State of Site Stewardship (or Lack Thereof) in Colorado

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Site Stewardship Matters: Comparing and Contrasting Site Stewardship Programs to Advance Our Practice" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Colorado’s State Historic Preservation Office and Office of the State Archaeologist (OSAC) share the same building and staff, but site stewardship of archaeological sites is not consolidated in the same manner. In the summer of 2020, OSAC conducted a survey to better understand Coloradans’ wants and needs regarding public archaeology, archaeology education, and outreach. The survey highlighted the Program for Avocational Archaeological Certification (PAAC), Colorado’s educational program that facilitates public service and the protection of archaeological resources through education, research, and on-the-ground management. Responses from the survey indicated Coloradans are interested in and want more opportunities to participate in site stewardship. Unfortunately, OSAC doesn’t actually manage any lands, just holds responsibility for cultural resources. Thus, any possibility of a statewide site stewardship program requires a substantial lift in the relationships between federal, state, and local public agencies, as well as tribal representatives, and even private landowners. This paper broadly reviews the current site stewardship programs, evaluates the place for PAAC and its in-hand resources in contrast to those that need to be developed, and considers what site stewardship looks like amongst different Colorado communities—local, descendant, Indigenous, and immigrant, as well as rural vs urban.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Site Stewardship Matters: Comparing and Contrasting Site Stewardship Programs to Advance Our Practice   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37131.0