Cultural Resource Data for Wilderness Planning

Identification, evaluation, documentation, and full understanding and interpretation of archeological and other cultural resources are essential to informed decision-making for wilderness planning and operations. Without basic inventory data and research on archeological and other cultural resources, planning processes cannot provide for protection of the resources. Valued resources are unique to each wilderness, and identification will depend upon the professional judgment of the cultural resource specialist and results of consultations. This section of Archeological and Other Cultural Resources and Wilderness lists NPS sources for compiling information about cultural resources in wilderness areas.

Cultural resource specialists collect, compile and analyze information on park cultural resources and make the information available to wilderness managers to ensure that all members of interdisciplinary teams have documentation necessary to comply with Federal cultural resource laws and regulations, Executive Orders, and policies. The information may be shared during consultations, but cultural resource managers in parks, regions, and centers; and park superintendents have responsibilities to ensure that sensitive cultural information is kept protected from disclosure.

Existing sources for data include centralized data bases, cultural resource studies, and other types of documentation. A downloadable checklist for developing cultural resource information for wilderness planning can assist in compiling information.

NPS Centralized Data Bases

Through cultural resource programs required by NHPA Section 110, park units systematically identify, document, and assess archeological and other cultural resources with an archeological component for significance and eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. Documentation is compiled in the Cultural Resources Information System (CRIS).

The Interior Collections Management System (ICMS) provides access to information about 1) archival resources, such as resource management records that provide information on past studies in a wilderness, and 2) natural history specimens and cultural objects collected in a wilderness and now in park museum collections.

Historic Context Studies

History reports, administrative histories, identification and evaluation studies provide background information for evaluating resources important to wilderness character. Historic context studies also assist in identifying, for consultation purposes, traditionally associated people with an interest or association with the wilderness.

Anthropological Studies

Anthropological studies, such as ethnographic overviews and assessments, cultural affiliation and lineal descent studies, oral histories, traditional use studies, place name studies and other studies provide valuable information about the nature and location of sites and resources of significance to groups with traditional ties to park lands and resources. Such interdisciplinary studies contribute to archeological and historic site field research, site identification and documentation.

In Alaska parks, subsistence harvest studies conducted in support of the Federal Subsistence Management Program have a strong ethnographic focus. They provide information not only about harvest levels but also about networks of sharing and cultural values attached to subsistence activities.

Other Park Resources

In addition to primary records in various data bases, much wilderness cultural resource information may be found in "gray literature" - unpublished reports. Documents may include final reports for NHPA and NEPA compliance projects, park overviews and assessments, Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/ Historic American Landscapes Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) documentation, cultural landscape reports, and academic research reports.