Fish Traps, Kayak Surveys, Culture Camps – NHPA in Alaska National Forests

Summary

In an effort to meet the spirit of the NHPA, USDA Forest Service Alaska Region has a long history of collaboration and partnering with a wide variety of tribal, state, federal, not-for-profit, and educational entities, institutions, agencies, and volunteers throughout the state and beyond. The Alaska Region consists of the two largest national forests in the system, totaling 21.9 million acres. Over the last 18 years the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District (KMRD), located on the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, has been conducting annual Windows on the Past sea-kayaking expeditions and a cooperative educational program with the University of Alaska Southeast-Ketchikan. Through this program volunteers and students have helped to locate and document 59 new pictograph sites, bringing the total number of rock paintings to 65 on the KMRD and representing 58% percent of the state’s known pictographs. A current example from the Chugach National Forest located in Southcentral Alaska includes an annual culture camp with the Sovereign Nation of the Kenaitze and Applied Archaeology International; Kenaitze youth and elders, and representatives from traditional owner groups from Western Australia participate in projects to mitigate damage to village sites as part of an ongoing exchange program to share cultural knowledge.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Celebrating NHPA 50th the US Forest Service Way - It's All about Partnerships!

Keywords

Spatial Coverage