Report on Activities

The Secretary of the Interior is charged with reporting to Congress about Federal programs and activities that affect the nation's archeological heritage. Since the 1970s, Federal agencies with archeological resource stewardship responsibilities have collected and published government-wide information about Federal Archeology Program accomplishments. This effort is coordinated by the Departmental Consulting Archeologist (DCA). Reports illustrated efforts to inventory, recover, protect, and preserve archeological sites, collections, and data.

No government-wide reports are currently being produced. The data collected earlier, however, continue to be an important resource as it is the only data about archeological activities and resources managed by Federal agencies that are collected separately from information about other cultural resources. It provides important data for evaluating the success of agency or department missions, addressing strategic and policy issues, and planning future activities

History of Reporting on Federal Archeology

Over the past century and under three different laws, the Secretary of the Interior has been charged with reporting to Congress and the public about Federal programs and activities that affect the nation's archeological heritage. These reporting responsibilities were delegated to the Departmental Consulting Archeologist (DCA). The DCA, in coordination with federal agencies with archeological resource stewardship responsibilities, has collected and published government-wide information about the Federal Archeology Program. These reports provide an overview of federal activities carried out as part of programmatic stewardship of archeological resources. Reports include information about activities to recover, protect, and preserve archeological sites, collections, and data.

Reporting Under the Antiquities Act

Reporting on federal archeology management activities has been an important component of the DCA’s functions ever since the position was established. The first DCA, Jesse Nusbaum, submitted a series of five reports (1928-1932) to the Secretary of the Interior that were published or referenced in the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior. Thereafter, information about the DCA was compiled as part of the NPS submission for the Secretary of the Interior’s annual report to Congress and is available in individual reports.

Initially, the DCA reported on the number of permits that were issued annually under the Antiquities Act, noting the number of applications, and details of the permitted projects. Report content expanded over time. The 1948 submission, for example, noted that Nusbaum investigated reported violations of the Antiquities Act. In 1951, Nusbaum advised cultural resource managers in Canada on development of legislation similar to the Antiquities Act. The citations for Nusbaum’s original reports on archeology follow.

1929 – Annual Report of Jesse L. Nusbaum, Department Archaeologist and Superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park to the Secretary of the Interior

1930 – Annual Report of the Department Archaeologist to the Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1930

1931 – Annual Report of the Consulting Archaeologist to the Secretary of the Interior for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1931

1932 – Annual Report of the Consulting Archaeologist (unpublished manuscript)

Reporting Under the Archeological and Historic Preservation Act

The 1974 Archeological and Historic Preservation Act (AHPA) mandated that “The Secretary shall coordinate all Federal survey and recovery activities authorized underthis Act and shall submit an annual report at the end of each fiscal year” to a Congressional committee specified in the act (Sec. 5 (c); 16 USC 469a-3(c)). Reporting requirements included the scope and effectiveness of the program, survey projects and results, and costs incurred by the government to complete work.

This law prompted development of a report independent of the annual report of the Secretary of the Interior documenting Federal archeological activities. Reporting objectives were to: (1) maintain oversight and coordinating responsibilities; (2) identify problems, accomplishments, and costs of the program; (3) assure a uniform Federal program; (4) review agency efforts; and (5) provide recommendations to improve provisions of the Act.

The DCA’s office produced a variety of reports between 1975 and 1984 to comply with this statutory requirement. One consistent series was titled “Archeological and Historic Data Recovery Program” and included the following titles and content.

1975 – Archeological and Historic Data Recovery Program Fiscal Year 1975. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

The first report on Federal archeological activities developed under the 1974 AHPA included a tabulation of projects, contractors, costs, nature of investigations, and stage of project completion for Federal archeological projects. The DCA and staff prepared this report.

1976 – A Status Report to the Archeological Community. The Interagency Archeological Services Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

The Interagency Archeological Services (IAS) program, managed by the DCA, published a status report about its functions and organization. It described the scope, program implementation and effectiveness, innovations, and budget and cost effectiveness. Abstracts of archeological investigation reports available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and a table of project costs, contractors, and research reports were appended to the report.

1976 – Archeological and Historic Data Recovery Program Fiscal Year 1976. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

This report on Federal archeological activities developed under the 1974 AHPA included a tabulation of projects, contractors, costs, nature of investigations, and stage of project completion for Federal archeological projects.

1977-78 Archeological and Historical Data Recovery Program Fiscal Year 1977-78. Heritage and Conservation and Recreation Service Publication No. 15. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

This report provided case studies of projects in which the IAS was involved directly, NTIS abstracts, a discussion of budget and cost effectiveness, and tables specifying projects, agencies served, costs, contractors, and final reports.

1979 – Interagency Archeological Services Final Report on Archeological Investigations

In 1978, the Interagency Archeological Services program was incorporated into the newly created Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. The first report produced by this new division provided case studies of projects in which the IAS was involved, NTIS abstracts, a discussion of budget and cost effectiveness, and tables specifying projects, agencies served, costs, contractors, and final reports.

1979 – Archeological and Historical Data Recovery Program 1979. Interagency Archeological Services, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

This report included a description of Federal archeological activities, results of a questionnaire, a summary of IAS costs of archeological assistance to other agencies, the distribution of projects and archeological project dollars across the U.S., a list of projects and reports in FY1979, and NTIS abstracts. This report was finished after the 1979 passage of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, but was directed toward the reporting requirements of the 1974 Act.

1980-1982 – Archeological and Historical Data Recovery Program. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

This compilation was based on information collected from 47 federal agencies. It documented 1774 projects, most of them conducted by 13 agencies, for a cost of $57 million over 3 years. It documented the significant (80%) drop in number of archeological projects from 1980 to 1981 and listed completed Federal archeological studies, and the resulting reports.

1983-1984 Annual Report to Congress on the Federal Archeological Program FY83 and FY84. Archeological Assistance Division, NPS, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

Despite the name change, this report had the same format and content as previous AHPA reports. It contained information about contracts administered by NPS on behalf of other federal agencies, program costs, accomplishment reports, list of interagency agreements in force during the reporting period, and discussion of archeological sites in the National Register of Historic Places and National Landmarks programs.

Reporting Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act

In 1979, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) was passed. ARPA included federal agency responsibilities to report to Congress and the public on stewardship activities listed in in the Act:

“. . . the Secretary of the Interior shall comprehensively report . . . on the activities carried out under the provisions of this Act, and he shall make such recommendations as he deems appropriate as to changes or improvements needed in the provisions of this Act (ARPA; Sec. 13, 16 U.S.C. 470ll)” as part of the annual AHPA report to Congress.

The Uniform Regulations for Protection of Archaeological Resources (43 CFR 7; 36 CFR 296; 32 CFR 229; 18 CFR 1312) provide guidance across Federal agencies for reporting. Amendments to ARPA in 1988 required Federal land managing agencies to report better and more comprehensively on the looting of archeological sites (Sec. 14; 16 U.S.C. 470mm).

In 1985, an inter-departmental meeting of federal archeologists, historic preservation officers, and the DCA resulted in an agreement to work cooperatively and expand the scope of information collection for reporting on the Federal Archeology Program. The DCA coordinated the distribution of the resulting 77-item questionnaire to 42 federal agencies. After 1985, content in the Secretary’s Report to Congress on Federal Archeology was erived from data collected through the annual questionnaire.

In 1996, the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act, Pub. L. 104-333 removed AHPA requirement that the Secretary of the Interior report to Congress on federal archeology. This repeal did not remove ARPA reporting requirements, and many federal agencies continued to respond to the questionnaire and report to the NPS on archeological activities. The NPS stopped distributing the questionnaire in 2014, and the last report produced covered 2012-2013 data.

The Secretary’s Report to Congress was the only report that specifically collected data on Federal archeology activities separate from other cultural resource activities and expenditures. It was an important tool for evaluating the success of agency or department missions, addressing strategic and policy issues, and planning future activities. It still provides trend data to assess activities over time and standardized data to allow comparisons across agencies.

Federal Archeology Stewardship Data

Between 1985 and 2013, the DCA coordinated collection of quantitative information about federal archeology stewardship activities and made data publicly available. While data solicited changed over time, with questions added and removed from the questionnaire, many questions remained stable throughout the life of the reporting effort. The data resulting from these questions can be found online:

The questionnaire for the Secretary’s Report to Congress on Federal Archeology has been revised 10 times since its inception in 1985, the last being in 2012. Revisions reflect changing priorities and information needs within the discipline. The “Changes to the Questionnaire” document describes changes through time and is informative in interpreting quantitative data shown in data tables.

Federal Reports on Archeology

1985-1986 Federal Archeology. The Current Program. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire in report, page 184 in PDF

1987 Federal Archeology, 1987 Activities and Results. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire in report, page 113 in PDF

1988-1990 Federal Archeology Program, Fiscal Years 1988-1990. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire in report, page 129 in PDF

1991-1993 Federal Archeology Program, Report to Congress, FY1991-1993. Departmental Consulting Archeologist, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire in report, page 139 in PDF

1994-1995 Federal Archeology Program, Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress, FY1994-1995. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire in report, page 66 in PDF

1996-1997 Federal Archeology Program, Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress, FY1996-1997. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire on Fiscal Year 1997 Activities.

1998-2003 The Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress on the Federal Archeology Program, 1998-2003. Departmental Consulting Archeologist, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Questionnaire on Fiscal Year Activities

2004-2007 The Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress on the Federal Archeology Program, FY2004-2007. Departmental Consulting Archeologist, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Quantitative Questionnaire on 2007 Activities

2008-2011 The Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress on the Federal Archeology Program, FY2008-2011. Departmental Consulting Archeologist, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Quantitative Questionnaire on 2008 Activities, Quantitative Questionnaire on 2009 Activities, Quantitative Questionnaire on 2010 Activities, Quantitative Questionnaire on 2011 Activities

2012-2013 The Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress on the Federal Archeology Program, FY2012-20013. Departmental Consulting Archeologist, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Quantitative Questionnaire on 2012 Activities, Quantitative Questionnaire on 2013 Activities

Last updated: November 5, 2024