The United States (Geographic Keyword)
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This is an introduction to three articles (Bill Lipe, Caroline Zander, and Francis P. McManamon) commemorating the important contributions to United States archeology and historic preservation and a brief overview of the Antiquity's Act. The Antiquities Act set aside archeological sites on the public lands of the United States for special protection as public resources of significance and value to every American. The Antiquities Act aimed to ensure that the commemorative value, history, and...
The Antiquities Act
This project includes documents related to the history and historical background of the Antiquities Act and its implementation during the century since its enactment. The Antiquities Act was signed into law in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The history of American conservation often is told in terms of legal milestones, and rightly so. An environmental activist working to expand a local park, a historic preservationist trying to save a cherished old building, a volunteer working on a...
The Antiquities Act - Setting Basic Preservation Policies (1996)
On June 8, 1906, 90 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law the Antiquities Act. This law was intended to protect archeological sites on the public lands of the United States as resources of significance and value to every American. The goal was to preserve historic, scientific, commemorative, and cultural values embodied in archeological sites for present and future generations of Americans. As one means of commemorating the anniversary of this important statute, this article...
The Antiquities Act and National Monuments: A Progressive Conservation Legacy (1999)
The Antiquities Act of June 8, 1906, may be the most important piece of preservation legislation ever enacted by the United States government. Although its title suggests a limited focus on archeological matters, in practice the law became a cornerstone of preservation in the federal system. By allowing Presidents extraordinary power to preserve cultural and “scientific” features on public land, it created a mechanism for rapid decisionmaking concerning the disposition of federal lands. The...
The Antiquities Act and the Acreage Debate (2006)
June 8 of 2006 marked the centennial of the Antiquities Act —a law that, by any standards, is a landmark in the history of U.S. land management policies. There was a sweeping application of this act in the late 1970s that reserved a huge amount of acreage, and generated as large an amount of controversy. Questions arose, therefore, about the roots of that controversy, and whether the actions taken regarding Alaska were unique. The Antiquities Act’s second section provides for the U.S. president...
The Antiquities Act of 1906 and the Hidden Treasures of the American West (2008)
This is a two page overview of the Antiquities Act by the Wilderness Society.. Since Congress passed the Antiquities Act in 1906, presidents—Republicans and Democrats alike—have used the Act more than 100 times to preserve some of our most spectacular and historically important public lands. Although its title suggests a focus on archaeology (ruins, petroglyphs, etc.), the Antiquities Act gives the president the power to protect all forms of American history – natural, scientific, and...
Antiquities Act: An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities (1906)
This is a copy of the Antiquities Act
The Antiquities Act: Protecting America's Natural Treasures (2006)
Rising 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, Devils Tower casts shadows over the rolling hills, pine forests, and prairie grasses that comprise Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming. Proclaimed a National Monument on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt, Devils Tower is our oldest National Monument and represents the first time the Antiquities Act of 1906 was used to preserve some of the remarkable resources found throughout the United States. Since the...
The Antiquities Act: The First Hundred Years of a Landmark Law (2006)
The history of American archaeology, conservation, and historic preservation often is told in terms of legal milestones, and rightly so. An environmental activist working to expand a nearby park, a historic preservationist trying to save a cherished old building, a volunteer working on a national wilderness campaign, an archaeologist investigating an ancient village site in advance of reservoir construction—all are working from a solid foundation of statutory authorities that, law by law, have...
Archeological and Historic Data Recovery Program Fiscal Year 1975 (1975)
The Secretary’s Report to Congress provides information to several audiences—Congress, the archeological and historic preservation community, and the American public—about the ways that Federal agencies meet the challenges of archeological resource stewardship. While much work remains to be done, the information in these reports demonstrates that Federal agencies are making progress in locating and protecting sites, caring for collections, and initiating public involvement in these...
Archeology and the Federal Government (1994)
This is a special issue of the National Park Service's journal, CRM, articles in this issue provides information about federal agencies' archeological activities in parks and other federal lands, Indian tribes, states, local governments and the private sector. This special issue of CRM magazine focuses on the protection and management of archeological sites, collections, and data. The National Strategy for Federal Archeology encompasses public education and participation, public use of the...
Archeology and the Federal Government (1988)
The Federal government's concern for preservation of important archeological properties began during the nineteenth century in response to the destruction and looting of Indian ruins in the American Southwest. Since then, the breadth of this concern has grown to include the consideration of impacts to archeological properties, as well as other kinds of cultural resources by most Federal activities. As this issue of the CRM Bulletin illustrates, a very wide range of agencies and activities at the...
Breath of Life: An Outline of the Development of a National Policy for Historical Preservation (1966)
The purpose of this study is to trace the development of the Federal interest in historical preservation, particularly as it is evidenced in legislation. The study focuses on the firsts in the movement and does not purport to be definitive in any sense of the word. Two major legislative enactments received special emphasis, the Antiquities Act of 1906 and the Historical Sites Act of 1935. Together they form the heart and soul of the Federal policy in the preservation of nationally significant...
Bush Eyes Unprecedented Conservation Program (2008)
This is the transcript from the radio program "All Things Considered". The broadcast discusses the possibility of George W. Bush using the Antiquities Act to protect ocean reserves. If the idea moves ahead, environmentalists say it would be one of the most significant ctions of conservation in U.S. history. And they say it could give President Bush what you might call a historic blue legacy.
Commemorating Antiquities Act of 1906 (1982)
This booklet, printed at no expense to the Federal Government, has been prepared on the occasion of the Founders Day Dinner, August 25, 1982, marking 66 years of the work and achievements of the National Park Service – a unique conservation agency of the Federal Government. The Founders Day program is sponsored by the 1916 Society of the Employees and Alumni Association of the National Park Service, melding the retired and active members of the National Park Service Family, and rededicating us...
Conservation Fund, Antiquities Act Prove Great for Outdoors (2011)
The far-reaching America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Report, released on February 16, synthesizes input from a national conversation that got Americans talking about the places they love and how they want to work together to protect them. Our public lands, the heritage of all Americans, face many hallenges - climate change, air and water pollution, urban sprawl, and loss of open space. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle can take direction from the nation’s collective wisdom as they look to...
Controversy over Antiquities Act and National Monuments makes little sense (2010)
Recently, some members of Congress have attempted to create controversy with an anonymous leak of an “Internal Draft — NOT FOR RELEASE” memo within the Department of Interior. The leaked memo contained a list of 14 areas in nine states that might be worthy of being designated as national monuments under the Antiquities Act. The memo clearly stated, “further evaluations should be completed prior to any final decision, including an assessment of public and Congressional support.” For those of us...
CRS Report for Congress: National Monument Issues (2002)
Presidential creation of national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906 often has been contentious. Recent controversy has focused on President Clinton’s creation of 19 new monuments and expansion of 3 others. Issues have related to the size of the areas and types of resources protected, the inclusion of non-federal lands within monument boundaries, restrictions on land uses, and the manner in which the monuments were created. The Bush Administration is reviewing President Clinton’s...
CRS Report for Congress: RS20647 Authority of a President to Modify or Eliminate a National Monument (2000)
Both the President and the Congress currently can create "national monuments," a type of conservation unit created from federal lands. Since 1933 and until recently, monuments were managed by the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior. President Clinton has created a number of new national monuments and has charged agencies other than the National Park Service with the management of several of them. The President exercised the authority given the President under the Antiquities...
The Devil, the Details, and the Dawn of the 21st-Century Administrative State: Beyond the New Deal (2000)
More than half a century has passed since the New Deal, the era known for ushering in the modern administrative state, where broad-sweeping regulatory powers were delegated to over a dozen new executive agencies pursuant to a raft of social legislation. Until the later years of the New Deal, courts were highly suspicious of socially progressive legislation, and, for that matter, any legislation that upset common law systems supporting private property rights and freedom of contract. Regulatory...
Establishing the Grand Canyon National Monument - A Proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt (1908)
I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the power in me vested by section two of the Act of Congress, approved June eighth, nineteen hundred and six, entitled, "An Act For the preservation of American antiquities," do proclaim that there are hereby reserved from appropriation and use of all kinds under all of the public land laws, subject to all prior valid adverse claims, and set apart as a National Monument, all the tracts of land, in the Territory of...
Federal Archaeological Programs and Activities: The Secretary of the Interior's Report to Congress FY1987 (1993)
This document, the Secretary of the Interior's report to Congress on Federal archeological activities, is prepared for the Secretary by the Departmental Consulting Archeologist, Archeological Assistance Program, National Park Service (Knudson and McManamon 1992). The report is required by Section S(c) of the Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974 (AHPA; P.L. 93-291, 16 USC 469-469c) and Section 13 of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 CARP A; 16 USC 470aa-470mm), as...
The Federal Archaeology Program: Report to Congress FY1996 and FY1997 (1999)
The archeological record--what has been left behind by those who came before--is a vast store of knowledge about our diverse cultural heritage. That record is fragile and irreplaceable, constantly undergoing changes from cultural and natural processes that threaten the valuable information it contains. Our knowledge of the past depends on how well we preserve and investigate this wealth of information. The American people have charged their government with preserving an estimated 6 to 7...
Federal Archeology Program Description and Analysis
This project includes a variety of products related to the archeological activities carried out by or required by Federal agencies. The agencies include land managing agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management or the National Park Service. Other agencies carry out or fund development activities, such as the Federal Highway Administration or the Bureau of Reclamation. Some agencies focus on regulatory activities, such as licenses issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. All of...
Federal Archeology Program Quantitiative Data by Year: 1985-2003 (2006)
The spreadsheets that can be accessed at the URL in the citation information document the archeological activities reported by Federal agencies since 1985 to 2003. Activities reported include the number of project background reviews conducted, the number of field studies to identify and evaluate sites conducted, and the number of data recovery/excavation projects conducted. Also reported are data about the extent of looting or vandalism of archeological sites on land managed by Federal...