AZSITE Cultural Resource Inventory

Project title: Creation of Spatial Data Themes for an Archaeological GIS for the State of Arizona

Project summary: This proposal requests funding to create spatial data themes for archaeological site and survey data for federal lands within the State of Arizona. Creation of spatial data themes is one goal of a state-wide project to create a consolidated archaeological sites and surveys database that can be accessed by federal, state and private agencies engaged in federal and state historic preservation compliance activities. Spatial data in an electronic GIS will overcome a legacy of dispersed archaeological data repositories that has hindered both state and federal agencies engaged in preservation activities. Funding is requested for software development and for creation of spatial data layers for Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service archaeological files. BLM and U.S. Forest lands comprise one-third of Arizona’s lands and archaeological work on these lands represent a significant portion of National Historic Preservation Act compliance work handled by the State Historic Preservation Office. Electronically accessible spatial data for archaeological sites and surveys for BLM and USFS holdings will allow much faster and more accurate assessment for compliance and land managing needs of federal and state agencies.

Applicant:

Bureau of Land Management

Arizona State Office

222 North Central Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85004-2203

Collaborating organizations:

Archaeological Research Institute

Arizona State University

P.O. Box 872402

Tempe, AZ 85287-2402

Arizona State Museum

The University of Arizona

P.O. Box 210026

Tucson, AZ 80721-0026

Coronado National Forest

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests

Coconino National Forest

Prescott National Forest

Tonto National Forest

Kaibab National Forest

State Historic Preservation Office

1300 West Washington

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Museum of Northern Arizona

Route 4, Box 720

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Amount requested:

[max. $40k/one year]

Matching funds:

list cost sharing by participating orgs.

Principal point of contact:

Gary Stumpf, State Archaeologist

602-417-9509; fax 602-417-9452; e-mail gstumpf@az.blm.gov

Other key personnel:

Jack Johnson, BLM State Office GIS coordinator

; fax 602-417-9452; e-mail jjohnson@az.blm.gov (check this)

Some two dozen state, federal and private agencies in Arizona maintain cultural resource files consisting of extensive USGS 7.5’ topographic maps and associated paper and electronic files. These files form the basis of all cultural resource compliance work done in Arizona. Because of their non-exclusive, dispersed and non-standardized nature, they greatly increase the expense and time necessary for work done in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, the State Historic Preservation Act and the Arizona Antiquities Act. In 1995, several state agencies and a private museum formed a consortium of agencies to develop plans for statewide databases of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites and of areas that have been surveyed for such resources. Because federal land holdings account for almost fifty percent of Arizona’s lands, it was important to involve the largest federal land holders, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, early in the process.

With funding from the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), National Park Service, and the State Historic Preservation Office, the consortium has developed a plan for consolidating files and making them accessible electronically. Spatial data are thought to be critical to the success of this undertaking for two reasons. First, most queries of the file involve a request for known sites and surveys within a particular geographic area, usually a specified section of land or an area within certain distances of some known feature like a highway. Presently, such requests involve phone calls or site visits to one or more of the two dozen site information repositories. Electronically available spatial data will allow users to define their search area from their desktops and obtain the information over a modem or internet connection. Secondly, because many of the existing repositories in Arizona have overlapping jurisdictions, sites may be recorded in several databases under several different unique keys called site numbers. Spatial layers in a GIS format will allow users to realize instantly which sites are the same, despite differing site numbers.

Each of seven Arizona BLM field offices and each of six Arizona National Forests retain archaeological site and survey files for the land under their jurisdiction. Many, but not all, of the BLM’s archaeological sites have been incorporated into the files of the Arizona State Museum and are a part of the pilot project. Each BLM office has a "legacy" file of sites recorded before it became the practice to register sites with the ASM. Additionally, while a GIS program for archaeological sites and surveys was begun in 1988, the files have not been updated recently for these data themes. Each National Forest maintains sites and surveys recorded for that forest. Some forests have electronic spatial data but no attribute files, others have some electronic sites databases (the Cultural Resource Automated Information System in Oracle, for example) but no spatial data. The Museum of Northern Arizona retains computerized site data for some forests; the Arizona State Museum has computerized site data for other forests. Spatial data are a critical component of each agency’s records, but at present are confined to paper USGS maps that are labor intensive to create, maintain and use.

The variety of database structures, software and hardware in use have precluded any serious attempts at linking data and making them available electronically. Over the past year, the pilot project referred to above has developed a common attribute and spatial data structure that meets the needs of section 106 compliance under the National Historic Preservation Act. To date, pilot databases of archaeological site and survey information have been developed and records from three agencies (Arizona State University, Arizona State Museum, Kaibab National Forest) have been merged and used to create both spatial and attribute data for sites and surveys. The attribute data are stored in a SQL server database and the spatial data are in ArcView 3 GIS. Few agencies have GIS spatial data files created and these will be the most time-consuming to develop and implement.

Benefits of the project:

The BLM has long supported development of an electronically accessible centralized archaeological site and survey file for Arizona. BLM and national forest archaeologists need desktop access to information on their lands and other federal and state and federal agencies have frequent need to access such information for purposes of highway construction and maintenance, game and fish management, emergency flood or fire management, etc. At present, any of these activities entail a time-consuming review of paper records in various offices in order to do a thorough search.

The model AZSITE project that is currently being developed in Arizona will go a long way toward meeting the needs of the National Historic Preservation Act. It was developed by a consortium of state and private agencies and was previewed at a conference, funded by NCPTT, in Phoenix in February, 1997. The database structure meets compliance needs of section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The database can be further modified for each agency to serve its own management needs, as well, thereby eliminating the need for a separate management database for each agency. The spatial data will form the critical component as most requests for file information are geographically based. These data will also be the most expensive to produce as few federal agencies have the staff to devote to developing and digitizing spatial data. The BLM and the National Forests have mandates to develop GIS systems for land management purposes. The spatial data themes created by the AZSITE project will be fully compatible with these mandates and the data will form the key component of cultural resource management databases. As there is no national standard for spatial data in archaeology, it is important that all agencies within the state work in collaboration so that data and metadata are compatible among all agencies.

The database content and the spatial data themes were developed to meet the needs of specific legislative mandates that have been in place for over two decades. The data developed will continue to be applicable to cultural resource management issues in over two dozen state, federal and local agencies. The structure, however, is flexible enough to accommodate modifications as necessary. The agencies involved in producing the data themes have been engaged in cultural resource data management in Arizona for, in some cases six decades.

Technical approach:

The data to be developed for this project are the basis of compliance work done under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as well as the State Historic Preservation Act and the Arizona Antiquities Act. Section 106 requires federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic and prehistoric archaeological properties. Through a process of consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer, attempts are made to avoid or to effectively mitigate the adverse affects of development on historic and prehistoric properties. The first step in any consultation is a review of records to determine whether sites are known to exist in an area or whether reconnaissance work has been done. Under the current situation, the dispersed nature of the records and the lack of electronic access makes this first step time-consuming.

The AZSITE project has developed a database of information designed specifically to meet the needs of section 106 compliance: site and survey location and ownership information, which will be managed as spatial layers, and associated attribute data consisting of relevant archaeological and management data (site type, age, national register eligibility, recorder information, report information) (attach graphic of data model?). The database is currently on SQL Server with an ACCESS database front-end. The spatial data are being developed in ArcView 3.

[NEED SOME DISCUSSION OF CONTINUING SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS and need for/reason for customization, GIS standards….

Data will be made available to state, federal and private agencies in Arizona involved in cultural resource management. Internet access, with appropriate security control, will provide the widest, fastest access [DISCUSSION OF ANY SOFTWARE DEV. NEEDS FOR INTERNET SECURITY?]

[long range management plans]

Participation and outreach:

This project is a collaboration of six Arizona BLM field offices and the state office, six National Forests, the Archaeological Research Institute at Arizona State University (ARI), the Arizona State Museum at The University of Arizona (ASM), the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA), the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the State Land Department.

ASM was established by the Territorial Legislature in 1893 as the Territorial Museum to collect and preserve the archaeological resources of the territory and, later, of the state; MNA was established in 1928 by Harold S. Colton to house archaeological collections from northern Arizona. For many years, ASM and MNA have both acted as site files repositories. While each institution's files originally tended to concentrate in their respective parts of the state, they are not mutually exclusive. MNA retains many records for Coconino National Forest. In 1960, the Arizona Antiquities Act assigned responsibility for state lands archaeology to ASM. ASM also retains many site records for BLM. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) and the State Historic Preservation Act of 1982 required that the SHPO maintain inventories of properties on the national and state registers of historic places as well as register eligible properties on both state and federal lands in Arizona. ASU's holdings developed out of work done under the NHPA on planning and construction of the Central Arizona Project canal, although ASM and MNA also participated in aspects of this project and retain site files. ARI maintains site files on 4,500 sites in the Tonto Basin of east-central Arizona. Most of these sites were recorded on Tonto National Forest land [IS THIS TRUE???] ARI staff were primarily responsible for development of the pilot project database and will continue to work on software development and implementation. ARI funded these activities through grants from the SHPO.

There are many agencies and institutions that will ultimately benefit from the AZSITE database and GIS that are not directly included in this proposal. They include local, state, national and tribal utilities, tribes, municipal and county land use planning agencies, federal and state emergency management agencies, mining and development companies. Because all of these institutions, as well as the parties to this proposal, have a stake in the outcome, various efforts at communication with all parties have already been made and will continue. The activities of the consortium have been published in the quarterly newsletter of the Arizona Archaeological Council over the past year. We recently implement a periodic newsletter of our own that is mailed to 200 individuals at state, tribal, federal and private agencies concerned with cultural resource management in Arizona. A web-site has been established. The NCPTT grant funded a two-day conference that was held in Phoenix in February, 1997. Over 100 people from federal, state, tribal and private agencies attended. The AZSITE consortium holds periodic meetings in Tempe which are open to concerned parties.