreternitz, Patrick O’Bannon, Kay Simpson, Karen Hartgen and LorettaLautzenheiser.

ACRA premiers new logo.

Mike Polk with ACRA members at openingreception



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In this post-conference issue of the newsletterwe bring you some of the highlights of our daystogether. And, we'd like thank all those who helpedmake this conference a success: our sponsors (seePage 5), our tour guides at the Arizona State Museum(Patrick Lyons and Arthur Vokes), Tumamoc Hill andthe Desert Laboratory (Ray Turner, Paul Fish, andSuzanne Fish), and San Xavier Mission (BernardFontana), and the vendors who sat patiently through aday and a half of sessions, the volunteers and stafffrom our companies, and the staff at the TucsonUniversity Park Marriott.

For four of us, the conference ended with atour of San Xavier del Bac, the Jesuit Mission knownas the White Dove of the Desert, which remains aplace of worship for Tohono O'odham families.Bernard "Bunny" Fontana shared the history of themission in rooms that devout members and laity know,but others rarely see. From the choir loft and near thealtar he read the baroque church, as it was meant tobe taught to an audience with no written language,explaining the layers of historical information andreligious symbolism in every element.

The Sonora Desert provided a spectacular panaramic backdrop for Saturday’s dinner under the stars.

Wild life encounters during walking tour at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.

October 2008



FunFood

Friends!

ACRA Members Enjoying the Conference

&

Post-Board Dinner at Tucson University Park Marriott.

Nancy Farrell at Board Dinner.

Opening reception

Duane Peters & Ian Burrow at openingreception

Mike Polk at Desert Museum dinner Loretta Lautzenheiser at Awards Luncheon



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A Big Thank You To Our Conference Sponsors

Conference SponsorsAlpine Archaeological Consultants-Montrose, COArchaeological Consultants, Inc. (ACI)-Sarasota,FLArchaeological Investigations Northwest, Inc.-Portland, ORMetcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc.-Eagle,COTierra Right of Way-Tucson, AZWestern Cultural Resource Management, Inc. -Denver, CO

Desert Museum Dinner SponsorsDesert Archaeology, Inc.-Tucson, AZStatistical Research, Inc. (SRI)-Redlands, CASWCA Environmental Consultants, Inc.-Tucson,AZWilliam Self Associates, Inc.-Orinda, CA

Breakfast SponsorsArchaeological Consulting Services, Ltd.-Tempe,AZCommonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.(CCRG)-Jackson, MI

Lanyards SponsorGeo-Marine, Inc.-Plano, TX

Giveaways SponsorMead & Hunt, Inc.-Minneapolis, MN

Coffee Break SponsorsArchaeological and Environmental Consultants,LLC-Austin, TXASC Group, Inc.-Columbus, OHHRA Gray & Pape, LLC-Seattle, WA andCincinnati, OHPaleoWest-Prescott, AZSagebrush Consultants, LLC-Ogden, UTWestern Cultural Resource Management, Inc. -Denver, CO

Desert Experience SponsorsSouthArc, Inc.-Gainesville, FLWilliam Self Associates, Inc.-Orinda, CA

Buses to the Desert MuseumBasin Research Associates, Inc. - San Leandro,CACoastal Carolina Research - Tarboro, NCNew South Associates, Inc. - Stone Mountain,GA

Presidents' LunchStatistical Research, Inc. (SRI)-Redlands, CA

Thank You For Your Generous Support of ACRA!

A BIG THANK YOU TO CONFERENCE SPONSORS

October 2008



The ACRA Board of Directors held their fall meeting Sept. 25 at the2008 Annual Conference in Tuscon, AZ. After approving the consent agenda(committee reports requiring no discussion: Worker's Safety, Awards andArchives) and the minutes, the board meeting began with the President'sreport by Mike Polk. Mike summarized his activities this year, includingattending the Preserve America awards in Washington, the SAA breakfast forthe presidents of SAA, SHA, ACRA, WAC, archaeology section of AAA, RPAand CAA, and the WAC conference in Ireland. Mike emphasized the value ofthe annual SAA Presidents breakfasts as a means of sharing information andimproving relationships between the organizations. SAA also maintains aPresidents mailing list for rapid exchange of information between theorganizations. Mike also discussed the possibilities for increased interactionwith CRM firms in other countries and noted that he has been invited toparticipate in another international meeting in Portugal. The board discussedthe possibility of forging relationships with CRM firms in Canada and possiblyMexico, since we are the American Cultural Resource Association.

Crista LeGrand, our Executive Director, provided a report onHeadquarters activities on behalf of ACRA. This includes getting the newwebsite up and running as well as assisting with the conference this year. Itis anticipated that HQ will have a larger role to play in organizing bothconferences and board meetings in the future. Crista also introduced herassistant, CJ Summers, and explained whom to contact at HQ for web page,finances or membership issues.

By Mike Polk and Lucy Wayne

ACRA FALL BOARD MEETINGSPETEMBER 25, 2008

Crista LaGrand

Board Member Sarah Herr

Colin Busby and Mike Polk

T. Majewski, C. Moffett, S. Herr



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A number of committee reports followed thisdiscussion. The outgoing Membership Secretary,Lucy Wayne, reported on the current membershiplevels and a discussion ensued as to how newmembers might be recruited. Treasurer ColinBusby reported ACRA's current financial conditionand 2008 budget performance to date.

The Policy Committee discussed the needfor revisions of our by-laws and charges to makethem not only more current, but more appropriatefor a trade association. With the help of HQ, theby-laws are being revised. The Board voted to addAnti-Trust guidelines to the by-laws. It wasexplained that Anti-Trust guidelines need to becited at the beginning of each board meeting andbe complied with at all times. There wasdiscussion as to whether we also needed a writtenanti-discrimination policy.

Joan Deming, Conference Committee Chair,thanked the hosts of the 2008 meeting for theirhard work and outlined how the conference hosts,committee, ACRA President and HQ workedtogether to develop the conference. Sheannounced that the Spring 2009 Board meeting willbe hosted by HQ and Applied Archaeology andHistory Associates, Inc. in Baltimore, MD. The2009 Annual Conference will be hosted by Gray &Pape, Inc., in Providence, Rhode Island. Joan isworking on hosts for the 2010 and 2011 meetings.Cinder Miller of Gray & Pape gave a brief previewof the 2009 Conference plans.

Ian Burrow, Vice President for GovernmentAffairs, and Nellie Longsworth, government liaison,gave a report on their activities this year. The mostimportant item was passage of the Farm Bill withincreased support for preservation of culturalresources-it has been extended to range lands, alarge area of the west.

Nominating Committee Chair, TerryMajewski, summarized the nominations andelections process for this year, and presented theelection results (see page 30).

Cinder Miller presented the activities of theEducation Committee, including development ofnew workshops for ACRA and work on an internshipprogram. She also lead a discussion on thepossibility of ACRA providing CE courses, eitherthrough outside sources or taught by ACRAmembers.

Loretta Lautzenheiser, Chair of theCommunications Steering Committee, reported onthe update of the ACRA display. Discussion ensuedon the need for a new display and other options formarketing ACRA, including advertising in othertrade association journals.

Lucy Wayne, Newsletter Coordinator,summarized the number of ACRA Editions issuedthis year and made a pitch for more contributions,including reports from committee chairs, memberprofiles and company news announcements. Shealso reported that a THPO had noted the lack ofinformation on Native American issues and the lackof representation of Native Americans on the board.The problem being that we have no NativeAmerican members at the present time.

Denise DeJoseph of the Website Committteeexplained the transition of the web page from theoriginal developer to its final form under HQ'sguidance. There was extensive discussion aboutthe consultants' database, as well as other itemsthat could/should be included on the web page.(NOTE: Members are responsible for the content of

..continued on Page 14

October 2008

Page 4



their database listing. If something needs to beupdated, contact John Conway at [email protected] -he respondspromptly).

Hope Luhman of the CRM ExpoSubcommittee announced that the SAA meetingnext spring will only have space for 20 companiesat the CRM Expo. This is a result of the hotel'savailable space. So….if you want to be one of the20, sign up early. If there is enough interest, effortswill be made to see if SAA and/or the hotel canaccommodate more people.

Steve Dasovich, Chair of the MembershipCommittee, led a discussion on recruiting newmembers. This discussion verged into thepossibility of recruiting potential clients asmembers, as well as getting SHPOs and THPOs torefer those needing CRM work to the ACRA webpage consultants' database. We also discussedprovision of a welcome package to new membersand inviting them to send a profile to ACRA Edition.

The Salary Survey will again be conductedin 2009. A proposal has been received fromVernon Research Group, who conducted our lastsurvey.

Other brief committee reports and oldbusiness included the NAICS Code Committee,Liaison Committee and the ArchaeologicalChannel's Odyssey video.

In new business, Mike announced that he isforming an HQ Oversight Committee, headed byJoe Joseph, to liaison with HQ. This will relieve

some of the time commitments of the ACRAPresident and facilitate overall communicationsbetween HQ and ACRA.

Sarah Herr then explained research she hasbeen doing to compile as comprehensive a list aspossible of CRM companies and practitioners. Shehas approximately 1500 entries at the present time.Discussion ensued of all the many things that couldbe done with this list, including recruiting ACRAmembers, salary survey or other surveys andgenerally giving us a better understanding of whatmakes up the CRM universe.

Jeff Altschul of SRI and Keith Kintighprovided a brief presentation on theArchaeoinformatics project that they are involvedwith. This is a project to provide increased internetaccess to literature in the CRM field. A moreextensive explanation will be provided in a futurenewsletter and on the ACRA web page.

The Board then reviewed and approved abudget for 2009. During this discussion Mike toldthe board that SAA had invited ACRA to sponsorbags for their 2010 conference, which is their 75thannual meeting. Due to the sizeable amountrequested and the quality of the sample bag, theboard was unenthused, but there was generalagreement that it would be good for ACRA to dosomething for that meeting due to the attendancelevel.

The final board agenda item was a series ofquestions Mike posed to the board to prompt futurediscussions and avenues of investigation.

mailto:[email protected]



Volume 14-5

ACRA ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

By Mike Polk and Lucy Wayne

The annual ACRA business meeting was heldSaturday afternoon. The meeting began withpresentation of plaques by ACRA President, Mike Polk,to outgoing board members and officers. Outgoingmembers and officers are: Vice President forGovernment Affairs Ian Burrow, Board members DeniseDeJoseph, Sarah Herr, Cinder Miller, JosephSchuldenrein and William Self.

Mike then reviewed ACRA's activities since thelast annual conference, as well as summarizing themain issues discussed at the Board meeting held onThursday (see page X). Crista LeGrand, our ExecutiveDirector, introduced herself and Clemons to themembers, highlighting the services that Headquartersprovides to ACRA. Nellie Longsworth brieflysummarized the situation in Washington-basically that itis pretty quiet due to the preoccupation with theelections. Terry Majewski summarized the ACRAelection process and announced the new and/orreelected board members (Nurit Finn, Steve Dasovich,Charissa Wang Durst, Guy Weaver, Tom Euler, DuanePeter and Kimberly Redman) and new Vice Presidentfor Government Affairs (Jeanne Ward). DeniseDeJoseph, head of the Website subcommittee,summarized the revisions of the ACRA website andemphasized that members are responsible for makingsure their listings in the consultants' database areaccurate and current. Outgoing Vice President IanBurrow reviewed the efforts of the Strategic PlanningCommittee since Tom Wheaton's retirement and theprocess by which Clemons was selected to be ourmanagement firm. He also explained that the StrategicPlanning Committee would now focus on real planningfor the long term. President-Elect Lucy Wayne made aplea for newsletter submittals.

ACRA Recognizes Our Outgoing BoardMembers and Officers

Ian Burrow - Vice President forGovernment Affairs

Denise DeJoseph - BoardMember

Sarah Herr - Board Member Cinder Miller - Board Member

William Self - Board Member

October 2008



ACRA AWARDS LUNCHEON TOPICAL TABLES

At the annual Awards Luncheon 14 tableswere set with different table topics, to provide achance to discuss the shared concerns aboutACRA, archaeological methods and the state ofCRM. Here, in no particular order, some of ourmoderators share the results of their discussions.

International CRM. Jeffery Altschul (StatisticalResearch, Inc.)

Heritage resource management is a globalphenomenon. Many countries are now usingcontractors to perform historic preservationservices. Our group included a number of ACRAfirm representatives along with the Arizona SHPOand a federal agency archaeologist. The wide-ranging discussion focused on: (1) identifying thosecountries with strong historic preservation laws; (2)exploring the regulatory processes in differentcountries; (3) thinking through the logistics ofworking in foreign countries; and (4) identifying

opportunities for work. Although most at the tabledid not have significant exposure to the internationalmarket, all agreed that the situation was dynamicand full of opportunities worth pursuing.

Measuring CRM. Sarah Herr, (Desert Archaeology,Inc.)

This table talked about ways that we canmeasure the scale of the CRM industry in NorthAmerica. In 2005, the SAA conducted a study thatattempted to measure all the archaeologists abovethe level of crew chief in the country on a given day.Their estimate was 7000 people. That numberseems low in light of current research on thenumber of firms conducting CRM work in thecountry, but the scale and context of CRM work isstill difficult to grasp, as is any dollar amount. Thegroup also discussed the implications of knowingthis number.

Student Internships. Cory Breternitz(Soil Systems, Inc.)

We had a full table at the recentACRA Conference Awards Lunch todiscuss the topic of student internshipsat CRM firms. I did not make a headcount or take attendance, but clearly thisis a national issue as representativesfrom medium and large companies fromacross the country were in attendance.

I outlined the graduate studentinternship program that has beenestablished by Arizona State University(ASU) in cooperation with local CRMfirms in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Muchtime and effort went into establishing aMembers participate in table topic discussions during the Annual ACRA Awards

luncheon.



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formal internship program that placed second-yeargraduate students with local CRM firms. However,this program is now entering the second year and nota single student has signed up for the program.

The participants in the Round Table sharedindividual success stories. The common successesacross the country and regardless of company sizewere with high school students and undergraduatestudents. In each case, the interns were interested inan aspect of CRM and the individual firms were ableto make arrangements with the school and intern ona case-by-case basis. Many of the interns that haveworked with CRM firms end up as employees of thecompany.

The program that is being proposed by SRIFoundation was discussed in some detail. Theconcerns that most CRM company owners andprincipals at the Round Table have with theFoundation's program is the cost and the length oftime that a potential employee would be attending thecourse. All agreed that a consistent program wouldbe beneficial to CRM companies and potential futureemployees; the mechanism for bringing this about isstill not in place. All agreed that given the lack ofconsistency between how CRM firms approach theinternship issue and the continued reluctance ofacademia to buy into internship programs (ASU beingthe notable exception), that the success of the SRIFoundation's program will be important to monitor.Then we had desert.

Continuing Education. Cinder Miller (Gray andPape, Inc.)

The continuing education subcommittee of theEducation Committee had a full table for lunchconversation at the ACRA meeting. James Karbulaprovided a brief overview of the proposed continuingeducation program and discussion followed regarding

ACRA's ability to provide CE services to membersand the possible structure of this program. Ascurrently proposed, a new workshop will bedeveloped for the 2009 conference. In addition, andfollowing a separate schedule, the ACRA CE programwill refocus on identifying providers for specificclasses that can be taught at the regional/local level.These classes will be taught by ACRA members toACRA members. Members of the EducationCommittee will approach ACRA members about theirinterest and ability to teach classes. These classeswill then be vetted and approved by ACRA as part ofa formal CE curriculum. ACRA is engaging with RPAto help create a system for formally approving CEclasses by the organization and vetted by acommittee. Lunch conversation resulted in thegeneration of a list of topics that ACRA memberswould be interested in teaching, as well as a list ofpossible providers of services. More for theEducation Committee in the winter!

Internet Publishing. William H. Doelle (DesertArchaeology, Inc.)

Discussions at our table were not in-depth, butthere is a bit to share. We did talk through some ofthe advantages and pitfalls of on-line publishing. Themajor concerns were: protecting site location informa-tion and keeping the technology of the on-line reportcurrent into the distant future. The major advantage isthe potential to reach users anywhere as long as theyhave internet access. At least in the short term, thereis a potential that production costs might be lowerthan a typical hard-copy report. Because of digitalarchiving uncertainties, there is a need for at leastsome copies to be produced for archiving inrepositories and libraries. When keeping the volumedigitally accessible "in perpetuity" is considered, costsbecome much more difficult to calculate.

October 2008



Desert Archaeology Inc., has used on-linepublication for one of our major CRM projectreports-for access go to:http://www.cdarc.org/pages/what/resources/rio_nuevo/. We chose the pdf format and laid the documentout as if it were a book-even to the point of settingup for double-sided printing and pagination.Chapters were broken out for access as separatefiles (some chapters were such big files that theywere broken into multiple subfiles). The chapters ofthis report can be quickly reviewed on-line or can bedownloaded to one's own computer and kept therefor subsequent access. Any feedback by those whotake a look at this on-line report would beappreciated. Please respond [email protected].

The Future of Photographic Documentation.Ellen Marlatt (Independent ArchaeologicalConsulting, LLC)

People who gravitated to this table weremostly architectural historians who allacknowledged the decrease in available processingcenters for black & white photographic processing inthe age of digital format. This led to a spiriteddiscussion about the pros and cons of digitalphotography, especially around issues of imagepermanence and long-term storage of data. Whilearchaeologists and architectural historians like theease of carrying fewer cameras, some noted thatthis did not necessarily translate into less work.There is a tendency to take more photographs withdigital cameras than with other formats, requiringmore time for recordation and storage. Challengesare working out a 21st-century protocol for digitalimages with state and federal agencies (Contactsheets? Hard copies? On CD? By email?) andtheir viability over time as new technology is quickly

superseded by even newer technology. Will theimages be readable in the future? Who will beresponsible for transferring them to the newerformat?

What was clear to this (lone) archaeologist atthe table was that the architectural historians havebeen wrestling with this issue for some time, andsome had the latest data on archival printing andwhere to get still needed black & white processing.So, if you are not already an architectural historianyourself, be sure to make friends with one!

Membership. Steve Dasovich (SCI Engineering, Inc.).

This table was populated by many of ACRA'scharter members and most of the discussion focusedon membership. Several people thought the bestway to do this was to have current members call non-member firms, as that has been ACRA's long-termstrategy. People were skeptical about the success ofmarketing ACRA using a marketing firm, althoughseveral people thought it might be a worthwhileinvestment.

Government Affairs. Jeanne Ward (AppliedArchaeology and History Associates, Inc.).

I'm new to the position of Vice President ofGovernment Relations and will admit that NellieLongsworth can make it easy to sit back and watch itall happen. Because this is election season andmajor changes are expected at all levels ofgovernment there is not much that can be done untilNovember 5. On that day Nellie will evaluate thenewly elected and we can determine the next bestmove - who is likely to be sympathetic, who will needmore effort, who is likely to be on the committees thatwill actually deal with legislation related to historicpreservation issues.

[email protected]

http://www.cdarc.org/pages/what/resources/rio_nuevo



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Although it wasn't initiated at the table, we areplanning a possible Hill visit in association with thenext board meeting, which is being held in Baltimorethis Spring.

ACRA Salary Survey. Nurit Finn (Wapsi ValleyArchaeology)

This round table discussion focused on a briefoverview of the past two salary surveys and whatmight be different about the next one. The biggestconcern is to ramp up the sample size ofrespondents so that we really do have arepresentative sample from the industry, and wetalked about recruiting not only ACRA members butalso from the much larger universe of CRM firmsoutside of ACRA. We also talked about thepossibility of surveying non-private businesses (i.e.university contracting programs) that conduct CRMwork to try to get a better handle on the industry as awhole.

One point that was raised is that theresults/analysis of the survey need to be comparedby regions because of major geographic differencesin wages. We touched on the fact that althoughsome companies do much of their business outsideof CRM, the survey does control for this factor. Itwas also brought up that firms that focus on federalwork will be using federal wage rates, which wouldinflate the overall wage results of the survey. Wemay want to be able to pull these firms out and lookat them separately as well.

In all, there wasn't a lot of controversy aboutthe survey. I think that those who participated in thediscussion believe that we're on the right track andthat the more general questions included aboutACRA are a valuable part of the survey. Now it'stime to increase the sample size so that we have asolid industry-tracking tool.

Travel Compensation for Temporary Field Crew:Benefits, Risks, Legal Issues? Denise De Joseph(Historical Research Associates, Inc.)

Representatives of three companies were atthis table and each one treated the question of travelcompensation for temporary field crew in differentways: one paid both wages and mileage for jobswhere temps use their own cars to get to a distantjob site; another did one or the other depending onthe job; and the third small firm didn't pay either timeor mileage.

Marketing ACRA. Loretta Lautzenheiser (CoastalCarolina Research, Inc.) and Chris Dore (MetcalfArchaeological Consultants, Inc.)

This group was concerned about two areas ofmarketing; one to our clients and one to potentialmembers.

The client sector received the majority of theinterest. How should we advertise to clients?

It was suggested that ACRA exchange linkson websites with client trade groups. It was alsosuggested that we swap ads in trade journals. Theirtrade groups would advertise in the newsletter forfree, and we would get a much smaller ad I'm sure,in their newsletter or journal.

ACRA should prepare an article on "So YouNeed to Hire a CRM Firm," and submit it to tradejournals.

We need a united plan with a database andoutreach.

It was suggested that we have a VicePresident of Advertising. We also need to utilize ouremployees in this area, or invest some of ourresources in hiring a marketing firm to buildmembership as well as market to others.

October 2008



Integrating Geophysics into Archaeology.Al Tonetti (ASC Group, Inc.)

The table topic concerning integratinggeophysics into all phases of CRM archaeologyfocused on two questions: 1) is there sufficient datademonstrating that near-surface geophysicalinvestigations are an essential component to makinga reasonable and good faith effort to identify historicproperties archaeological in nature; and 2) if there is,how do we convince government agencies, SHPOsand industry that this is the case?

Based on on-going work in the Ohio RiverValley, it is believed that sufficient data existsdemonstrating that near-surface geophysical survey,e.g., magnetic gradient, should be an integral part ofmany, if not most, Phase I, II and III archaeologicalinvestigations. It was contended that for manyprojects the threshold of making a reasonable andgood faith effort cannot be attained without doing so.A few examples of projects demonstrating this to bethe case were presented, and SHPO concernsregarding requesting these types of surveys fromagencies and industry were discussed. Theseconcerns/questions include where and when it shouldbe integrated, the lack of knowledgeablepractitioners, and the cost of doing so, among others.The general resistance of agencies and SHPOs toaccept innovative practices also was discussed. Toaddress this situation, the Ohio ArchaeologicalCouncil is considering a workshop/seminar to includepractitioners, SHPOs, agencies, and consultants.

The Future of ACRA. Ian Burrow (Hunter Research,Inc.)

A number of topics were covered during thetable discussion, and these were incorporated intothe Strategic Planning Committee report given to thebusiness meeting. Not all of these were necessarily

covered in detail at the table, and some were pickedup in subsequent conversations.

The future of ACRA is one in which:

1. All reputable CRM firms choose to be in ACRA2. Procedures and practices are in place that will

ensure that ACRA members can be relied onto adhere to ACRA's code of practice andethics.

3. ACRA members have access to a range oftools and resources that help them run andgrow their businesses, especially if they aresmall.

4. ACRA members can provide affordableprofessional development opportunities fortheir staff that clearly benefit both theindividuals and the companies

5. New CRM professionals are actively mentored6. ACRA awards are greatly coveted by our

clients7. The ACRA brand is recognized as a mark of

quality that provides a clear marketingadvantage to member firms.

8. ACRA's opinion and input is routinely soughtin historic preservation at the national level.

9. All ACRA members thrive and grow becauseof the support they receive from ACRA andACRA contacts.

10. ACRA reaches out to other countries andshares its expertise in the development oftrade associations for CRM.

11. Past Presidents continue to serve theorganization

12. There is smooth and effectivecommunications among the members, boardand officers.

13. ACRA members are moving beyondcompliance into other heritage and culturalresource areas.



Volume 14-5

ACRA AWARDS PRESENTATION

The ACRA Awards honor people and projects that represent outstandingresearch, management and commitment to our nation's cultural resources. Theawards also recognize the profession's best clients, projects and employees. ACRA'sAwards Committee organizes and implements the awards program. Charissa WangDurst of Hardlines Design is the chair of the committee. The jury who selected theawards for 2008 included current and former members of the committee: NuritGoldman Finn (Wapsi Valley Archaeology), Denise DeJoseph (HRA, Inc) and Bill Self(William Self Associates). Although she could not attend the 2008 ACRA Meeting,Charissa oversaw the awards process and prepared the awards and presentationtext. ACRA board member Terry Majewski and ACRA President Mike Polk presentedthis year's awards during the ACRA Awards Luncheon on Friday, September 26.

ACRA's award categories are for Quality Product, both Small Project andLarge Project, Industry and Public Service. This year's jury elected to make an awardfor both Quality Product categories and the Industry category.

2008 Quality Product Award for a Small ProjectThe ACRA Quality Product Award for a Small Project recognizes an ACRA

company's innovative or long-term research, preservation of a cultural resource forfuture generations (such as a building or archeological site), or an outstanding report,brochure, book, etc., in which the total project cost is less than $50,000.

The 2008 Quality Product Award for a Small Project recognizes Marine BaseCamp LeJeune and their consultant The Louis Berger Group for the publicationSemper Fidelis: A Brief History of Onslow County, North Carolina, and Marine CorpsBase, Camp Lejeune, which covers the founding of Onslow County to the initialconstruction and ongoing expansion of the Marine Corps base. The publicationincludes historic maps of both the military and nonmilitary use of the area, and coversmajor historical events in which the Marines played a major role. The book discussesthe role of African American men and women in the Marines during World War II, andcontinues through significant events such as helicopter support during the KoreanWar and the 1983 Beirut Barracks bombing, memorialized at Camp Lejeune. Workon the project was delayed for several years as the Marines continued to make

By Charissa Wang Durst and Teresita Majewski


Photos from Semper Fidelis

book, etc., in which the total project cost is morethan $50,000.

This year's Quality Product Award for a LargeProject recognizes The Naperville HeritageSociety/Naper Settlement and their consultant, SCIEngineering, Inc., for the comprehensivearchaeological investigations of Captain JosephNaper's Homestead Site (11DU505) in Illinois. Thejurors noted the thoroughness of the project and thequality of the work and the reports. Two reports wereproduced: an 83-page popular report and a 216-page technical report. Both were lavishly illustratedwith historical-period maps, photographs and figures.The investigations were designed to permit as muchcommunity involvement as possible. As a result, 82volunteers, ranging in age from 9 to 80, participatedin the excavations, screening soil and washingartifacts.

The field investigations resulted in theidentification of 32 subsurface features, 15 of which

were completely excavated (the remaining 17 werepreserved in place), and the recovery of nearly26,000 artifacts relating to the three residences thathave been identified at this location. The technicalreport also included plans that showed the varioussettlement eras: Captain Joseph Naper's original logcabin (1831), his early trading post (1831), hissecond residence and its associated outbuildings(1832/33-1883), and finally the third residence builton the lot by Naper's son Mark, and its associatedoutbuildings (1883-1960s). Steve Dasovich of SCIEngineering, Inc., accepted the award.

2008 Industry AwardThe ACRA Industry Award recognizes an

ACRA company's client (mining, energy, trans-portation, etc.) that has shown a commitment, aboveand beyond what is required to meet regulations, tothe preservation of cultural resources.

October 2008



history in Afghanistan and thenin Iraq. Kay Simpson of TheLouis Berger Group acceptedthe award on behalf of CampLejeune and the WilmingtonCorps of Engineers, whomanaged the contract.

2008 Quality Product Awardfor a Large Project

The ACRA QualityProduct Award for a LargeProject recognizes an ACRAcompany's innovative or long-term research, preservation ofa cultural resource for futuregenerations (such as a buildingor archeological site), or anoutstanding report, brochure,

The Captain Joseph Naper’s Homestead Site Investigation

Photo from Semper Fidelis



Volume 14-5


This year's ACRA Industry Award recognizesthe efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,Jacksonville District, the Puerto Rico Department ofNatural and Cultural Resources, and their consultantNew South Associates, to preserve a site ofinternational interest as a result of the construction ofthe Portugués Dam, the final component of the entirePortugués and Bucana flood risk managementproject in Puerto Rico. Jurors commented on the $3million (an "amazing" amount) spent to relocate thequarry, and hoped that plans for a future interpretivepark are put into place.

A single site, PO-29, was identified within thereservoir's area of potential effect that wasconsidered eligible for listing in the National Registerof Historic Places. Excavations revealed that the sitecontained a large and well-preserved prehistoricballcourt (batey) with multiple petroglyphs. Thepetroglyphs exposed on the north border of thebatey were some of the most intricate, detailed andwell-carved that have been found to date on theisland. News of this discovery was reportedinternationally and generated concern in the PuertoRican media about the site's excavation andproposed adverse impact. The agencies altered theproject's construction plans to allow the site to bepreserved, while still fulfilling the data recoverymitigation stipulations of the Memorandum ofAgreement (MOA) at a cost in excess of $1,000,000.The agencies developed a site preservationprogram, prepared a preservation and stabilizationplan, and implemented an extensive program of sitestabilization and preservation. This project took theunprecedented step of preserving an archaeologicalsite after having completed data recovery mitigationin accordance with an MOA. David McCullough, PO-29 Site, Puerto Rico.

October 2008



Archaeologist with the Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, andJoe Joseph of New South Associates accepted the award.Unfortunately, the Honorable Javier Vélez Arocho, Secretary, and MabelC. Rivera-Sanabria, Project Manager, of the Puerto Rico Department ofNatural and Environmental Resources, were not able to attend theawards presentation.

Thanks to all the firms who put forth the effort to submit anomination package, and to the jurors who labored over the decisions.Press releases will be sent to all the State Historic Preservation Offices,Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the National Trust forHistoric Preservation.

We hope you agree that the ACRA Awards elevate theprofession by showcasing what our industry is capable of producing andshould be producing on a regular basis. We hope to recognize YOURoutstanding clients, projects and employees at the 2009 awardsceremony in Providence, Rhode Island, at the 2009 ACRA conference.

ACRA Lifetime Achievement AwardThe final award of the afternoon, the ACRA

Lifetime Achievement Award (see Page 3), was presentedby ACRA President Mike Polk to Nellie Longsworth.

With the generous gifts of an anonymous donor and Left Coast Press,a raffle was held to raise money for developing ACRA marketing materials tohelp spread ACRA's message to clients and potential members. Ann Polkwon the grand prize, a bowl from Tucson's Philabaum Contemporary ArtGlass studio. Trisha Craig, Denise DeJoseph, Joan Deming and MargerieGreen won glass paperweights from the studio, and Denise DeJoseph won acopy of Industrial Archaeology. The raffle raised over $900.

RAFFLE RAISES FUNDS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING MATERIALS

By Teresita Majewski

PO-29 Site, Puerto Rico.

Terry Majewski and Crista LeGrand



Volume 14-5

The People's Choice Award was initiated in2008 to recognize a Phase I/Building Inventory orPhase II/National Register of Historic PlacesEvaluation report from an ACRA firm. Every companywas allowed to bring a report, and every conferenceattendee had the opportunity to vote for one of thereports displayed.

Seven companies participated in this yearsPeople's Choice Award contest, and SRI was chosenby conference participants recognizing the companies2004 report, Distant Shores: Cultural ResourcesSurvey at Honey Lake, Lassen County, California,edited by Robert M. Wegener, Jeffrey H. Altschul,Angela H. Keller and Anne Q. Stoll, as the winner.

Honey Lake was a complex, interesting projectthat SRI completed for the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers (USACE), Sacramento District. The shore-lines of Honey Lake, a remnant Pleistocene lake,capture the entire span of human history in theAmericas. The project was challenging because manymore sites were located than originally anticipated, and many were quite complex, having been used andreused numerous times in the past. Distant Shores included a number of studies generally lacking in Phase Ireports of this type: a paleoenvironmental study, ethnographic research, historical-period archival work and aregional archaeological synthesis. The project was the inspiration of Richard Perry of the USACE, SacramentoDistrict, and the results were all the more positive because of the effective collaboration between client andcontractor.

SRI received a framed certificate and a complimentary one-year subscription to the new journal HeritageManagement, generously donated by Mitch Allen of Left Coast Press.

When accepting the award at ACRA's annual business meeting, SRI owner and founder Jeffrey H.Altschul noted that receiving this award was particularly gratifying because it was chosen by peer CRM firmsfrom throughout the United States. ACRA members are encouraged to bring a report for the People's ChoiceAward competition to the 2009 ACRA annual meeting in Providence.

ACRA PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD


Mike Polk presents Jeff Altschul with the 2008 ACRA People’sChoice Award.

Plenary Session-Past, Present and Future of Section106

After a brief welcome from ACRA President MikePolk and Tucson Conference Committee members TomEuler and Sarah Herr, the room went silent for a minute.With the blast of a whistle, Terry Klein, director of theSRI Foundation, entered the room in soccer refereegear with a yellow penalty flag, followed by LynneSebastian, Tom King and Jim Garrison, who talkedabout current and future trends in Section 106compliance. Issues discussed were whether therepetitive aspects created by similar property typesneeded streamlining, the effects of the curation crisis,integrating new technology into our work and new digitalcommunication styles into our public outreach andpublishing, private property rights, teaching CRM to thenext generation, the privatization of government and theincreasing role of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.They reminded the audience that Section 106 was atool to be used creatively and proactively to protectcultural resources and serve the interests of manypublics.

Local Governments: Compliance, Economics andPreservation

Linda Mayro (Pima County) then led the localgovernment session emphasizing that preservationhappens locally, with local money, allocated throughlocal bond elections, with the political will of localgovernments and the support of their constituencies.She introduced Pima County's cutting edge programsthat strive to manage natural and cultural landscapes

October 2008



and preserve open space in the face of Sunbelt sprawl.Jonathan Mabry, from the City of Tucson HistoricPreservation department, discussed the problems ofmaintaining the identity of a growing city that is growingolder. He discussed the challenges of preservation andprivate property, and the upcoming 50th anniversary ofmany post-war constructions and how that will affect cityplanning efforts. Todd Bostwick, the Archaeologist forthe City of Phoenix, described the legal bases for City-funded archaeology. The rich archaeological record ofthe City led to the hiring of the first City archaeologist in1929. There is a preservation and educational role forthe City Archaeologist, who is based in the PuebloGrande Museum, which is incorporated into a majorprehistoric Hohokam platform mound settlement. Overthe past decade the City has funded over $5 million incompliance-related archaeological projects that havebeen implemented by private contractors.

Working with Tribes

In the afternoon session T. J. Ferguson, ofAnthropological Research, L.L.C., considered the rolesof Descendent Communities in cultural resourcesmanagement. He laid out a general model that reflectsthe degree of power and control held by archaeologistsversus tribes. While all five of the modes of interactionconsidered by his model are still in practice in variousplaces today, he highlighted a trend toward increasedcollaboration between tribes and archaeologists. Healso reviewed the very strong development of TribalHistoric Preservation Offices (THPOs) across thenation. There are now 67 tribes with THPOs. MarkElson (Desert Archaeology, Inc). provided an example

ACRA ANNUAL CONFERENCE SESSIONS

By Sarah Herr, Teresita Majewski, William Doelle, William Self and Tom Euler



Volume 14-5

from an Arizona Department of Transportation fundedproject north of Flagstaff, Arizona that crossed alandscape shaped by the 11th century A.D. eruption ofSunset Crater, and the ways that tribal histories andarchaeological information could help reconstruct thesignificance of that event. Barnaby Lewis, of the GilaRiver Indian Community, talked about thedocumentation of trails and landscape through song.

Architectural Assessment and Preservation

R. Brooks Jeffery, from the University ofArizona's Preservation Studies program, introduced thesession on the built environment with a nice historicaloverview of the Mission system of New Spain. Hedescribed a current collaborative project betweenmultiple stakeholders in the Borderlands whose purposeis: to create an international, multidisciplinarypartnership for cultural resource management of thehundreds of Spanish Colonial Mission sites in thesouthwestern United States and northern Mexico. Thispresentation was a perfect background for those whowere able to make the Sunday morning tour to the SanXavier Mission on the San Xavier District of the TohonoO'odham Reservation south of Tucson.

Drew Gorski (Poster Frost Architects) spoke ofhow Tribal, Early American, Mexican, family andcorporate ranchers worked with the land and water ofthe desert. The relationships of those groups to theirnatural and built landscapes are being interpretedduring the development and implementation of a masterplan for the historic Canoa Ranch. The day closed withChris Evans, from the Modern Architecture MappingProject, discussing the fundamental aspects of Modernarchitecture and the challenges to preserving thesebuildings.

Saturday Business Life Cycle Sessions

The Saturday morning sessions focused on thebusiness of CRM; two simultaneous sessions wereoffered to address the problems encountered at differentpoints in the business life cycle. In these sessionsACRA member firms provided information and guidanceon the business of CRM to other firms. Terry Majewskimoderated a panel discussion on growing a business,and William Self led a discussion about policy manuals,while Tom Euler invited people with grayer hair todiscuss transition planning, in a two-part session.

Transition Planning for the Baby Boomer

Nearly 40 business owners or principals in theirrespective firms attended the Saturday morning sessiondealing with "Transition Planning for the Baby Boomer."A distinguished panel of discussants in this sessionhelped to clarify some of the issues surrounding thevaluation, marketing and sale of sole proprietorshipsand partnerships and the staff and logisticalconsiderations that often occur as a result of thatprocess.

Business coach and consultant, Clint Parry,President of ActionCOACH, provided some significantinsights regarding the future of business acquisitions inthe United States, and gave advice on how to prepareyourself and your business to market your firm. RonBorkan, of SWCA Environmental Consultants offeredthe group a buyer's perspective on acquisitions andmergers, with the benefit of his extensive experienceevaluating and executing such transactions on behalf ofSWCA. Matt Godfrey and Tim Engelhardt, new andformer owners of HRA Gray & Pape respectively, gavea candid discussion of their own real life experience of


October 2008



current employees buying out the principals in their firm.The question and answer session following theseamazing speakers was both thought provoking and verywell received by all the participants.

Setting Goals for Company Growth: The Good, theBad and the Ugly

Meanwhile, a concurrent Saturday morningsession on "Setting Goals for Company Growth: TheGood, the Bad, and the Ugly," was moderated byTeresita Majewski, Chief Operating Officer, StatisticalResearch, Inc. (SRI). In this session a panel of repre-sentatives from companies of various sizes talked abouttheir experiences, both positive and negative, withcompany growth. Panelists included Ellen Marlatt(Independent Archaeological Consulting, LLC--mediumfirm), Colin Busby (Basin Research Associates--mediumfirm), and Marion Almy (Archaeological Consultants,Inc.--large firm). About 35 to 40 people attended thesession.

Majewski introduced the session with somethoughts provided to her by Peter Fox, SRI's ChiefFinancial Officer, who could not attend the ACRAmeeting. Mr. Fox holds a B.S. in Economics from theUniversity of Illinois and has a well-establishedbackground in financial management, having worked asa vice-president, controller and chief financial officer formore than 35 years. His comments were especiallyrelevant because they provide a view of the culturalresource management (CRM) industry from the"outside," as he is not an architect, archaeologist,ethnographer or historian.

He noted that the decision to "grow" a companyrequires careful consideration of all the factors involvedand a firm implementation plan. The tangibles ofplanning for company growth include sound financialmanagement, an understanding of the market sectorsimpacting your firm, and an organizational structure thatcan adapt or change appropriately to accommodate

expansion. Other key factors when consideringcompany growth are harder to evaluate, and includepotential impact of growth on company mission,employee satisfaction and communication challenges.

Questions or scenarios posed to the panelists included:

- How and why company growth occurs.- Planned vs. unplanned growth.- Things that can put a company into growth

mode. One way is if a company wins a large,multi-year project or an open-ended contract thatcan give the company some stability, even if fora short time.

- How is planned versus unplanned growthdifferent?

- What exactly does growth entail? Often itinvolves transition from an academicenvironment to a business environment.

According to Mr. Fox: "Every business mustsucceed at being a business or it won't have an oppor-tunity to succeed at anything else…," but "to succeedas an archaeological firm, one must be capable in thatfield." CRM firms sell labor (services). This equates intopeople providing services. Having more people equateswith increasing needs (e.g., facilities, equipment, humanresources support, etc.). The bottom line is that forgrowth you must have an adequate inventory ofexcellent people. A discussion of "what is adequate"centered around how much growth is desired over theplanning period. For example, if one is projecting fortheir company's next year, planning should begin nolater than the third quarter of the current year. Howmany people support your current gross income? Oneway to project is to come up with an average figure ofwork completed by each employee per year, and thenfigure out many people you need to have working toincrease your gross income to a desired level.



Volume 14-5

The moderator asked the panelists to share howthey have dealt with the following "inevitables" ofgrowth:

- Increased infrastructure needs- More organizational stresses- Need for more management, particularly middle-

level managers- More money/less money- An increased number of clients and different

types of clients- The need for more policy formulation and a

greater understanding of labor law andprocurement and contracting procedures

- Increased accounting needs

Representatives of successful, growingcompanies agreed that people at the top are doing lesshands-on CRM work and more business-oriented tasks.Many related that goal-setting and planning are requiredto achieve those goals. During the last part of thesession, the panelists fielded questions from theaudience, and then closed by noting, based on theirown experiences, that while growth certainly offers morechallenges, it also provides more opportunities. Theseopportunities are not only financial, but have much tooffer in terms of personal satisfaction for company staffin all positions.

Small Business Policies and Procedures

Finally, as a means of adding to the ACRABusiness Tool Kit (online at http://www.acra-crm.org),Bill Self of William Self Associates, Inc. followed up lastyear's discussion of OSHA and Safety, with a 1.5-hournail-biter on small business policies. With assistancefrom a panel of distinguished company owners includingColin Busby (Basin Research Associates), Jo Reese(Archaeological Investigations Northwest), TomMotsinger (Paleowest Solutions in Archaeology) andNurit Finn (Wapsi Valley Archaeology), Mr. Selfaddressed such diverse topics as timesheet policies,paid-time-off, worker's comp, insurance benefits, familyleave, sexual harassment and business travel. Hewalked the audience through a generic Policy Manualfrom beginning to end, including eight chapters ofnumerous important topics. There was a good Q&Asession with the audience, and Mr. Self provided a CDwith the generic manual for anyone who was interested.We hope to have it uploaded to our Business Tool Kitsoon.

Mr. Self hopes to address the 2009 Providenceconference on the topic of Necessary Items in theCompany Refrigerator.

October 2008



The 2008 ACRA Nominations Committeeconsisted of Teresita Majewski (chair), Joan Deming(representing large firms), Ellen Marlatt (representingmedium firms) and Elisabeth Sheldon (representing smallfirms).

The positions up for election in 2008 were: VicePresident for Government Affairs, one seat in the small-firm category, three seats in the medium-firm categoryand three seats in the large-firm category. Thecommittee then worked together to assemble a list ofpotential candidates. Board members provided somenames, others self-nominated, and a notice was postedin the newsletter and on MembersOnly. Every effort wasmade to provide competition for the open positions andto achieve geographic, gender and disciplinary diversity.This was achieved in the case of the board positions butnot for the officer position. Three persons were on theballot for small firms (for the one open seat), four personswere on the ballot for medium firms (for the three openseats; it is always most difficult to find persons to run forthe medium-firm positions), and six names were on theballot for the large firm category (for the three openseats). When people were contacted to see if they wouldrun, they were informed of the duties and responsibilitiesof the office should they be elected. They were alsoasked to provide a biographical sketch of themselves andto provide a statement to accompany the ballot. As partof the statement, they were asked to answer a questionabout the major issues facing our industry today and toindicate how they would strive to deal with these issues ifthey were elected.

The final slate was as follows. The slate wasannounced to the President and to the Board, and thenposted on MembersOnly.

Vice President for Government AffairsJeanne Ward, Applied Archaeology and HistoryAssociates, Inc., Annapolis, MD

Small Firm CandidatesGinny Bengston, Bengston Consulting, Inc., Sparks,NVNurit Goldman Finn, Wapsi Valley Archaeology, Inc.,Anamosa, IATim Perttula, Archeological & EnvironmentalConsultants, LLC, Austin, TX

Medium Firm CandidatesJon Berkin, Natural Resource Group, LLC,Minneapolis, MNSteve Dasovich, SCI Engineering, Inc., St. Charles,MOCharissa W. Durst, Hardlines Design Co., Columbus,OHGuy Weaver, Weaver and Associates, LLC, Memphis,TN

Large Firm CandidatesDenise DeJoseph, Historical Research Associates,Inc., Portland, ORTom Euler, SWCA Environmental Consultants,Tucson, AZCinder Miller, Gray & Pape, Cincinnati, OHDuane Peter, Geo-Marine Incorporated, Plano, TXKimberly Redman, Alpine Archaeological Consultants,Inc., Montrose, COAndrew Weir, Commonwealth Cultural ResourceGroup, Inc., Jackson, MI

The 2007 election was conducted by emailballot. At a previous board meeting, the board voted todirect the chair of the Nominations Committee to decidethe format of the elections and to implement thenecessary steps to complete the elections. For the 2008elections, ballots tailored by firm size were sentelectronically to company point-persons, withinstructions to return ballots either electronically or by

THE ACRA ELECTIONS




Volume 14-5

fax. Ballots and candidate statements were emailed onAugust 28, with a deadline of September 8, for returningcompleted ballots. The results of the election wereannounced to the candidates, the board, and themembership by September 12. Feedback received todate by the chair of the committee indicates that theemail balloting process was well received by themembership.

The official results of the 2008 elections are asfollows:

VP for Gov Affairs: Jeanne Ward (returning as an officer, but waspreviously a board member)

Small Firm Board Position: Nurit Finn (returning to the board for a second term)

Medium Firm Board Positions: Steve Dasovich (returning to the board for a secondterm), Charissa Wang Durst (was previously a boardmember), and Guy Weaver

Large Firm Board Positions: Tom Euler, Duane Peter (was previously a board

member), and Kimberly Redman

One-hundred-twenty-two (122) ballots weredistributed, and 70 ballots were returned (57.45%return). Per the by-laws, the 2008 ballots will beretained for three months by the chair of the committeeand then destroyed. These numbers were very similarto last year's numbers and percentage. By size of firm,the breakdown is:

- For small firms, 52 ballots were distributed; 25were returned (48.0% return).

- For medium firms, 41 ballots were distributed; 23were returned (56.1% return).

- For large firms, 29 ballots were distributed; 22were returned (75.9% return).

The committee thanks everyone who put theirname forward as a candidate for the election andcongratulates those who were elected. If you don'talready know those who were just elected, look forupcoming issues of the newsletter for their biographicalsketches.

Some final thoughts…

- Some by-laws changes still need to be maderegarding board membership, particularly aboutwhat to do if a board member's firm sizechanges during his/her term. These changes arecurrently being drafted.

- To ensure that the election process goessmoothly every year, please be sure that ACRAheadquarters has the most up-to-dateinformation for your firm.

- If you haven't considered becoming involved inACRA governance, please do so. The health ofour organization and our industry depends onthe leadership of committed individuals. You'vealready taken the first step by being an ACRAmember! If you have an interest in running foroffice in 2009, please don't hesitate to contactTerry Majewski at [email protected].


October 2008



CONFERENCE DISPLAYS

Clue Unlimited mystery book store

University of Arizona Press

Left Coast Press

Mesa Technical

Society for American Archaeology

ECorp Consulting



Volume 14-5

BARACKOBAMA.COM -

Click on "Issues" or "Skip Donation" on right and then"Issues" (they all want contributions!)

Click on the following "Issues":

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTClick on "Get the Details" -tiny type near bottom of the page

Click on "Obama-Biden Environmental Plan"Click on "Preserving our lands" (near bottom of section)Click on "National Parks and Forests" andother issues including farmers

ECONOMYClick on "Support Small Business"

RURAL Click on "Ensure Economic Opportunities for Family Farmers"

At bottom of page, Barack Obama's RecordURBAN POLICY

Scan through to bottom

By Nellie Longsworth, Government Affairs Consultant

LEGISLATIVE UPDATETHE ELECTION ISSUES - BARAK OBAMA VS. JOHN MCCAIN

As your government affairs person, I have had a number of requests as to the position on issues of bothpresidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. Each has a campaign websitewith their positions on a wide variety of issues, none of which get as specific as historic preservation , Section 106or archaeology. They do have information on urban and rural policies and agriculture and family farms. There aremany issues beyond our interests on both web sites.and some even offer videos.

The following links may save you time in getting to issues of interest to ACRAites:

JOHN MCCAIN.COM -

Click on "Issues"

You will find a page with 21 pictures of issuesthat can be accessed through a click on a picture.

Click on "Natural Heritage"

Click on "Agricultural Policies"

I hope this is helpful!Nellie Longsworth

www.barackobama.com

www.johnmccain.com

October 2008

5 0 2 4 - R C a m p b e l l B o u l e v a r d , B a l t i m o r e , M D 2 1 2 3 6

E D I T I O N

ACRA Edition

is a bi-monthly publication of TheAmerican Cultural ResourcesAssociation. Our mission is topromote the professional, ethical andbusiness practices of the culturalresources industry, including all of itsaffiliated disciplines, for the benefit ofthe resources, the public, and themembers of the association.

This publication's purpose is toprovide members with the latestinformation on the association'sactivities and to provide up-to-dateinformation on federal and statelegislative activities. All comments arewelcome.

2008-2009 ACRA EDITION SCHEDULE

PRODUCTION

November 25January 20March 17May 12July 14

DEADLINE

November 17January 12

March 9May 5July 7

Please address comments to:

Jeanne Harris, Editor, ACRA Edition

[email protected]

or

Lucy Wayne, ACRA President [email protected]

ACRA’s Members-Only Listserver

MembersOnly is a private email forum intended to promote dialoguebetween ACRA members, and to provide a venue for themembership and the board of directors to share information, and topost queries and comments for discussion. To participate inMembersOnly, visit www.acra-crm.org and click on the link underACRA forums.

ACRA Edition offers advertising space to our members. Doesyour company have a special product, service, or publication thatwould be of interest to some aspect of the CRM community?

Why not consider placing an ad in ACRA Edition?

Advertising Rates: Per 6 Months Per Year

Business Card size (3.5"x 2")* $100.00 $175.001/4 page (3.5"x 4.75") $200.00 $350.001/2 page (7.0"x 4.75") $300.00 $525.00

* Business cards can be scanned.

www.acra-crm.org



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