Lessons from the Field: The Intersection of Field Schools and Public Land Management Concerns

Summary

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation manages approximately 4 million acres of state owned land and an additional 910,000 acres through conservation easements with the stated goal “to conserve, improve, and protect New York’s natural resources and environment….” New York state law interprets “environment” broadly, including cultural and historic resources within the concept. Thousands of archaeological sites, ranging from Archaic camps to Revolutionary War battlefields to historic plane crash sites, are located on, and enhance the value of, state land, and NYSDEC is charged with their conservation. This paper discusses the role that NYSDEC plays in managing these resources and how the agency cooperates with colleges throughout the state as they conduct field schools on various sites. We will focus on the inherent contradictions present within the goal of “conserving” cultural resources, while also working with schools to obtain the information necessary to better manage those very resources for the public good and train future generations of archaeologists in the skills required to manage cultural resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Public Agencies and Universities: Partnerships for the Past

Keywords