2014 Preserve America 

Progress Report

Produced by

U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Land Management

Cultural Resource Management Program

September 2014
Suggested citation:

Cultural resource management program. 2014. 2014 Preserve America Progress Report. U.S. Department of the Interior. 

Bureau of Land Management, Division of Cultural, Paleontological Resources and Tribal Consultation, Washington, DC.

Production services provided by:

Bureau of Land Management

National Operations Center

Information and Publishing Services Section

P.O. Box 25047

Denver, CO 80225

BLM/WO/GI-14/011+8100

Cover photo: Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
2014 Preserve America 

Progress Report

September 2014
Section of wall in historical house, near Beatty, Nevada
2014 Preserve America Progress Report iii

Table of Contents

Executive Summary....................................................................................................................... 1

Background................................................................................................................................... 3

Overview of the BLM Cultural Resource Managment Program..................................................... 5

The BLM Budget, 2011-2013 ..................................................................................................... 13

The BLM Cultural Resource Management Program Statistics Update......................................... 25

Updates to Program Policy and Procedures.................................................................................. 33

•	 Revision of the National Programmatic Agreement....................................................... 33

•	 Permitting Improvement Efforts.................................................................................... 35

•	 NEPA and NHPA Integration ...................................................................................... 36

•	 Tribal Consultation Policy Development....................................................................... 37

Exemplary Partnerships............................................................................................................... 39

•	 Resource Protection ...................................................................................................... 39

•	 Research........................................................................................................................ 40

•	 Cultural Diversity ......................................................................................................... 42

•	 Youth Engagement........................................................................................................ 43

•	 Heritage Tourism and Outreach.................................................................................... 44

•	 Climate Change and Adaptation................................................................................... 46

References ................................................................................................................................... 49

Appendices.................................................................................................................................. 51

•	 Appendix A: List of Acronyms ...................................................................................... 51

•	 Appendix B: BLM Cultural Resource Management Program Fact Sheet

(Fiscal Year 2011-2013 Data)........................................................................................ 52
Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 1

Executive Summary

Section 3(c) of Executive Order 13287 on “Preserve America,” signed by President George

W. Bush on March 3, 2003, requires each federal agency with real property management 

responsibilities to prepare a progress report every 3 years by September 30 on identifying, 

protecting, and using historic properties in its ownership. The Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) prepares these reports for the Secretary of the Interior and the Advisory Council on

Historic Preservation (ACHP). This report represents the BLM’s fifth submission and covers fiscal

years (FYs) 2011, 2012, and 2013.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land—the most of any federal agency. 

This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 western 

states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate 

throughout the nation. The BLM is responsible for managing the public lands for multiple use 

and sustained yield in a manner that protects the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological,

environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archaeological values and provides 

opportunities for outdoor recreation, while recognizing the nation’s need for domestic sources of

minerals, food, timber, and fiber. The BLM’s cultural resource management program is faced with

the unique challenge of ensuring identification, protection, and use of historic properties in a

manner consistent with the BLM’s multiple-use mission.

The “2014 Preserve America Progress Report” provides updated information on BLM activities

that fall under Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Since the last

Preserve America report in 2011, the BLM played a key role in developing the Department of 

the Interior policy on consultation with American Indian tribes. In 2012, the BLM executed a 

substantially revised national programmatic agreement regarding the manner in which the BLM 

meets its responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act. The BLM also developed

instruction on coordinating procedures for compliance with the National Historic Preservation

Act and National Environmental Policy Act for meeting the BLM’s tribal consultation

responsibilities. In addition, the BLM worked closely with the Advisory Council on Historic

Preservation, White House Council on Environmental Quality, Department of Energy, and

others to improve permitting processes, especially for landscape-scale renewable energy and 

infrastructure projects. 

Through FY 2013, the BLM has surveyed more than 25 million acres (approximately 10 percent

of BLM surface lands) for historic properties, with an average of 759,535 acres surveyed annually
2 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

from FY 2011 through FY 2013. As in previous years,

the majority of the inventory work was funded by land use 

applicants and was performed by one of the more than 800 

consultants permitted by the BLM. In FY 2011, 10,777

projects triggered a literature search, at a minimum, and 

6,644 projects triggered an intensive Class III field inventory.

In FY 2012, the number of projects that required at least a

literature search rose to 11,205, and the projects requiring a 

Class III field inventory dropped to 6,488. In FY 2013, the

projects were 9,323 and 6,285, respectively. Cumulatively, 

the BLM has recorded more than 358,500 cultural 

properties in surveys on BLM-administered surface lands 

through FY 2013.

Between FY 2011 and FY 2013, the BLM determined an

additional 11,028 properties as eligible for listing on the 

National Register of Historic Places (National Register), for a

cumulative total of 49,734 properties. During the same period, 

the BLM added 13 National Register registrations, containing 

348 individual contributing properties, and also added 3 

national historic landmarks. In FY 2011, the BLM placed

some type of protection measure on 4,632 cultural properties. 

This number increased to 7,355 in 2012, primarily due to 

the number of properties protected through administrative 

measures, and the number declined to 4,177 in 2013. From

FY 2011 through FY 2013, the BLM completed 658 new

signs, 292 new gates or fences, 641 stabilization actions, and 

657 maintenance activities. The BLM assigned an additional 

4,532 properties some form of administrative protection, such 

as closure, withdrawal from mineral leasing, or designation as 

an area of critical environmental concern. 

The BLM continues to improve documentation and 

preservation of its collections, working closely with both 

federal and nonfederal repositories. From FY 2011 to FY

2013, the percentage of BLM collections in good condition 

increased from 75 percent in FY 2010 to 83 percent. The

BLM also continues to educate American children, families, 

and teachers through the heritage education program. The 

program reached an average of 80,534 individuals each year 

from FY 2011 through FY 2013.

The BLM also actively investigates violations of the 

Archaeological Resources Protection Act. During the 3-year 

period, 408 criminal incidents were detected. Seven of those 

incidents resulted in arrests, with 25 convictions.

The BLM continued to build on its partnerships with other 

agencies, tribes, and nongovernmental organizations to protect 

resources, promote cultural diversity, engage youth, understand 

climate change, and provide economic development 

opportunity, especially through heritage tourism. 
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 3

Background

Section 3(b) of Executive Order 13287 on “Preserve America,” signed by President George W. Bush

on March 3, 2003, directed federal agencies with real property management responsibilities to 

review their regulations, policies, and procedures for compliance with Sections 110 and 111 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and to make the results of the review available to the

Secretary of the agency and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) by September

30, 2004. Section 3(c) of the executive order requires that each agency prepare a progress report on

identifying, protecting, and using their historic properties by September 30, 2005, and every third 

year thereafter, and make the report available to the ACHP and the Secretary of the agency. The

ACHP will then prepare a report on the state of the federal government’s historic properties and

their contribution to local economic development and will submit their next report to the President 

in February 2015.

In the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) initial September 2004 report, the BLM described

its multiple-use mandate and the vast expanse of public land it administers; the number, diversity, 

and condition of the cultural resources it manages, including museum collections in internal 

and nonfederal repositories; the regulations, policies, and procedures under which it manages its 

cultural resources, including the national programmatic agreement and state-specific protocols

under which the BLM complies with its NHPA Section 106 responsibilities; the challenges

confronting the agency in managing its cultural resources and the extraordinary ways in which the 

BLM meets these challenges; the sources of internal and external funds the BLM applies to protect, 

study, and use its resources; and the heritage tourism opportunities and economic benefits that the

BLM’s cultural resources provide.

The BLM’s September 2005 progress report expanded on the BLM’s public outreach, education,

tourism, and other partnership activities and updated the BLM’s progress in meeting the intent of

the executive order. The report also described updates to the BLM comprehensive 8100 manual 

series and BLM Handbook H-8120-1, “Guidelines for Conducting Tribal Consultation,” and

discussed the new website celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Antiquities Act of 1906. 

The September 2008 progress report emphasized the BLM’s cultural resource management program

funding, management and reporting on collectible and noncollectible heritage assets; described the 

use of NHPA Section 111; and highlighted exemplary museum, cultural resource data sharing, site

steward, heritage education, and Passport in Time partnerships.
4 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

The September 2011 progress report provided updates 

on the BLM’s organizational changes and outlined

fiscal year (FY) 2008 through FY 2010 performance

measures, budget, and NHPA Section 110 activities and

heritage education efforts. This report also described 

the BLM’s tribal consultation outreach and oil and gas

leasing reform initiatives; highlighted success stories; 

and provided numerous examples of exemplary tribal, 

youth, and heritage tourism partnerships. 

The September 2014 progress report describes the 

BLM’s advances in meeting its NHPA Section 110

responsibilities; execution of a new programmatic 

agreement regarding the manner in which the BLM 

meets its responsibilities under the NHPA; actions the

BLM is taking to improve permitting to meet the energy 

and infrastructure initiative compliance responsibilities; 

and the BLM’s support of the Department of the

Interior (DOI) tribal consultation policy development

and implementation. This report also provides examples 

of some of the exemplary partnerships the BLM 

maintains with other agencies, tribes, educational 

institutions, and nongovernmental organizations.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 5

Overview of the BLM Cultural 

Resource Management Program 

The DOI Mission and Strategic Plan

Mission: The DOI protects and manages the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage;

provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities

or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities.

In the “United States Department of the Interior Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011-2016”

(Interior Strategic Plan), five mission areas provide the department’s overarching stewardship

responsibilities and define its long-term areas of focus (DOI 2011). The combined mission areas

contain 23 goals, including 5 primary goals. Each goal describes one or more strategies, defining

how the department plans to accomplish its goals. These mission areas include:

•	 Provide natural and cultural resource protection and experiences.

•	 Sustainably manage energy, water, and natural resources.

•	 Advance government-to-government relationships with American Indian nations, and honor

commitments to insular areas.

•	 Provide a scientific foundation for decisionmaking.

•	 Build a 21st century DOI. 

The BLM Mission

The mission of the BLM is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for 

the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The BLM mission supports the DOI 

mission and the Interior Strategic Plan, in particular mission areas 1 and 2. The BLM manages 

and conserves resources for multiple use and sustained yield on more than 245 million acres of 

public land, or 42 percent of the land managed by the federal government. The BLM’s multiple-use

mandate under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) includes responsibility for

renewable and conventional energy and mineral development, forestry management, timber and 

biomass production, wild horse and burro management, domestic livestock grazing, and recreation 

and resource protection at sites of natural, scenic, scientific, and historical value, including the

National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). The BLM, including the cultural resource

management (CRM) program, receives program-specific appropriated funding to carry out these

responsibilities and to protect paleontological resources and conduct tribal consultation.
6 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

The Cultural Resource Management 

Program

Alignment with DOI Mission Areas: The BLM is 

held accountable for performance on the DOI mission 

areas, which are supported by related end outcome 

goals that guide a collection of related programs 

and services. Each goal is supported by quantitative 

performance measures—intermediate outcome goals 

and performance targets. The BLM aligns program 

performance goals and measures with these mission 

areas and links field operations to local-level program

elements. Results are rolled up to departmental goals.

The BLM’s CRM program aligns with the Interior

Strategic Plan’s mission area 1, which is to provide

natural and cultural resource protection and 

experiences (DOI 2011). The program is responsible

for the large, diverse, culturally significant, and

scientifically important aggregation of world-renowned

archaeological sites, historic structures, paleontological 

localities, national scenic and historic trails, and 

wild and scenic rivers on public lands, as well as the 

associated museum collections, records, and geospatial 

data. The long-term goals of the program focus on 

inventorying, stabilizing, protecting, and monitoring 

these resources. The program also supports the Interior 

Strategic Plan’s mission area 2, which is to sustainably

manage energy, water, and natural resources (DOI 

2011), by ensuring compliance with NHPA Section

106 and related National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) land-use actions that may affect historic

properties on public lands.

Table of Organization: The BLM Washington Office 

(WO) staff administers the CRM program through

oversight and policy. The BLM Director is the senior 

policy official under the “Preserve America” executive

order. The Director established the BLM Preservation 

Board in 1997 to provide policy and procedural 

advice to the BLM. The board is chaired by the BLM 

federal preservation officer, who works within the 

Directorate of Resources and Planning (AD-200) in

the Division of Cultural, Paleontological Resources, 

and Tribal Consultation (WO-240). Deputy

preservation officers in each of the 12 BLM state 

offices and the BLM tribal liaison officer are ex officio 

members of the board, and four field office managers

and two field specialists serve term appointments. The

board meets twice a year and publishes its meeting 

reports on the Internet. The BLM’s State Directors

guide the implementation of the CRM program and 

establish priorities for each of the 12 state offices. 

The BLM’s managers make land management

decisions and ensure the CRM program meets legal 

and professional standards for the more than 140 

district and field offices. The WO-240 division chief

is responsible for policy and program management 

for cultural resources, including museum collections, 

paleontological resources, and tribal consultation.

The NLCS and Community Programs Directorate 

(WO-400) and NLCS Division (WO-410),

established in 2009 through the Omnibus Public 

Land Management Act (Public Law 111-11), provide

a framework for managing the BLM’s specially

designated conservation areas. The mission of the 

NLCS is to conserve, protect, and restore outstanding 

cultural, ecological, and scientific values within these

special designations. The NLCS includes more than 27 

million acres and 900 individual national monuments, 

national conservation areas, wilderness areas, wild and 

scenic rivers, national scenic and historic trails, and 

portions of the California Desert Conservation Area. 

Congress authorized a specific budget line for NLCS

national monuments, national conservation areas, and 

other congressional designations that were previously 

funded by BLM programs, such as CRM, wildlife, 

and recreation. The NLCS and Community Programs 

Directorate (WO-400) has two divisions, NLCS

(WO-410); and Education, Interpretation, and
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 7

Partnerships (WO-420). WO-410 and WO-240 share

responsibility for preserving cultural and historic values 

on the public lands managed by the BLM.

Policy and Performance Regarding Cultural 

Resources: The BLM has promulgated detailed policy 

and implementation guidance in its 8100 Manual 

Sections on cultural resources. BLM policy explicitly 

recognizes the importance of protecting cultural 

resources:

•	 BLM Manual 8100, Paragraph 06A: Cultural

resources are recognized as fragile, irreplaceable 

resources with potential public and scientific uses,

representing an important and integral part of 

our Nation’s heritage.

•	 BLM Manual 8140, Paragraph 06C: The Field

Office manager’s first choice shall be to avoid

National Register listed and eligible properties 

that would otherwise be affected by a proposed 

land use, if it is reasonable and feasible to do so.

The BLM maintains a detailed standard for cultural 

resources information in land use plans in BLM 

Manual Section 8130, “Planning for Uses of Cultural

Resources.” As prospective developers identify

locations, the BLM ensures that the applicant provides 

sufficient project-specific information to meet the

BLM’s reasonable and good faith effort responsibilities

to inventory resources and to consult with tribes and 

stakeholders to identify resources that may be affected 

by project approval. The BLM encourages and supports 

noncompliance inventory projects. BLM states plan a 

number of acres for inventory at the beginning of the 

fiscal year based on the planned budget, and the BLM

maintains and tracks the information on inventory, 

evaluation, and nomination. The BLM supports 

National Register of Historic Places (National Register)

nominations but does not set inventory or nomination 

benchmarks at a national level.

The BLM oversees performance through an annual 

data call and through the cost management system. 

The BLM uses the collected data for various internal 

and external reporting requirements throughout the 

year, including the report to Congress on the federal 

archaeology program, public lands statistics, the DOI 

performance and accountability report, the museum 

collections management summary, and the collectible 

and noncollectible heritage assets portion of the BLM 

financial statement. In addition, the BLM states

that maintain BLM-state historic preservation office 

(SHPO) protocols under the national programmatic

agreement submit quarterly or annual reports to their 

SHPO on activities implementing the protocol. The

BLM also contributes to the annual interagency report 

on the National Trails System. 

The BLM addresses accountability in several ways. The 

BLM Preservation Board fosters consistency among 

field units in the implementation of policies and the

national programmatic agreement. The board can also 

perform reviews of field and state office programs at

the request of a state director, the ACHP, or a SHPO.

If a field or state office does not meet the performance

standards under the national programmatic agreement 

and state protocol, the board can recommend that 

the State Director decertify an office to operate under 

the provisions of the programmatic agreement that 

allow the use of alternative procedures outlined in 

the state-specific BLM-SHPO protocols. BLM state

offices conduct state or field office performance reviews

with and without the assistance of the SHPO and

the ACHP. Additionally, the Washington Office can

conduct performance reviews. 

Data Management: The BLM maintains data on 

cultural resources in partnership with SHPOs and

makes the data available to scholars, consultants, 

other agencies, and tribes primarily through SHPOs.
8 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

In addition, individual offices may maintain a 

combination of paper and electronic records of site 

and survey data. Locational data are maintained in 

geographic information systems (GIS) for use in

planning and compliance. Data on buildings and 

structures are maintained internally in the Financial

and Business Management System (FBMS), and the

Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) includes a field for

historic status. Generally archaeological sites will not be 

in the FRPP database, unless “improved” for visitation.

Physical and Administrative Protection Measures: 

The BLM also employs physical and administrative 

measures for the protection of cultural resources 

within its jurisdiction. Physical protection measures 

include signs, fences/gates, patrol/surveillance, 

erosion control, fire control, detailed recording, and

relocation. Administrative conservation measures 

include withdrawal, closure, special designations, 

land acquisition, and easements. Two administrative 

measures are unique to or uniquely important to the 

BLM: planning designations as part of the BLM’s

statutorily required public planning process and land 

acquisition under FLPMA.

•	 FLPMA provides for designations of areas of

critical environmental concern (ACEC) in the

development, revision, and amendment of 

resource management plans (RMPs). ACEC

designations highlight areas where special 

management attention is needed to protect and 

prevent irreparable damage to important historic, 

cultural, scenic, or other values. An ACEC must 

be both “relevant” (contain a significant historic,

cultural, or scenic value) and “important” or have

special significance or be particularly vulnerable.

•	The BLM identifies and prioritizes, or sets

criteria for prioritizing, parcels for acquisition 

in its land use plans. Under the authority of 

Sections 205 and 206 of FLPMA, BLM field

offices work with partners and willing sellers 

to acquire high-priority parcels by purchase, 

donation, or exchange.

¤ Under the authority of Section 205 of 

FLPMA, BLM field offices obtain funding

from the Land and Water Conservation 

Fund, other federal appropriations, land

trusts, mitigation funds, and other sources 

to purchase high-priority parcels. The BLM 

also collaborates with land trusts and other 

nongovernmental organizations to leverage 

donations of high-priority nonfederal 

parcels.

¤ Under the authority of Section 206 of 

FLPMA, the BLM exchanges property

to accomplish a variety of management 

goals, including protection of cultural and 

historic resources. The act authorizes the 

exchange of federal lands for nonfederal 

lands with significant resource values. An

approved RMP must identify the federal 

lands included in an exchange as suitable 

for disposal.

Training: Through its National Training Center, the 

BLM offers a week of comprehensive in-person cultural 

resources training in Phoenix, Arizona. The BLM 

also sponsors classes in the Archaeological Resources 

Protection Act (ARPA) and tribal consultation and

has a variety of individual classes available through the 

National Training Center website. 

DOI and BLM Performance Measures

The CRM program’s performance measures for

FY 2011 through FY 2013 are compared to the

performance goals and measures contained in the 

Interior Strategic Plan. Mission area 1 from the plan is 

to provide natural and cultural resource protection and 

experiences. Goal #2 for mission area 1 is to protect 

America’s cultural and heritage resources. Strategy one

for achieving this goal states “Protect and maintain the

nation’s most important historic areas and structures,
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 9

archaeological sites, and museum collections. 

Supporting performance measures include:

•	 Percent of archaeological sites in the DOI

inventory in good condition.

•	 Percent of historic structures in the DOI

inventory in good condition.

•	 Percent of collections in the DOI inventory in

good condition.

Archaeological Sites. Performance measure goal 

templates that support the Interior Strategic Plan define

an archaeological site as “a location where human

activities once took place and left some form of material 

evidence behind.” Performance measure templates define

good condition for this measure as “a site that is intact,

structurally sound, stable, and maintains its character 

and material.” Table 1 presents the archaeological sites

performance data for the last 3 fiscal years.

Table 1. Archaeological Sites Performance Data

Mission goal. Resource protection: protect the nation’s natural, cultural, and heritage resources.

End outcome goal. Protect cultural and natural heritage resources. 

End outcome performance measure. Percent of archaeological sites in the DOI inventory in good condition

2011 2012 2013

Number of archaeological 

sites (total number of known 

sites meeting good condition 

at the end of the reporting 

period/total number of 

monitored sites from the 

beginning of the reporting 

period)

60,521/

71,644

69,363/

80,653

64,562/

75,918

Percentage in good condition 84% 86% 85%

Annual goal 83% 85% 85%

Goal met? Yes Yes Yes
10 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

The BLM calculates this performance measure by 

dividing the total number of sites monitored that are 

stable, and thus considered to be in good condition, 

by the total number of sites monitored from the 

beginning of the reporting period in the BLM’s CRM

annual reports.

Historic Structures. The DOI defines historic structure

as “a building or other structure that is listed or eligible

for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,

or is located in a registered historic district and certified

by the DOI as being historically significant to the

district.” The BLM has further clarified this category in

its performance measure templates to include historicera standing buildings or other structures listed on, or 

eligible for listing on, the National Register, or located 

in a registered historic district, for which maintenance 

dollars have been spent. 

Historic structures are considered to be in good

condition when the structure is “intact, structurally

sound, stable, and maintains its character and material,”

according to performance measure templates. Table 2 

presents historic structures performance data for FY

2011 through FY 2013. The overall percentage in good

condition is directly affected by the number of historic 

structures added to the inventory that are already in 

good condition.

Table 2. Historic Structures Performance Data

Mission goal. Resource protection: protect the nation’s natural, cultural, and heritage resources.

End outcome goal. Protect cultural and natural heritage resources

End outcome performance measure. Percent of historic structures in the DOI inventory in good condition

2011 2012 2013

Number of historic structures 

(number of historic structures in good 

condition at the end of the reporting 

period/number of historic structures 

in DOI inventory from the beginning 

of the reporting period)

193/400 197/410 217/421

Percentage in good condition 48% 48% 52%

Annual goal 49% 48% 48%

Goal met? No Yes Yes 
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 11

In 2007, the BLM developed an initial list of historic 

sites with standing structures on which maintenance 

dollars were spent. Since that time, additional historic 

structures have been added to the inventory, which 

has had the effect of reducing the overall percent of 

structures in good condition.

Museum Collections. Museum collections are defined

in DOI Departmental Manual 411 as “assemblages

of objects, works of art, and/or historic documents, 

representing the fields of archeology, art, ethnography,

biology, geology, paleontology, and history, collected 

according to a rational scheme and maintained so 

they can be preserved, studied, and interpreted for 

public benefit.” A collection includes “cataloged

and/or uncataloged objects under the control of 

an administrative unit/location, which may have 

multiple facilities/spaces that house the collection, and 

may be managed in bureau or nonbureau facilities”

(DOI 1997). BLM museum collections consist of

archaeological and historic artifacts, paleontological 

specimens, and the records associated with these 

resources. In FY 2010, the BLM began reporting all

facilities that manage BLM museum collections (those 

managed by the BLM and other federal and nonfederal 

repositories), rather than only the three managed by

the BLM (the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores,

Colorado; the Billings Curation Center in Billings, 

Montana; and the National Historic Oregon Trail

Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon). Collections

are considered to be in good condition if the museum 

storage and exhibit facilities housing those collections 

meet at least 70 percent of applicable DOI standards 

for environmental and security controls for museum 

facilities. Adequate environmental and security controls 

provide a stable and secure environment to preserve 

museum objects and reduce potential for deterioration 

or loss. Table 3 presents museum collection 

performance data for the last 3 fiscal years.

Table 3. Museum Collection Data

Mission Goal. Resource protection: protect the nation’s natural, cultural, and heritage resources.

End outcome goal. Protect cultural and natural heritage resources.

End outcome performance measure. Percent of collections in the DOI inventory in good condition

2011 2012 2013

Number of 

collections

118/142 120/144 123/143

Percentage in good 

condition

83% 83% 86%

Annual goal 77% 83% 83%

Goal met? Yes Yes Yes
Organ Mountains Wilderness Study Area, New Mexico
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 13

The BLM Budget, 2011-2013 

BLM Emphasis Areas

The BLM ensures multiple use of the public lands by distributing funding across each of the 

Interior Strategic Plan mission areas through the development of emphasis areas. The BLM’s varied

programs, including the CRM program, are funded based on the emphasis areas and multiple-use 

program funding for projects within the emphasis areas, as well as program priorities. The BLM 

develops its budget 2 years in advance of the present year and is now developing its budget for 

2016. The FY 2011-2013 budgets emphasized the following themes, as shown in Table 4:

•	 New Energy Frontier. Support the President’s goal of promoting and facilitating renewable

energy development on public lands. 

•	 Youth in the Great Outdoors. Support programs and partnerships that engage youth in 

natural resources management; encourage young people and their families to visit, explore, 

and learn about the public lands; and promote stewardship, conservation, and public service. 

•	 Cooperative Landscape Conservation and Climate Change Adaptation. Implement a 

scientific approach to improve understanding of the existing condition of BLM landscapes at

a broader level; identify potential impacts from climate change; and develop and implement 

strategies to help native plant and animal communities adapt to climate change. 

•	 America’s Great Outdoors. Reconnect Americans to the outdoors by expanding and 

improving opportunities for recreation, education, and scientific activities.

•	 Wild Horse and Burro Program. Pursue a new strategy for managing wild horses and 

burros that places a greater emphasis on population-control methods and puts the program 

on a sustainable track, while ensuring the humane treatment of these iconic animals.

•	 Sage-Grouse Habitat Management. Implement sage-grouse conservation measures to help 

prevent the future listing of this species for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

•	 Western Oregon Strategy. Increase the volume of timber offered for sale; support key resource 

management planning objectives; increase surveying for rare, uncommon, or endangered 

species; and facilitate joint development of a recovery plan for the northern spotted owl. 
14 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Table 4. FY 2011-2013 Budget Emphasis Areas

Priority FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013

New Energy Frontier x x x

Youth in the Great Outdoors x x x

Wild Horse and Burro Program x x x

America’s Great Outdoors x x x

Cooperative Landscape Conservation/Climate 

Change Adaptation

x x x

Sage-Grouse Habitat Management x x

Western Oregon Strategy x x

Cultural Resources Management 

Program Funding

Appropriated funding for the CRM program supports 

proactive inventory and management of cultural sites 

and historic properties, paleontological localities, 

museum collections, data associated with these 

resources, and general tribal coordination. Funds are

allocated to states through (1) base funds; (2) stable

funds for labor and operations for the permanent 

workforce and basic program structure; and (3) onetime, or flexible, funds for specific projects based on

the BLM’s emphasis areas and program priorities.

Generally the CRM program spends about 80 percent 

on labor and 20 percent on operations. The BLM 

submits prioritized proposals for one-time funding 

projects through a database, and projects are selected 

through criteria established by the Washington Office. 

The CRM program also works within all of the BLM’s

budget emphasis areas because of the NHPA Section

106 compliance requirements. BLM state offices 

charge the costs associated with processing commercial 

applications and conducting tribal consultation for 

specific projects to the benefiting subactivities, including

renewable energy, fluid minerals, coal, timber, grazing, 

and abandoned mine lands. The BLM also uses cost 

recovery authority, when appropriate, to charge land use 

applicants for processing permits.

In addition to the funding appropriated to the 

CRM program by Congress, the program also 

receives funding from outside sources and other 

BLM programs, including the BLM Division of 

Decision Support, Planning, and NEPA (WO210), the challenge cost share (CCS) program, and

deferred maintenance program. The CCS partners 

and volunteers aid the CRM program’s appropriation

with in-kind contributions. See Table 5 for the CRM 

program’s FY 2011 through FY 2013 appropriated

funding levels.

Table 5. Appropriated Funding Levels for the Cultural Resource Management Program 

for Fiscal Years 2011, 2012, and 2013 

Fiscal Year 2011 2012 2013

Enacted Budget $16,816,000 $16,105,000 $15,131,000
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 15

In FY 2011, the CRM program was appropriated

$16,816,000, according to the BLM Operating Plan. 

This included an increase of $400,000 for Antiquities 

Act reprogramming, an increase of $400,000 for 

general program activities, and a reduction of $195,000 

for administrative costs. The general program activities 

increase allowed the CRM program to accomplish 

social landscape assessments and inventory of areas 

with special significance to tribal and various public

communities. In FY 2011, the program focused on two

principal initiatives. One, the program developed a new 

national programmatic agreement to replace the 1997 

version. Second, the program supported the Cultural 

Resources Data Sharing Partnership (CRDSP), which

the BLM manages in partnership with SHPOs.

In FY 2012, the CRM program was appropriated

$16,105,000, a decrease of $711,000. This included a 

general funding decrease of $437,000, administrative 

savings of $208,000, an information technology 

reduction of $40,000, and a $26,000 recission. In 

FY 2012, the program emphasized support of the

CRDSP, support of priority heritage tourism projects, 

and commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the 

Homestead Act.

In FY 2013, the CRM program was appropriated

$15,131,000, a reduction of $974,000, heavily due 

to the sequester. This amount represents a 6 percent 

decrease and $1,198,000 less than the President’s

FY 2013 budget request. The CRM program was

directed to maintain core activities such as inventory of 

high-sensitivity areas, monitor and stabilize the most 

threatened resources, support activities of the Office 

of Law Enforcement and Security, implement the new 

Paleontological Resources Preservation subtitle of the 

Omnibus Public Land Management Act, and play a 

role in developing the DOI tribal consultation policy. 

Reductions were taken from one-time project funds, 

as opposed to base support for labor and overhead. 

As such, nearly all projects prioritized for FY 2013

were cancelled. This also resulted in a loss of partner 

contributions, as most proactive management projects 

represent collaborations with nonfederal organizations 

that also commit resources to on-the-ground 

management efforts.

National Landscape Conservation System. The 

NLCS is composed of specific geographic areas of

BLM-administered land designated by acts of Congress 

or presidential proclamations to be specially managed 

to enhance their specific conservation values, while

allowing for appropriate multiple uses. The BLM’s

37 national monuments, national conservation areas, 

and similar designations are part of the NLCS and 

encompass more than 8.8 million acres. National 

monuments and national conservation areas were 

appropriated $31,870,000 in FY 2011, $31,819,000

in FY 2012, and $29,909,000 in FY 2013. The

strategic goals of the national monument and national 

conservation area program are conserving, protecting 

and monitoring, managing existing rights, supporting 

scientific discovery, developing partnerships, providing

education, and promoting youth programs. FY

2011 project funds directed toward cultural resource 

management went toward curation, rock art mapping, 

archaeological testing, and enhancing visitor services. 

FY 2012 and FY 2013 funds primarily supported

management of monuments, planning, and outreach.

Division of Decision Support, Planning, and NEPA.

In FY 2011, this division used $120,000 to fund

landscape-level studies for Alaska; Burley, Idaho; and 

the Lower Salmon River in Idaho. The information 

from these studies will be incorporated into the BLM’s

future RMP revisions to facilitate consideration of land 

use authorizations. The information will help identify 

areas that are suitable and unsuitable for development 

and help avoid impacts to significant cultural resources,

including areas of traditional cultural importance to 
16 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

American Indian tribes. In the past, these studies have 

included research review of existing NHPA Section 106

inventory data, development and testing of predictive 

models, American Indian cultural landscape studies, 

an ethnographic place names study, comprehensive 

inventories along historic trails, GIS modeling, and 

landscape-level overviews of historic sites.

Challenge Cost Share. The BLM CCS program 

leverages funds and works with partners and other 

external funding sources to enhance the ability/capacity 

to survey, monitor, and inventory resources; restore 

land health; support threatened and endangered species 

management; manage heritage resources; enhance 

recreation experiences; provide visitor services; conduct 

public outreach and education; and support emerging 

partnership opportunities. 

Congress requires CCS funds to be matched by outside 

state, local, tribal, private, and/or federal partners on 

a dollar-for-dollar basis, although partner matches 

can entail money, materials, equipment, professional 

expertise, other staff, and/or volunteer contributions. 

The CCS projects supporting the CRM program 

include upgrading museum collections; supporting 

data management; supporting site stewards; conducting 

proactive inventories; performing site recordation 

and data recovery; site restoration, stabilization, and 

management; and conducting field schools, Project

Archaeology Leadership Academy programs, national 

historic trail certification, and ethnographic and

landscape studies.

Cooperative agreements are used when the primary 

purpose is to provide public support and enhance 

public knowledge and appreciation of the BLM’s role in

the management of public lands through development 

or distribution of interpretive and/or educational 

materials and publications. Table 6 shows the amount 

funded to the CCS program and the ratio of support 

from FY 2011 through FY 2013.

Table 6. Summary of Challenge Cost Share/Cooperative Management Agreements Funding 

(FY 2011 – 2013)

Fiscal Year Number of 

Projects

Cooperator 

Input ($)

BLM Input ($) Cooperator: BLM 

Ratio

2011 11 223,000 158,000 1.4:1

2012 4 87,000 87,000 1:1

2013 6 208,000 125,000 1.7:1

Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement 

Program. The deferred maintenance program identifies

critical stabilization and rehabilitation needs and 

prioritizes them for funding through their condition 

and asset priority. Deferred maintenance projects can 

involve cultural resources and are prioritized according 

to DOI budget guidance and BLM direction, which 

considers health and safety factors, accessibility, 

resource protection and compliance, or other deferred 

maintenance needs. In accordance with DOI policy, 

historic-era standing properties and maintenance and 

construction of infrastructure improvements that 

protect cultural and fossil resources can be prioritized 

for funding. The maintenance program supports 

improvements to visitor services at historic sites and 

to energy efficiency of historic structures. For FY

2011 through FY 2013, the program supported the

following locations:
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 17

FY 2011	

•	 Empire Ranch preservation, Arizona ($715,000)

•	 Section Foreman’s House stabilization, Oregon

($44,000)

•	 Piedras Blancas Light Station lead paint removal,

California ($381,000)

•	 Garnet Ghost Town water system upgrade,

Montana ($348,000)

FY 2012	

•	 Section Foreman’s House stabilization, Oregon

($324,000)

•	 Rogue River Ranch structural repairs, Oregon

($224,000)

FY 2013	

•	 Mount Irish archaeological site rock art, Nevada

($165,000)

•	 Rogue River Ranch structural repairs, Oregon

($454,000)

•	 Palmerita Ranch work on abandoned well,

Arizona ($10,000)

•	 Abandoned New Verde uranium mine historic

structure stabilization, Colorado ($25,000)

•	 Walking Box Ranch and Red Rock Campground

structural repairs, Nevada ($3,000)

•	 Rhyolite historic townsite asbestos removal and

structure stabilization, Nevada ($25,000)

•	 Round Tangle Lake trail, Alaska ($24,000)

•	 Painted Rocks Petroglyph Campground parking

improvement, Arizona ($12,000)

•	 Empire Ranch solar power installation, Arizona

($161,000)

•	 San Pedro House solar power improvement,

Arizona ($101,000)

Land Acquisition. The land acquisition area promotes 

conservation of natural landscapes and resources by 

consolidating public ownership within nationally 

designated management units. Land acquisition work 

supports the America’s Great Outdoors initiative and

the NLCS by preserving national monuments, wild and 

scenic river corridors, and wilderness areas. The work 

performed in this functional area also preserves natural 

and cultural heritage resources, provides opportunities 

for environmentally responsible recreation, restores 

at-risk resources, and maintains functioning ecosystems 

through land acquisition. These funds are to be spent 

only for purchasing land or interests in land pursuant to 

a line-item appropriation; an inholding, emergency, or 

hardship allocation; or administrative or congressional 

reprogramming. The program works closely with 

more than 80 nonfederal organizations to identify 

opportunities and execute purchases. For FY 2011

through FY 2013, the locations of land acquisition

projects with the primary purpose of improving 

management of cultural resources include:

FY 2011

•	 Canyons of the Ancients National Monument,

Colorado ($1,374,000)

•	 Chain-of-Lakes Special Recreation Management

Area/Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail,

Montana ($283,000)

FY 2012

•	 Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument,

Arizona ($1,824,000)

•	 Canyons of the Ancients National Monument,

Colorado ($364,000)

•	 Chain-of-Lakes Special Recreation Management

Area/Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail,

Montana ($1,142,000)

•	 La Cienega ACEC/El Camino Real de Tierra

Adentro National Historic Trail, New Mexico

($1,915,000)

•	 Sandy River ACEC/Oregon National Historic

Trail, Oregon ($2,278,000)

FY 2013

•	 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,

Utah ($660,000)
18 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Land Acquisition Highlight

Colorado, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. In December 2010, the BLM 

completed fee purchase of the 3.83-acre Thomas property within the Canyons of the Ancients 

National Monument. The parcel (with improvements) was purchased with $400,000 of Land and

Water Conservation Fund appropriations. The purchase was assisted by The Conservation Fund.

The most visited area of the national monument is the Sand Canyon Trailhead (45,000 annual 

visitors). Access to the trailhead lies immediately west of the Thomas property. Acquisition of this

parcel allows the BLM to prevent health and safety issues. There is often an overflow of vehicles 

parking on and along county Road G (known for its narrow, rolling, curvy, and high-speed 

alignment). Purchase of the parcel provides a location to construct a safe parking area, volunteer

and seasonal housing, and an interpretive facility for the public.

Also, in July 2011, the BLM completed fee purchase of the 1,855-acre Veach parcel within the 

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The parcel was purchased with $974,000 of Land 

and Water Conservation Fund appropriations. This purchase was also assisted by The Conservation

Fund. The Veach property was the second largest acquisition completed by the BLM within the

national monument and was the last remaining private inholding within the southern quadrant of 

the monument.

Other Funding Sources. The BLM actively pursues 

other sources of funds where available. Benefitting

programs pay for NHPA Section 106 staff work and

support projects that streamline the compliance work, 

such as the CRDSP. The CRDSP addresses data 

sharing, information management, and support under 

the BLM’s national programmatic agreement. The

BLM programs that historically support the CRDSP 

include rangeland management, recreation resource 

management, oil and gas management, lands and realty 

management, resource management planning, mining 

law administration, and wildland fire.

The Energy Policy Act, enacted on August 8, 2005, 

requires the BLM and other agencies to improve the 

efficiency of oil and gas use authorizations on public 

land through a federal permit. The act designated 

the following pilot project field offices: Rawlins and

Buffalo, Wyoming; Miles City, Montana; Farmington

and Carlsbad, New Mexico; Glenwood Springs, 

Colorado; and Vernal, Utah. Pilot office needs are 

funded through the special BLM Permit Processing 

Improvement Fund, which consists of 50 percent of

the rentals received from oil and gas leases in states 

other than Alaska between 2006 and 2015. The CRM 

program has used funds from pilot offices for additional 

manpower, digitizing site records and block surveys of 

areas that are high priority for development. FY 2015 is

the final year of this authority.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

(ARRA) of February 2009 provided funds for job

preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, 

energy efficiency and science, and other purposes 

for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009. Some

projects that benefit historic properties were completed

during the current Preserve America reporting period, 

including projects addressing the sustainability of 

historic structures, stabilization and preservation of 

the 1928 Big Horn adobe gas station, and information

development to help the BLM and its partners manage 

national historic trails.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 19

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Highlight 

Arizona, Sororan Desert National Monument. The BLM’s National Historic Trails Inventory Project

used ARRA funds, staff resources, partnerships with trail associations, and consulting firms to develop an

innovative field inventory and data management program that now serves as a model for federal historic

trail management on America’s public lands. The BLM implemented the project to meet the National

Trails System Act requirement to protect, preserve, and provide access to that most intangible of trail 

resources, the “opportunity to vicariously share the experience of the original users of a historic route”

(16 U.S.C. 1251).

The BLM used funds from the ARRA to contract for the inventory of more than 247 linear 

miles along the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California, and Pony Express National Historic Trails.

Archaeologists located and recorded 206 trail segments, 130 associated sites, and 64 isolated resources. 

The BLM completed a visual setting inventory at various observation points along the corridors and 

provided a historic landscape integrity analysis at each point.

	 The six trails in the National Historic Trails Inventory Project—El Camino Real de Tierra

Adentro, Old Spanish, California, Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National Historic

Trails—hold the history of the Spanish, Mexican, and Easterner’s experience of the historic West. The

trails also tell the story of the modern West and the transformation of once wide-open landscapes that 

vexed and challenged the colonists, emigrants, and traders seeking their futures and fortunes along 

ancient travel routes. Because these trails now lie on America’s new energy frontier, and because they

have complex heritage, recreation, and archaeological values, they cannot be managed with conventional 

cultural resource management tools alone. The project has yielded innovative, effective methods for 

documenting trail settings, recording trail attributes and resources, creating trail information archives, 

and managing trail data that set a standard for federal historic trail management.

NHPA Section 111 authority provides agencies the ability to retain rental income from historic properties. The BLM

has extremely limited inventory of historic buildings that are suitable for occupation but seeks available opportunities. 

NHPA Section 111 Highlight

Montana, Dillon Field Office. In FY 2013, the Montana Dillon Field Office reported that the Ney

Ranch is almost complete and will be available for public use as a recreational rental cabin. An investment 

of $127,000 of ARRA funding allowed for foundation and sill log repairs, new floor joists, enhancements 

to exterior log walls, new exterior doors, window repairs, and a new wood stove and solar power system 

for electric lighting. Kitchen cabinetry and furniture for the bedroom, kitchen, and living room was 

purchased and installed as well. The cabin will comfortably handle between 4 and 8 visitors per rental. 
20 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Several BLM state offices use, directly or indirectly, 

state government funding to accomplish critical 

cultural resource work. The BLM California State 

Office uses off-highway vehicle “green sticker” funds

from the State of California to support the BLM site 

steward program, and the BLM Colorado State Office 

works through nonfederal partners to tap into the State 

Historical Fund to accomplish a wide range of cultural

resource work.

The Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act 

of 1998 allows the BLM to sell public land within a 

specific boundary around Las Vegas, Nevada, and retain

85 percent of the revenue for use by the Secretary of the 

Interior for a variety of purposes, including parks, trails, 

capital improvements, and conservation initiatives.

In addition, the BLM applies for grants available to 

federal agencies, including the Save America’s Treasures

grants program.

Volunteers. From FY 2011 to FY 2013, the BLM’s

CRM program made outstanding use of volunteers 

and hosted workers, as Table 7 indicates. Volunteers 

donate their time, and in some instances, equipment 

and money to assist the BLM in a variety of jobs. 

Donated or hosted workers, on the other hand, are paid 

by another organization but work for the BLM at no 

charge. Annually, volunteers donated approximately 7 

percent of all BLM volunteer hours for the benefit of

the CRM program (BLM 2011a, 2012a). Volunteers

have assisted the BLM in the areas of stabilization, 

site patrol and monitoring, detailed recordation, 

excavation, documentary research, interpretation, 

exhibit development, data automation, website 

development, museum cataloguing, site mapping, and 

more. These partnerships augment the appropriation of 

the CRM program’s budget between $2 and $3 million

annually and supplement the proactive cultural heritage 

work accomplished.

Table 7. Volunteer Contributions to the Cultural Resource Management Program 

(FY 2011-2013)

Fiscal 

Year

Volunteer 

CRM Hours

Hosted Worker 

CRM Hours

Total CRM 

Hours

Total BLM 

Hours

Percentage 

of Volunteer 

Program

2011 78,107 7,606 85,713 1,187,726 7.2

2012 72,751 14,364 87,115 1,146,434 7.6

2013 74,657 11,162 85,819 1,152,971 7.4

Heritage Assets Update

Overview. The BLM reports on heritage assets in 

compliance with Federal Accounting Standards

Advisory Board (FASAB) guidelines. The FASAB

defines heritage assets as property, plant, and equipment

that is unique for one or more of the following reasons: 

historical or natural significance; cultural, educational,

or artistic (e.g., aesthetic) importance; or significant

architectural characteristics. Heritage assets consist of

(1) collection type heritage assets (i.e., objects gathered

and maintained for exhibition), such as museum

collections, art collections, and library collections; and 

(2) noncollection-type heritage assets, such as parks,

memorials, monuments, and buildings.

Noncollectible Heritage Assets. For noncollectible

heritage assets, the BLM reported on natural heritage 

assets and cultural heritage assets separately. Cultural 
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 21

heritage asset categories included national historic 

landmarks, archaeological and historic sites listed on 

the National Register, and world heritage sites. With 

the implementation of SFFAS 29 in 2008, the DOI

directed bureaus and offices to report noncollectible 

heritage assets as those properties that have been 

designated by Congress, the President, or the Secretary 

of the Interior. The BLM now reports a variety of 

noncollectible cultural and natural heritage asset types, 

as shown in Table 8.

Table 8. BLM Noncollectible Heritage Asset Information Reported Per Statements of 

Federal Financial Accounting Standards No. 29 (FY 2011-2013)

Noncollectible Heritage Asset Type FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013

National Monument 15 17 19

Conservation Area and National Conservation 

Area

17 17 17

Cooperative Management and Protection Area 1 1 1

National Recreation Area 2 2 2

Outstanding Natural Area 3 3 3

Wilderness Area 220 220 220

National Wild and Scenic River 69 69 69

Headwaters Forest Reserve 1 1 1

National Historic Trail 11 13 13

National Scenic Trail 5 5 5

National Recreation Trail 35 35 36

Lake Todatonten Special Management Area 1 1 1

National Natural Landmark 41 41 43

National Historic Landmark 16 16 17

Fossil Forest Research Natural Area 1 1 1

Special Area 4 4 5

Archaeological Protection Area 2 2 2
22 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

BLM State Directors certify the condition of national 

historic landmarks on an annual basis. In FY 2011

through FY 2013, all noncollectible heritage assets

were reported to be in acceptable condition with the 

exception of the Comstock (Virginia City) Historic

District/National Historic Landmark in Nevada, which

was reported to be in unknown condition.

Collectible Assets. The BLM reports museum 

collections for the collectible heritage assets reporting 

requirement. In accordance with DOI Financial

Statement Preparation Guidance, Appendix K, the 

BLM reports on the number of federal facilities and 

nonfederal facilities housing BLM museum collections. 

The condition of collections is assessed by evaluating 

the curatorial facility’s level of compliance with DOI

standards for museum collections, the same evaluation 

method used for the Government Performance and 

Results Act museum collections performance measure. 

The BLM reports on all facilities holding BLM 

museum collections, as shown in Table 9.

Table 9. Collectible Heritage Assets Information (FY 2011-2013)

Location FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013

Federal Facilities 7 7 7

Nonfederal Facilities 133 134 141

Notes: Increases to the number of facilities can result from permitted collecting activities or a collection being 

placed in a new repository; decreases may result from a collection being transferred from one curatorial facility to 

another. 

BLM Property Management. The BLM complies 

with Executive Order 13327, “Federal Real Property

Asset Management,” by reporting real property to

the FRPP database. The BLM also complies with a

departmental mandate to use FBMS as the system of

record for FRPP data.

FRPP and FBMS both contain condition and priority

indexes, as well as other data, that assist the BLM in 

making asset management decisions, including the 

following attributes for historic status: national historic 

landmark, National Register listed, National Register 

eligible, noncontributing element of NHL/NRL

district, not evaluated, or evaluated and not historic. 

The BLM recognizes the need for the property and 

cultural resources programs to work together to assure 

the reliability of FBMS and FRPP historic status data.

The BLM encourages line managers to dispose of 

unnecessary assets and redirect funds to those assets 

that are critical to the BLM mission. In recent years, 

specific funding has been set aside for the purpose of

facilitating real property disposals.

Per DOI policy, site condition assessments are required 

to be conducted every 5 years on all recreation and 

administrative sites. The BLM uses standardized 

unit costs to estimate costs in a consistent manner. 

Estimated costs include replacement values and both 

annual and deferred maintenance costs. The condition 

index is a simple ratio of deferred maintenance cost to 

replacement value. The terms “deferred maintenance”

and “repair needs” are sometimes used interchangeably,

including in the FRPP.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 23

Asset Disposal. Disposals require compliance with 

environmental and cultural resources laws, regulations, 

and policies. According to DOI policy, all disposal 

candidates with a historical status of national historic 

landmark, National Register listed, National Register 

eligible, or not evaluated should be evaluated against 

NHPA Section 106 criteria to ensure consideration of

potential adverse effects. The BLM’s Asset Management

Plan also states that designation as a national historic 

landmark or listing on the National Register does not 

prevent the disposal of the asset but limits the options. 

Historic assets can be candidates to transfer to other

government agencies or local groups that have a vested 

interest in preserving and restoring them, and these 

alternatives are pursued prior to proceeding with the 

disposal process.

Cabin near the Rogue Wild and Scenic River, Oregon
Riddle Brothers Ranch National Historic District, Oregon
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 25

The BLM Cultural Resource 

Management Program Statistics Update 

Overview

The BLM Washington Office’s CRM program maintains an inventory of cultural resources through

its annual reporting process. Data are updated on cultural resource inventory, National Register 

of Historic Places, physical and administrative protection, mitigation and data recovery, cultural

resource use permits, archaeological enforcement, public outreach and education, American 

Indian consultation, museum collections, NAGPRA, partnerships, volunteers, and cooperative 

management agreements. The fact sheet on accomplishments from FY 2011 to FY 2013 that are

relevant to this report can be found in Appendix B. 

Inventory

The BLM made significant progress in intensive inventory, with more than 4.2 million acres

inventoried (see Figure 1 for inventory highlights). However, this is an 11 percent decrease from

the inventory accomplished between FY 2008 and FY 2010. The decline is undoubtedly due to the

overall decrease in applications for commercial development, especially oil and gas. These declined 

from a high of 16,450 in FY 2008, when 935,534 acres were intensively inventoried, to 9,323 in

FY 2013. To some degree, this relationship was counteracted by the larger project footprint of many

renewable energy projects. An additional 30,204 cultural properties were inventoried for a total of 

358,515 to date. The vast majority of inventory continues to be performed by permitted consultants 

under contract to land use applicants. There were an average of 774 cultural resource use permits 

in effect between FY 2011 and FY 2013, of which an average of 411 were worked. This again is a

significant decline from the previous Preserve America reporting period.
26 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Figure 1. Highlights of BLM inventory achievements from FY 2010 through FY 2013

Inventory Highlights

•	 Alaska, Central Yukon Field Office. In June 2013, the Central Yukon Field Office archaeologist

conducted preliminary archaeological probability surveys for a cultural RMP for the joint National 

Science Foundation and University of Alaska-Fairbanks Toolik Field Station on Alaska’s North Slope.

This project involved several days of helicopter-supported surveys on BLM lands used for arctic research 

by the field station. Helicopter time and availability were provided to the BLM by the National Science

Foundation with the goal of preparing an agreement that streamlines the permitting of scientific work in

the vicinity of the field station. The project is coordinated by the field office archaeologist, with support

from the National Science Foundation and the University of Alaska and extensive involvement of field

station geographic information specialists and managers.

•	 Arizona, Yuma Field Office/Colorado River District. For several years, the BLM Yuma Field Office has

partnered with Arizona Western College to record thousands of petroglyphs located inside the National 

Register-listed Sears Point Archaeological District and the Sears Point ACEC. In FY 2013, the Yuma

Field Office completed this project with the help of a Flagstaff-based company that specializes in rock

art recording. The final report includes a photo database and a critical analysis of the petroglyphs, as well

as the archaeological features, a condition assessment, and numerous management recommendations 

for preservation of the district and the ACEC as a whole. The rock art database stores all of the maps, 

photographs, and rock art panel descriptions and will be a critical tool for monitoring the petroglyph 

panels as public visitation increases in the area. To date, more than 2,000 rock art panels, 10,000 

individual glyphs, and 300 archaeological features have been recorded in detail by a dedicated group of 

volunteers who have contributed more than 1,700 hours to the project fieldwork.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 27

National Register of Historic Places 

Nominations 

During this reporting period, the Secretary of the 

Interior designated three national historic landmarks:

•	 Murray Springs Clovis Site, Arizona

•	 Carrizo Plain Archaeological District, California

•	 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad San Juan

Extension (Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad),

Colorado

The BLM also completed 13 National Register 

registrations that included 348 individual properties. 

The properties included various types, as shown below:

•	 Mining: Animas Forks, San Juan County,

Colorado; Placer Gulch Boarding House, San

Juan County, Colorado; Minnie Gulch Cabins, 

San Juan County, Colorado; Gold Prince Mine, 

Mill, and Aerial Tramway, San Juan County, 

Colorado; Calamity Camp, Mesa County, 

Colorado.

•	 Homesteading/Ranching/Settlement: Gus 

Nelson Homestead, Fergus County, Montana;

Carbon Cemetery, Carbon County, Wyoming.

•	 Archaeological Sites: Nine Mile Canyon, 

Carbon County, Utah; Muddy Creek Site 

Complex, Carbon County, Wyoming; Finley

Site, Sweetwater County, Wyoming; Southsider 

Shelter, Big Horn County, Wyoming.

•	 Traditional Cultural Property/Historic

Landscape: JO Ranch Rural Historic Landscape,

Carbon County, Wyoming; Green River Drift 

Trail Traditional Cultural Property, Sublette 

County, Wyoming.

National Register Highlight

Wyoming. The JO Ranch Rural Historic Landscape was listed on the National Register in FY 2011.

This ranch complex consists of 17 contributing structures, sites, or objects within 353 acres in the 

Rawlins Field Office. Acquired in 2004, the BLM has fenced and protected the primary ranch buildings

associated with 19th century Spanish sheep ranching. The landmark is associated with events that made a 

significant contribution to the broad patterns of regional history. Volunteers cleared brush, removed litter,

constructed fencing, and erected signs at the site during a National Public Lands Day event.

Planning

As noted previously, the BLM Division of Decision 

Support, Planning, and NEPA (WO-210) provided

$120,000 for new landscape-level studies in FY 2011. It

provided direct support for cultural landscape overviews 

of early settlement in Alaska; Burley, Idaho; and the 

Lower Salmon River in Idaho. Cultural resources were 

also part of broader land, travel, and trails management 

planning projects. Planning efforts completed during 

this period include the following highlights:
28 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Planning Highlights

•	 Alaska, Anchorage Field Office. In FY 2013, the Anchorage Field Office archaeologist participated

in land use planning efforts by inviting 67 tribes and 4 Alaska Native corporations to participate 

in government-to-government consultation regarding the Bering Sea-Western Interior RMP. The 

field office also continues work on the analysis of the management situation for the RMP. The work

on this RMP is anticipated to continue into 2014 and 2015. Other planning efforts expected to 

continue in FY 2014 include the Haines Block Plan Amendment to the Ring of Fire RMP and the

Campbell Tract Special Recreation Management Area Plan Amendment to the Ring of Fire RMP.

•	 Arizona, Yuma Field Office. The Yuma Field Office completed the La Posa Travel Management Plan.

The planning area, a 400,000-acre parcel of public land surrounding the town of Quartzite, included

more than 750 recorded archaeological sites and more than 300 roads that pass through those sites. 

Cultural resource protection was a driving force in the development and implementation of the plan.

•	 California, California Desert District Office. In FY 2013, the BLM California State Office reported

that it had begun the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan with the El Centro Field Office,

State of California, and American Indian tribes. As a result of the plan, two new ACECs are proposed 

to protect and highlight significant cultural resources: the Ocotillo ACEC and the Picacho ACEC.

Both ACECs encompass land of great importance to local American Indian tribes. In addition, the El 

Centro Field Office has recommended that three existing ACECs be expanded to include new areas of

previously unknown cultural resource sensitivity. 

•	 New Mexico, Taos Field Office. In FY 2013, the “Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act

General Management Plan” was completed. The plan and its implementation through an assistance

agreement with the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies establishes steps multiple agencies 

can take to record, evaluate, protect, stabilize, and interpret large, nationally significant, protohistoric

archaeological sites in the Galisteo Basin southeast of Santa Fe. The plan incorporates input from

several pueblos with historic ties to the sites. The plan stipulates the development of individual 

management plans for each of the archaeological sites currently included in the act, and the Taos Field

Office took the lead in preparing a plan for one of the sites (La Cieneguilla Pueblo), which will serve as

a model for the development of similar plans for the remaining 23 sites covered by the act. Taos Field

Office cultural staff and senior management initiated and concluded consultation with multiple tribal 

organizations, in conjunction with a number of proposed actions, including those related to the new 

Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act.

•	 Wyoming, Lander Field Office. In FY 2012, the Lander Field Office planning document established

landscape-scale protection of the national historic trail corridor through the southern part of the 

Lander Field Office. Ground breaking in its scope, the RMP significantly increased buffer zones

of protection surrounding the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National 

Historic Trails.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 29

Management

As shown in Figure 2 and Appendix B, the number of

properties monitored for condition increased about 

14 percent from FY 2010 to FY 2013. The percentage

of properties in stable as opposed to deteriorating 

condition also increased from FY 2010 to FY 2013,

from 90 percent to 93 percent. The average percentage 

of properties under physical or administrative 

protection measures decreased by 13 percent between 

FY 2010 and FY 2013. In the NHPA Section 106

realm, the numbers of undertakings that required a 

minimum of a literature search rose in FY 2011 to

10,777, rose again in FY 2012 to 11,205, but dropped

in FY 2013 to 9,323, the lowest since FY 1998.

The number of properties for which adverse effects 

were avoided increased, and the number of Section 

106-related data recovery projects declined dramatically 

from 263 in FY 2010 to 98 in FY 2013. The number

of sites reported destroyed without mitigation increased 

from FY 2010 to FY 2013 but never reached FY 2008

levels. The number of non-Section 106 data recovery or 

research projects stayed at or near the same. The BLM 

increased enforcement activities related to ARPA, as 

indicated by an increase in ARPA incidents detected, 

but the number of persons arrested and the number of 

convictions declined.

Executive Order 13514, “Federal Leadership in

Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,”

signed by President Barack Obama on October 5, 

2009, strengthened requirements for sustainability and 

emphasized the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions 

for federal agencies, including in the management of 

historic and other structures. The BLM “Sustainable

Buildings Implementation Plan,” released January

2010, updates BLM policy on sustainability and 

includes new sustainability checklists and spreadsheets 

to help the BLM progress toward 2015 sustainability 

goals. The BLM construction program includes 

several projects that may be considered as models 

of sustainable management. Examples include solar 

installations funded with BLM construction funds for 

the historic Empire Ranch complex and the San Pedro 

solar improvement project.

Sustainability Highlight

Arizona, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. The historic Empire Ranch complex, located 

east of Sonoita, Arizona, is managed by the BLM Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. The 

Empire Ranch solar power installation project will provide solar power systems for five buildings

within the complex: the Vail House, tack room, Huachuca House, field station, and garage. The

system was sized using net-zero energy principles and will connect to the existing utility grid through 

the electrical service meter. 

Finally, as required by ARPA, national heritage education programs, such as Project Archaeology, Hands on the

Lands, and state and field office activities are an important aspect of the BLM resource protection strategy.
30 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Figure 2. Trends of key management indices from FY 2010 through FY 2013

Protection and Sustainability Highlights

•	 Arizona, Kingman Field Office. Dating back to the 1880s, the historic Palmerita Ranch is located 

west of Wickenburg, Arizona, and features adobe houses, a bunk house, a cemetery, barns, corrals, and 

irrigation works. Cornerstones Community Partnerships provided hands-on training on stabilization 

techniques and adobe brick making. A series of workshops led to restoration of several adobe buildings 

and improvement of in-house capability for adobe structure stabilization and repair work. 

•	 California, Bakersfield Field Office. The field office completed documentation and condition

assessments for the final 17 rock art sites. The database of baseline condition is vital to the management

of these significant resources located within the Carrizo Plain Archaeological District National Historic

Landmark. In addition, high resolution digital photography is currently the best method available to 

“preserve” these sites, which will continue to be subject to natural- and human-induced degenerative

processes. Proactive management and preservation programs continue to be implemented for the 

important heritage resources on the monument. This includes management of public visitation at the 

sacred site of Painted Rock with tribal partners and the development of preservation measures for travel 

management, dispersed camping, and other potential sources of effects.

•	 California, Bishop Field Office. Following the theft and vandalism of six petroglyph panels in October

2012, the Bishop Field Office gave more than 30 interviews with local and international media outlets.

The office also conducted 20 public presentations that informed more than 1,000 individuals, including 

540 youth, about the importance of archaeological site protection and the BLM mission.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 31

•	 Eastern States, Lower Potomac Field Station. The BLM Eastern States office executed an interagency 

agreement with the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center to stabilize the Chiles

homesite chimneys. This work took place during September 2013. BLM resource specialists and 

archaeologists from the Eastern States and Northeastern States Field Office monitored the work.

•	Idaho, Burley Field Office. Between May and June of 2011, the Idaho Department of Parks and 

Recreation conducted maintenance on an unauthorized off-highway vehicle trail within the American 

Falls Archaeological District. This activity took place without a permit, as required by ARPA, and caused

soil disturbance and displacement of a lithic, bone, and ground stone scatter. This led to the disturbance 

of 519 cubic feet of soil, which cumulatively covered 1,495 square feet of ground surface. The cost of 

restoration and repair, in combination with the archaeological value, equates to $139,473. A notice 

of violation under ARPA was filed with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation in July 2011.

In response, the department agreed to work with the BLM to repair the damage, assist in closing the 

unauthorized trail, and perform public outreach. As such, the violation will be resolved administratively.

•	 Nevada, Sierra Front Field Office. Two individuals were successfully prosecuted for theft of artifacts 

from the Grassy Ranch site—a site containing several archaeological resources from the Great Basin 

Archaic culture, which dates as far back as before 10,000 years ago. The first individual received a felony

conviction, 3 years of probation, a $3,600 fine, and a $100 assessment. The second individual pled

guilty to a misdemeanor and received a sentence of 30 days in prison, 3 months of home detention, and 

1 year of supervised probation.

•	 Oregon, Medford Field Office. The Big Windy Fire burned close to the National Register-eligible Zane

Grey cabin. The cabin and other out-buildings were wrapped with fire resistance material to protect

them from falling cinders and ash, which helped ensure the site’s survival during the 2013 wildfire.

•	 Wyoming, Lander Field Office. Professional art conservators traced panels of shield at the Castle 

Gardens Rock Art site in central Wyoming. This National Register site has been photographed and 

studied for 75 years. The 2013 tracings, however, provided the first accurate representation of the rock

art elements and surrounding natural rock features. A total of 52 rock art panels were traced containing 

dozens of individual elements. The color and black and white versions of each panel will be used for 

scientific research and public interpretation.
Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 33

Updates to Program Policy and 

Procedures

Revision of the National Programmatic Agreement

The 1997 national programmatic agreement was in place for 15 years. During that time, the 

36 CFR part 800 regulations that implement Section 106 of the NHPA were rewritten, most

significantly in 2004. The BLM, ACHP, and National Conference of State Historic Preservation

Officers (NCSHPO) believed the programmatic agreement needed to be updated to align more

closely with the regulations, particularly with respect to the roles of American Indian tribes and 

consulting parties in the Section 106 process. Following an extensive process of outreach and

consultation with tribes and other stakeholders that began in August 2008, the BLM, ACHP,

and NCSHPO collaboratively published a draft revision strategy in December 2009, a draft

programmatic agreement in September 2010, and a final draft programmatic agreement in

December 2011. The final draft was executed in February 2012.

The revised programmatic agreement includes the following key changes to the BLM’s NHPA

Section 106 process when operating under the programmatic agreement implemented through a 

BLM-state protocol:

1.	The BLM committed to revise relevant manual sections to be consistent with the definitions

of “adverse effect” and “consulting parties” in the 2004 36 CFR part 800 regulations.

This change eliminates the provision that an undertaking otherwise found to be adverse 

may be considered not adverse, when a historic property is of value only for its potential 

contribution to archaeological, historical, or architectural research and when such value can 

be substantially preserved through the conduct of appropriate research, and such research is 

conducted in accordance with applicable professional standards and guidelines.

2.	The BLM is required to consult with the relevant SHPO, American Indian tribe(s), and

other consulting parties for all undertakings that will adversely affect properties that are 

eligible for listing in the National Register, and for the development of any procedures such 

as project-specific programmatic agreements pursuant to 36 CFR 800.14(b)(3).

3.	The BLM is required to invite the ACHP’s participation for:

•	Nonroutine interstate and/or interagency projects or programs.

•	Undertakings adversely affecting national historic landmarks.
34 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

•	Undertakings that the BLM determines to

be highly controversial.

•	Undertakings that will have an adverse

effect and with respect to which disputes 

cannot be resolved through formal 

agreement between the BLM-SHPO, such

as a memorandum of agreement.

4.	The ACHP has the authority to participate on

its own initiative or at the request of the SHPO,

an American Indian tribe, a local government, 

an applicant, or other consulting party, in a 

manner consistent with its role under 36 CFR

part 800 and criteria under Appendix A of 36 

CFR Part 800.

5. The BLM is required to follow the process 

under 36 CFR 800.14 for the development

and approval of program alternatives, including 

project-specific programmatic agreements.

6.	The BLM and SHPO protocols implementing

this agreement must address the following new 

items:

•	A means for making a schedule of pending

undertakings available to the public and 

American Indian tribes on a regular basis.

•	The manner in which public participation

and involvement of consulting parties is 

addressed for protocol-guided compliance 

processes.

•	A commitment to fulfill tribal consultation

obligations.

•	Provisions for resolving disagreements

between the BLM and SHPO.

•	The circumstances under which the BLM

or the SHPO may choose to operate under

the 36 CFR Part 800.3 through 800.7 in

place of the BLM-SHPO protocol.

The programmatic agreement also requires BLM state 

offices to take action to review and update, as needed, 

their BLM-SHPO protocols and to enhance tribal

relationships, as listed below:

1. Within 12 months of execution of this 

agreement, each BLM State Director or his/her 

designee will meet with the relevant SHPO to

review and consider the need for changes in the 

protocol to meet minimum requirements in this 

programmatic agreement and notify the ACHP

of the results of the review.

2.	The BLM-SHPO protocols determined to

require revision must be changed within 24 

months of the date of this agreement.

3. Within 12 months of execution of this 

agreement and in coordination with other State 

Directors, as appropriate, each State Director will 

have begun contacting American Indian tribes 

that are affected by BLM undertakings within 

his or her jurisdiction on a regular basis for the 

purpose of initiating a discussion about ways in 

which the BLM and each tribe can foster better 

communication, including:

•	 Identify geographic areas, types of historic

properties, and undertakings of concern to 

American Indian tribes.

•	 Identify confidentiality concerns.

•	Answer questions on the existing BLMSHPO protocol.

•	Provide a tribal point of contact for the

state office and each district and field office

in his or her jurisdiction.

•	Develop a process for providing

information and schedules of pending 

actions, including land exchanges, permits, 

and approvals, on a regular basis.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 35

•	Offer American Indian tribes the

opportunity to establish a formal ongoing 

relationship through an agreement for 

conducting the consultation required 

under the NHPA Section 106 within the

framework of the BLM’s government-togovernment relationship with American 

Indian tribes and other authorities.

In February 2014, the deadline to revise protocols was

extended to February 9, 2015. As of May 2014, four

states have executed revisions: Alaska, California, Idaho, 

and Wyoming.

Permitting Improvement Efforts

Section 5 of the national programmatic agreement, 

executed in February 2014, provides specific

circumstances and conditions in which the ACHP

should be notified and invites the ACHP to participate

in the project review process. One of these specific

circumstances includes compliance for major 

infrastructure projects. Such projects include industrialscale renewable energy (solar and wind) development

and major, interstate transmission lines. Solar projects 

are often very large and may cover as much as 7,000 

acres and sometimes more. Wind projects may be 

even larger, covering up to tens of thousands (20,000–

30,000) of acres in a few cases. Both solar and wind

development have implications for direct, indirect, and 

cumulative impacts beyond the immediate footprint of 

the project. Major interstate transmission lines may run 

for hundreds of miles. 

These projects present a number of unique challenges. 

They are large and visible; they often encompass 

multiple jurisdictions with differing procedures and 

standards; they may affect multiple American Indian 

tribes and a diverse constituency of consulting parties 

(including multiple SHPOs); and they are likely to

adversely affect a number of historic properties. These 

projects often have a high potential for controversy and 

are subject to heightened scrutiny. In addition, there is 

an emphasis on increasing efficiency in the permitting 

process and on improving internal and external 

coordination to accomplish this goal. 

The current emphasis on major infrastructure projects 

derives from a number of presidential and secretarial 

initiatives, including Executive Order 13604, 

“Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and

Review of Infrastructure Projects.” This order directs

agencies to identify infrastructure projects of national 

or regional significance that will be subject to tracking

at the national level; a number of these projects involve 

BLM lands. Other administration directives address 

major transmission development and establish the 

interagency Rapid Response Team for Transmission to 

improve the overall quality and timeliness of electric 

transmission infrastructure permitting, review, and 

consultation by the federal government on both federal 

and nonfederal lands.

The BLM is the lead agency for many of these largescale renewable energy and transmission projects. As 

a result, the BLM heritage program has developed 

new approaches toward compliance with Section 

106 to meet the challenges presented by these 

projects. The BLM, ACHP, and DOI established a

Western Renewable Energy and Historic Preservation

Workgroup in July 2011. Discussions on this 

workgroup, as well as with many others engaged in 

the permitting review process, led the BLM to identify 

Section 106 compliance policy changes conveyed in 

BLM Instruction Memorandum 2013-020, “Section

106 Compliance on Major Infrastructure Projects.”

The BLM heritage program has also provided guidance 

to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the 

permitting process through regular conference calls, 

other measures addressing large project compliance 

challenges, and Information Bulletin 2013-060, 
36 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

“Interim Guidance for Compliance with Section 106

of the National Historic Preservation Act and Tribal

Consultation for Major Infrastructure Projects,” and

Information Bulletin 2014-055, “Interim Guidance,

Tribal Consultation; Questions and Answers for Major

Infrastructure Projects; Legal Parameters in the Section 

106 Tribal Consultation Process.”

In addition, the BLM is implementing a landscapescale approach to land management. This approach 

is providing the BLM heritage program with the 

opportunity to identify critical heritage issues and areas 

prior to land use and project planning; to prioritize 

important resources for consideration and preservation; 

to identify and prioritize important questions; and 

to identify regional mitigation strategies to address 

direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts generated 

by these major infrastructure projects. One driver for 

adopting this approach is the need to better balance 

consideration of major infrastructure projects with the 

protection of critical resources.

NEPA and NHPA Integration 

The BLM contributed to improving the permitting 

review process by focusing on the integration of 

NEPA and NHPA. Federal agencies have independent

statutory obligations under NEPA; Section 106 

of the NHPA; Presidential “Memorandum on

Government-to-Government Relations with Native 

American Tribal Governments;” and Executive

Order 13175, “Consultation and Coordination with

Indian Tribal Governments.” Offices must complete

both the NHPA Section 106 process and tribal

consultation prior to making a final decision on a

proposed action. Coordination of activities required 

by these authorities allows the BLM to: (1) conserve

resources by gathering information that supports both 

requirements at once; (2) reduce redundancy and avoid

delays by synchronizing the schedules for meeting 

both requirements; (3) facilitate communication with

the public and tribes regarding when and how to 

contribute to the BLM decisionmaking processes for 

various issues; and (4) reduce litigation liability by

ensuring that the requirements of both laws are met in 

a timely manner.

Accordingly, in April 2012, the BLM issued Instruction 

Memorandum 2012-108, “Coordinating National

Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental

Policy Act Compliance.” This memorandum

provides instruction on gaining efficiencies by 

coordinating compliance procedures and the BLM’s

tribal consultation responsibilities. It establishes a 

policy of coordination and includes a side-by-side 

chart, boilerplate language for notices of intent, and 

frequently asked questions.

In July 2012, the BLM assigned the BLM preservation 

officer to perform a detail with the White House

Council on Environmental Quality to assist with the

development of a national handbook on NEPA and 

NHPA integration. The handbook, titled “NEPA

and NHPA: A Handbook for Integrating NEPA

and Section 106,” is a joint publication between the

Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of

the President, and ACHP and was published in March

2013. The BLM disseminated the new handbook 

with Information Bulletin 2013-061. The concepts 

and practical advice in this handbook are not new 

policy. The procedures outlined in the handbook 

are consistent with existing policy and authorities. 

The BLM Washington Office Divisions of Cultural, 

Paleontological Resources, and Tribal Consultation; 

and Decision Support, Planning, and NEPA provided 

training for the Washington Office and field staffs on

the substance of the handbook. Major sections include: 

•	 A detailed review of the most important

similarities and differences between NEPA 

environmental reviews and Section 106.

•	 “Roadmaps” for coordination when a proposed

action meets the criteria for a categorical 

exclusion, environmental assessment, or 
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 37

environmental impact statement and for when an 

agency uses the NEPA substitution process.

•	 A short section on emergency procedures under

NEPA and Section 106, which were added after 

Hurricane Sandy.

•	 A short section on successfully concluding

Section 106 and NEPA environmental review 

procedures.

•	 Illustrations, examples, sidebars with additional

information, and a side-by-side chart of 

similar terms.

•	 A detailed checklist for use in following

the substitution process and in reviewing 

documentation for the substitution process. 

Many opportunities for integration depend on 

aligning the NEPA and Section 106 reviews at 

the beginning of the project planning process. By 

developing comprehensive versus independent parallel 

schedules and communications plans, agencies are 

able to make the best use of resources, especially if 

integration includes the design and timing of resource 

studies needed to support the NEPA and Section 106 

reviews. Comprehensive plans also give stakeholders 

and the public information that helps them to 

focus their efforts in the most effective and efficient 

way. If NEPA and Section 106 inform each other 

throughout the process, agencies may make better 

use of information gained from public engagement, 

consultation, and specialized studies, which can lead 

to more informed decisions. 

Tribal Consultation Policy Development

A November 2009 presidential memorandum 

directed federal agencies to develop a plan to comply 

with Executive Order 13175, “Consultation and

Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments.” An

interagency Tribal Consultation Team composed 

of tribal officials from across the nation and 

representatives from each DOI bureau completed a 

draft plan that was published for public comment 

in May 2011. After considering public and tribal 

concerns, Secretary Ken Salazar signed Secretarial 

Order No. 3317, “Department of the Interior Policy

on Consultation with Indian Tribes,” in December

2011. The order adopted new departmental policy on 

tribal consultation and established new responsibilities, 

positions, performance metrics, and goals.

In January 2012, the BLM issued Instruction 

Memorandum 2012-062, “Implementation of the

Department of Interior Tribal Consultation Policy.” It

transmitted Secretarial Order No. 3317 and requested 

each BLM state office to conduct an assessment of 

regional and local policy and procedures related 

to tribal consultation to determine if they are in 

conformance with the new policy. The DOI policy 

describes consultation as a “deliberative process that

aims to create effective collaboration and informed 

Federal decision-making where all parties share a

goal of reaching a decision together.” The policy and

associated secretarial order direct each bureau to review 

and revise, as appropriate, its consultation policy in 

order to conform to the principles embraced in the 

DOI policy. The bureau-specific process should begin

with reviewing existing tribal consultation practices 

and policies of all agency programs and making needed 

revisions to comply with the DOI policy. Instruction 

Memorandum 2012-062 requires each State Director 

or District/Field Manager designee to:

•	 Complete an internal assessment of tribal

consultation practices for consistency with the 

new policy.

•	 Identify impediments to conformance with the

new policies, and remove where feasible. 

•	 Address deficiencies in existing state and national

policies on tribal consultation. 

•	 Develop recommendations or plans for

improvements, including opportunities for 
38 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

cooperation and coordination across jurisdictional 

and agency boundaries to increase efficiency and 

effectiveness. 

Also, in accordance with the new policy, bureaus are 

required to incorporate performance measures consistent 

with the new policy into the annual performance plans 

of employees; to report annually on the results of their 

efforts to promote consultation, including the scope, 

cost, and effectiveness of consultation activities; and 

to designate a tribal liaison officer to assist the BLM in 

achieving compliance with this policy. 

Key components of the DOI policy that are relevant to 

the BLM include:

•	 The DOI and its bureaus will consult on any

regulation, rulemaking, policy, guidance, 

legislative proposal, or operational activity 

that may have a substantial direct effect on an 

American Indian tribe. 

•	 The bureaus will include appropriate performance

measures consistent with this policy in future 

annual performance plans of their employees. 

•	 The DOI will develop and deliver training

based on core competencies to enhance mutual 

understanding of cultural perspectives and 

administrative requirements between tribal and 

federal officials. 

•	 Leadership in the DOI bureaus will strive to

advance innovative consultation practices and 

identify impediments to consultation. 

•	 Consultation will follow a common phased

process, outlined in the policy, except where a 

bureau and tribe agree to a specific consultation

protocol. 

•	 Each bureau shall designate a tribal liaison officer

to guide implementation and conformance with 

the DOI and bureau policy. 

•	 The key principles of tribal consultation include:

¤ Meaningful direct involvement of the 

agency official who has delegated authority 

for disposition of the subject action. 

¤ Recognizing the transparent and 

deliberative nature of consultation as 

opposed to an invitation to comment 

under NEPA. 

¤ Initiating consultation early in the life 

cycle of a proposed subject action. 

¤ Making a reasonable effort to invite tribal 

consultation, which may involve repeated 

invitations. 

¤	Communicate final decisions with a

summary explanation of how expressed 

tribal concerns were taken into account. 

¤ Conducting consultation in the context of 

an ongoing relationship involving regularly 

recurring meetings where appropriate. 

The implementation of the revised national 

programmatic agreement of February 2012 should be

coordinated with the implementation of Secretarial 

Order 3317, promoting improved communication and 

building ongoing relationships with tribes. The results 

of these assessments should result in a consistent and 

effective tribal consultation process. 

Instruction Memorandum 2012-062 acknowledged 

that the new policy may require revision of various 

BLM manual and handbooks, including, but not 

limited to, BLM Manual 8120, “Tribal Consultation

Under Cultural Resource Authorities,” and BLM

Handbook H-8120-1, “General Procedural Guidance

for Native American Consultation.” A return to

more comprehensive guidance also responds to 

recommendations from tribes in a national outreach 

effort the BLM began in August 2008.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 39

Exemplary Partnerships

The BLM relies extensively on partnerships for management of cultural and other resources 

on public lands. Partners include other federal agencies, tribes, state agencies, municipalities, 

nongovernmental entities such as friends groups and national conservation associations, industry, 

and dedicated volunteers. The availability of funds for proactive cultural resources inventory and 

management projects and for seasonal help impacts the BLM’s ability to sustain partnerships, as

partnerships depend on regular funding and staff continuity. Delays in enacted budgets, decreases 

to the CCS program, reductions to the CRM program, and decreased BLM staff time due to the 

challenge of compliance for large-scale renewable energy projects limit the BLM’s ability to recruit

and maintain these important longstanding partnerships. The following examples highlight work 

the BLM was able to accomplish with the help of partners between FY 2011 and FY 2013.

Resource Protection

California, Bakersfield Field Office. The BLM is achieving the restoration of the historical and 

natural landscape at the Piedras Blancas Light Station in partnership with the State of California 

and the American Indian community associated with the property. In 2012, lead-based paint was 

removed from the brick light tower, and the case iron features were stabilized. The new paint, which 

has the appearance of the original whitewash, will allow the structure to “breathe” more effectively,

enhancing preservation. In 2013, work was performed to help restore the wooden water tower. 

The Bakersfield Field Office partners with the Piedras Blancas Light Station Association to expand

interpretation and restoration to meet public demand, hosting as many as 4,000 visitors a year.

California, El Centro Field Office. The Imperial Valley Desert Museum located in Ocotillo, 

California, houses thousands of BLM historic artifact collections recovered from the El Centro Field

Office management area. In FY 2013, the museum reached a significant milestone by completing

the recuration of all artifacts (more than 20,000) under their care and supervision. This 5-year

recuration process ensured that the artifacts—many collected in the 1970s and 1980s—are stored 

in archival-quality acid-free boxes, tissue, and bags. Moreover, this process also allowed museum 

employees and volunteers to convert the out-of-date card catalog into a new digital software system 

used by professionals throughout the museum industry. The effort to update the storage of the 

museum’s collections began in the fall of 2009 with the employment of three BLM cultural resource

interns through the CCS program. These interns and the field office archaeologists spearheaded an

effort to bring the collections up to current museum standards, which ultimately engaged hundreds 

of volunteers through August 2013. Over the course of the last 5 years, volunteer hours totaled more 

than 3,000 on this project, and it included assistance from the local Girl Scout troop. 
40 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Colorado, Gunnison Field Office. The Gunnison 

Field Office partnered with the Hinsdale County

Historical Society, HistoriCorps, Colorado Youth

Corps Association, and Colorado State Historical Fund

to stabilize the Tobasco Cabin, located near the summit 

of Cinnamon Pass along the Alpine Loop Scenic 

Byway. The State Historical Fund awarded $86,000,

and the Federal Highway Administration’s National

Scenic Byways Program provided $19,000. Tobasco 

Cabin is associated with the Tobasco Mine and Mill 

complex, a large historic mining, transportation, and 

milling site consisting of adits, waste piles, an aerial 

tram system, mill, and several domestic residential 

structures in varying states of condition. The “hog

trough” construction of the Tobasco Cabin represents

a unique and rare type of construction. The site dates 

between the 1880s and 1920s and was recently listed 

on the National Register. This project was completed in 

October 2012. 

New Mexico, Las Cruces District Office and Taos 

Field Office. New SiteWatch chapters were established 

in Carlsbad and Hobbs, New Mexico. SiteWatch

trains volunteers to assist land management agencies 

and their preservation partners in the protection of 

New Mexico’s cultural resources. The new chapters

currently include more than 30 members and 

monitor more than 30 cultural resources sites and 

several archaeological districts. Forty-five SiteWatch

volunteers within the Rio Puerco Field Office watch

over more than 700 individual properties and install 

anti-looting/anti-vandalism signs. In addition, 20 

official site stewards from two different chapters 

now formally monitor critical archaeological and 

historic sites in the area. The Las Cruces District uses 

volunteers to visit and assess the condition of more 

than 100 archaeological and historic sites and districts. 

Ten new members were trained and certified within

the established Northwest New Mexico Site Steward 

Program. The Taos Field Office uses SiteWatch

volunteers from the Galisteo and Taos groups. They 

patrol more than 35 sites and have helped repair 

vandalism at numerous rock art panels in the Rio 

Grande Gorge and along a trail near La Cieneguilla 

Petroglyphs Site.

Utah, Grand Staircase-Escalante National

Monument. In 2011, the Grand Staircase-Escalante 

National Monument initiated a site steward program 

administered by the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners, 

a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting the

monument. Initial training was held in May and June 

2011, and an additional three sessions were held in FY

2012. Volunteers proceeded to accomplish hundreds 

of hours of site monitoring and to identify and help 

record new archaeological sites.

Wyoming, Pinedale Field Office. The BLM, Shell 

Western Exploration and Production LP, Ultra 

Resources, Inc., and Rocky Mountain Power completed 

an agreement to mitigate adverse effects to the setting 

of Lander Road and allow continued development of 

the Pinedale Anticline natural gas field. As the result of

an NHPA Section 106 compliance agreement, the three

companies funded the purchase of the property and 

made it available to the public as the New Fork River

Crossing Historical Park. The 82-acre park is similar to

what emigrants saw 150 years ago and is scheduled to 

open in 2014.

Research

Arizona, Kingman Field Office. As of 2013, the Burro 

Creek-Pine Creek Archaeological Field School was

in operation for 10 years. Since 2003, the Kingman 

Field Office and Pima Community College Centre

for Archaeological Field Training have been working

under a cooperative agreement to conduct 100 percent 

of the Class III surveys of the Upper Burro Creek 

Wilderness watershed. The purpose of the agreement 

is to: (1) inventory sites on public land so they can be
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 41

managed more effectively; (2) reconstruct the area’s

settlement history, including the relationship to hilltop 

fortifications; and (3) provide students with a highquality field school experience while teaching them

about BLM cultural resource management practices. All 

sites are intensively recorded and revisited each season 

to monitor their condition. 

Colorado, Canyons of the Ancients National 

Monument. The Jagiellonian University’s Sand

Canyon-Castle Rock Community Archaeological 

Project is the first independent Polish archaeological

project in the United States and seeks to further 

understanding of prehistoric community organization 

within the 13th century Puebloan society. FY 2013 was

the third year that the project director and a group of 

graduate and undergraduate archaeological students 

from Krakow, Poland, conducted research at the 

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. While 

the project’s primary focus is on the Sand Canyon/East

Rock Trail area of the monument, the expedition also 

ventured a few miles north into the poorly documented 

Sandstone Canyon. Working with the monument 

archaeologist, the group conducted extensive electrical 

resistivity analysis of the soil deposits at the base of 

a 120-meter long petroglyph panel. Other than the 

petroglyphs, no cultural material had been previously 

located at this site. Preliminary results indicate intact 

prehistoric architecture is present beneath nearly 1.5 

meters of aeolian soils at the base of the rock art panel. 

Additionally, BLM personnel trained the project’s

graduate students at this site in the use of close range 

photogrammetry. The BLM arranged and paid for all 

housing during the 6-week project.

Colorado, Kremmling Field Office. The North 

Park Cultural Landscapes Project is an ongoing 

archaeological research investigation by the University 

of Northern Colorado on the American Indian 

occupation of North Park in Colorado. The objective 

is to gather scientific data regarding the earliest

inhabitants of North America through cultural survey, 

site recordation and analysis, site testing, excavation, 

field and laboratory analysis, and ethnographic studies

of the Northern Ute Tribe. During 2013, researchers 

and students conducted geophysical investigations on 

Buffalo Ridge and Ballinger Draw.

Idaho, Burley Field Office. In June and July of 2013, 

the Burley Field Office hosted a Utah State University

field school at Lake Channel near American Falls,

Idaho. Nine students from Utah State University 

conducted test excavations in the sweltering dunes that 

are currently a popular destination for off-road vehicles. 

The steep-walled Lake Channel feature—formed during 

the Bonneville Flood (a catastrophic flooding event of

the last ice age)—was an important destination for the

ancestral Shoshone, with numerous sites continually 

being exposed in the deflating sand. The students 

evaluated five sites on BLM land, providing the agency

with the information needed to make management 

decisions for the area.

Idaho, Salmon Field Office. The Coopers Ferry

archaeological site is one of the most significant sites

for BLM Idaho. The Coopers Ferry Project began 5

years ago with Oregon State University. Excavations 

at the sites in 1997 revealed a storage/cache pit with 

four Western Stemmed Tradition projectile points 

and a lithic toolkit with dates of 11,370 and 11,410 

radiocarbon years. These dates calibrate to about 

13,000 calendar years old, contemporaneous with early 

Clovis. The Coopers Ferry Cooperative Conservation

Public Outreach project incorporates an active public 

outreach effort with local residents and recreationists 

who float the Lower Salmon River. Visitors are given 

tours of the site and are brought to the excavation units 

to observe artifacts and features as they are uncovered 

by the Oregon State University field school students.

Public responses to the outreach efforts have been 
42 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

overwhelmingly positive. In 2009, the BLM initiated 

the agreement with Oregon State University, which 

annually contributes more than 7,000 volunteer 

hours and, to date, has contributed a total of 36,300 

volunteer hours valued at $803,600.

New Mexico, Las Cruces District Office. The 

Southern Mimbres Archaeological Project is a CCS 

project with the University of Oklahoma to define

the Southern Mimbres Mogollon culture continuum, 

from the pithouse period through the Classic 

Mimbres phase. FY 2013 was the fourth year of the

agreement, which is accomplishing a large amount of 

archaeological surveying in the Las Uvas Mountains 

and Peloncillo Mountains Wilderness Study Areas 

of southwestern New Mexico for the benefit of the

district office. The project also benefits masters and

doctoral candidates by providing training in field

survey technique, archaeological site recording, and 

report production.

Oregon, Medford District Office. The BLM Medford 

District partnered with Southern Oregon University 

to host two archaeological field schools. The Battle

of Hungry Hill Field School was conducted in the

Grave Creek Hills and focused on locating the physical

evidence of the Battle of Hungry Hill, a violent

encounter between indigenous Rogue River people and 

the U.S. military in 1855. The project strengthened 

working relations with the Cow Creek Band of 

Umpqua Indians, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, 

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the SHPO.

A second field school focused on evaluating a 70-acre

parcel of BLM land located along the Rogue River in 

an area where a prehistoric site had been heavily looted. 

The work was partially funded under a partnership with 

the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. 

Cultural Diversity 

Arizona, Kingman Field Office. In the late 1990s, 

two previously known Hualapai burial sites from

between the 1920s and 1930s were relocated on BLM 

land 10 miles southwest of Kingman, Arizona, in 

an unincorporated area known as Golden Valley. In 

November 2005, a BLM archaeologist visiting the area 

noted that the burial area had been vandalized and 

that several of the headstones were stolen. A rigorous 

investigation immediately commenced. With no 

leads, both the BLM and Hualapai Tribe reached out

to the public and offered a substantial reward for any 

information leading to the recovery of the headstones. 

Approximately 1 year later, all of the stolen headstones 

were returned anonymously to the side of the road 

near the historic burial area. The headstones were held 

in BLM possession until recently when strategies for 

protection were put in place and a memorandum of 

understanding was developed. Arizona’s former State

Director met with the Hualapai Tribal Council in April

2011 to discuss the Golden Valley Cemetery, as it is 

now known, and the proposed strategies to protect 

the area. It was agreed that the Kingman Field Office

would conduct a Class III survey of 250 acres around 

the cemetery locations to ensure that all burials in 

the area were identified. In addition, the field office

contracted the services of Ohio Valley Archaeology, 

Inc., to conduct a geophysical remote sensing survey 

of the two burial areas to ensure that all graves were 

identified prior to construction of a protective fence.

No additional burials were identified, which allowed

for the fence design to be engineered and finalized.

Arizona, Kingman Field Office. The Mohave Valley 

Ethnographic Study originated with numerous 

consultations regarding the importance of the Mohave 

Valley to the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. Many of

these consultations were in response to a number of 

controversial undertakings that have taken place over 

the last decade within the valley. The field office plans

to complete traditional cultural property nominations 

for several important sites within the Mohave Valley. 

The University of Washington has been compiling gray 

literature, conducting interviews with tribal elders and 
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 43

traditional practitioners, and training the Aha Macav 

Cultural Society to assist in conducting interviews 

and transcribing the data collected. The information 

gathered from the tribal elders will be used to create a 

document depicting the importance of this landscape 

to not only the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe but to other

tribes along the lower Colorado River. 

Montana, Missoula Field Office. The field office

signed an agreement with the Salish Kootenai College 

to develop and implement a formal, collaborative tribal 

college student internship program. The internship 

will advance the education and training/experience of 

American Indian students pursing degrees in disciplines 

associated with natural resource management (e.g., 

forestry, hydrology, cultural, wildlife biology) and

identified as critical occupations to the BLM mission.

The internship will last 12 weeks (mid-June through 

mid-September) during the summer field season. As

part of their degrees, Salish Kootenai College requires 

students to take part in an internship program and 

write an undergraduate thesis based on their internship 

experience. In an effort to support internship and 

recent graduate programs, the BLM Washington Office 

provided $15,000 to this program in 2013. 

Montana, Dillon Field Office. In June 2013, the BLM 

and U.S. Forest Service cohosted the fourth year of

Bridging the Divide, a natural and cultural resources 

field camp for tribal high school youth. The intention

of the field camp was to place tribal students in an

outdoor classroom for a more “hands on” approach to

science- and social sciences-based learning and to show 

them different career opportunities available after high 

school. Fifteen students from the Shoshone-Bannock

Tribes and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes 

spent the week in the outdoors working with various 

federal employees and tribal members to learn more 

about the forest environment. Students also had the 

opportunity to learn about the natural and cultural 

landscapes of southwestern Montana and work on their 

traditional skills, such as constructing a tipi, making 

bark bags and willow baskets, constructing a drying 

rack, and roasting meat.

Washington, DC, BLM Washington Office. In 

2002, President George W. Bush signed Executive 

Order 13256, which encourages federal agencies to 

establish agreements with historically black colleges 

and universities in order to advance equal opportunity 

in higher education. In response to that executive 

order, students and faculty at Coppin State University 

embarked on a research project that resulted in an 

indepth and thorough study of the role of African 

Americans in the settlement and development of 

the State of Colorado, with emphasis on areas near 

or adjacent to BLM lands. The final product of

this research is an extensive, highly informative, 

and well-documented book, in which the Coppin 

State researchers unveil several little-known, but 

historically significant, facts relative to the important

role African Americans played in shaping this state. 

The book, titled “Finding History’s Forgotten People:

The Presence of African Americans in the Settlement 

of Colorado, c. 1534 to 1954,” was completed in

February 2012. In this book, the researchers addressed

the role of Colorado’s African Americans in areas such

as mining, community building, cattle ranching, and 

entrepreneurship. The book provides detailed accounts 

of individual African Americans, the struggles they 

faced and overcame, their successes and failures, and 

their overall input into early Colorado society.

Youth Engagement

Idaho, Jarbidge Field Office. Youth volunteers

completed marking and recording portions of the 

National Register-listed Toana Freight Wagon Road

Historic District in western Twin Falls County, Idaho,

in April 2013. Volunteers marked approximately 13 

miles of trail in the field and created a map using a
44 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

GIS. A poster and verbal reports of the project were 

presented to the public, students, and faculty of the 

local high school.

Oregon, Burns District Office. The Burns District 

cultural resources staff received assistance from the 

Oregon Youth Conservation Corps for a week in the

summer of 2013 through the BLM youth initiative. 

The corps worked on painting several historic structures 

in the district under the direction of district staff. These 

included three buildings at Camp Gap Ranch, Riddle 

Brothers Ranch National Historic District, and Silvies

Valley Ranch. The corps is composed of high school 

students from Harney County who work on a variety

of projects for the district in the summer. The district 

is currently developing plans to work with the Oregon 

Youth Conservation Corps again to reconstruct a

willow corral and apply linseed oil to two structures at 

the Riddle Brothers Ranch.

South Dakota, South Dakota Field Office. The 

South Dakota Field Office teamed up with BLM

volunteers and local summer programs from Sturgis, 

South Dakota, during a 2-day event for children on 

prehistoric lifeways, archaeology, and wildlife. A total 

of 50 children in kindergarten through 8th grade, 6 

teachers, and 5 BLM volunteers participated in the 

event. During the first day, 22 kids visited the BLM’s

Fort Meade Recreation Area to learn how to survey

and to learn about the diverse cultural resources and 

how to protect them. On the second day, 28 kids 

attended a presentation at Sturgis Elementary School. 

The kids learned about BLM archaeologist careers, 

prehistoric stone tool flint knapping, prehistoric atlatl 

spear throwing, and prehistoric grain grinding with 

stones. Participants also played games and took part in 

a discussion about local wildlife and their habitats.

Heritage Tourism and Outreach

Washington, DC, BLM Washington Office. The 

BLM led the nation in commemorating the importance 

and lasting effects of the Homestead Act of 1862 on its

150th anniversary. The BLM engaged in a wide variety 

of site-specific and national outreach and education

efforts. These included producing a website with a 

timeline, historic information, photos and personal 

stories; a “history mystery” trunk containing a game

about the realities of homesteading; participation 

in a symposium on homesteading at the Society for 

American Archaeology’s annual meeting; participation

in the “Making of the Plains 1852-2012” conference;

providing lectures on homesteading to interpretive 

centers and schools; providing interpretive displays; 

hosting displays at sportsman shows; giving lectures 

at state archaeology and preservation month events; 

producing posters, webcasts, YouTube videos, and

articles for scholarly and popular magazines; and 

participation in numerous site-specific events.

BLM Alaska collaborated with the City of Anchorage 

in its July 4, 2012, celebration to commemorate 

homesteading as an important part of Alaska’s history.

The BLM arranged to have actual homesteaders come 

to Anchorage and serve as grand marshals and ride 

in antique cars in the City’s Fourth of July parade.

This was followed by the homesteaders individually 

greeting the townspeople and tourists and relating 

their experiences in a BLM-Alaska homestead exhibit 

facility. The homesteaders also signed commemorative 

posters designed by the BLM. The BLM Alaska’s efforts

received a special recognition award from the BLM and 

Alaska Senator Mark Begich.

BLM Montana and Montana Preservation Alliance 

launched a CCS partnership project to commemorate 

the 150th anniversary. The Montana Preservation 

Alliance’s “Homesteading Montana” website

has created a commemorative experience for the 

public in honor of the 150th anniversary and has 

raised awareness of the momentous impact this 

legislation had on the development of Montana 

(homesteadingmontana.org).
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 45

In Idaho, the National Register-eligible Whiskey 

Springs homestead site was one of several BLM 

homesteads selected for a video. Onsite interviews 

with the Challis Field Office archaeologist and

grandchildren of the original homesteader were 

conducted by RED, Inc. Communications as part of 

the Washington Office’s efforts to publicize the 150th

anniversary. It is hoped that this publicity will help the 

field office obtain additional BLM and Idaho Heritage

Trust funding to finance additional stabilization of

outbuildings at the site.

The BLM New Mexico Socorro Field Office developed

an exhibit for the BLM’s Datil Well Recreation Area

Campground. The Magdalena Stock Driveway (or 

Magdalena Trail) was designated under the authority

of the 1916 Stock Raising Homesteading Act. The

well that now serves campground guests was drilled by 

the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 to provide 

water for herds on their way to the shipping pens in 

Magdalena. 

Arizona, Agua Fria National Monument. The Agua 

Fria National Monument hosted the 2013 Arizona

Archaeology Expo event in March. The theme was 

“Life on the Edge: Feast or Famine in Arizona’s Past.”

More than 1,100 people attended this event held at 

the Horseshoe Ranch within the monument. The

expo is the highlight event of Arizona Archaeology 

and Heritage Awareness Month and kicked off a

series of tours, lectures, and events statewide. The 

BLM partnered with the Arizona Game and Fish

Department, Arizona State Parks, and Arizona SHPO.

A number of BLM staff assisted at the monument 

booth to provide information about the jobs of 

archaeologists, historians, and tribal staff members 

and the prehistory and history of the monument and 

Arizona in general. The expo featured a number of 

different archaeology-related hands-on activities, craft 

demonstrations, and other educational materials. 

The Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument, a

nonprofit organization, guided six tours of historic

and prehistoric sites in the monument, and lectures 

were held about the monument’s prehistoric cultures

and features.

Idaho, Idaho Falls District Office. The American 

Rock Art Research Association’s annual conference

was held in Idaho Falls in May 2011. The conference

was conducted in coordination with the BLM’s

Pocatello, Salmon, and Upper Snake Field Offices;

private land owners; City of Pocatello; and ShoshoneBannock Tribes. The conference was founded in 

1974 and represents a diverse group of members who 

are dedicated to rock art preservation, research, and 

education. More than 150 individuals attended the 

conference and made field visits to rock art localities

within 80 miles of Idaho Falls. BLM locations

included the Birch Creek Rockshelters, Jaguar 

Cave and Indian Head Canyon, Skull Canyon, and

Jackknife Cave within the Black Canyon Wilderness 

Study Area. BLM archaeologists and outdoor 

recreation planners guided several field visits and

provided information regarding the general prehistory 

of southeastern Idaho, in addition to interpretative 

discussions of rock art and site-specific research. At the

conference banquet, a retired BLM archaeologist was 

presented with a conservation award for recordation 

and research conducted at 75 rock art sites in 

southeastern Idaho.

Nevada, Carson City District Office. Hidden

Cave is a major prehistoric cultural resource near 

Fallon, Nevada. The year 2013 marked 30 years of a

partnership between the BLM and Churchill County 

Museum in the public interpretation of Hidden Cave

and the related Grimes Point Archaeological Area, 

both rich with evidence of prehistoric occupation and 

use. The Carson City District hosted a symposium 

at the Great Basin Anthropological Conference, 
46 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

titled “Inviting People In for Over Thirty Years: The

Past, Present, and Future of Public Education at

Hidden Cave.” In addition to the BLM, the Nevada

Department of Transportation, Nevada State Museum, 

and American Museum of Natural History gave

presentations. The highlight of the conference was 

a preview of a new video on Hidden Cave that was

produced by the University of Nevada at Reno. The 

BLM provided support for production of the highdefinition video, which features the nearby setting of

the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge and explains 

the scientific significance and cultural meaning of this

important archaeological site.

Oregon, Coos Bay District Office. FY 2013

saw continuation of the district’s role in the sixparty partnership which manages the Cape Blanco 

Lighthouse. The Cape Blanco headland area saw more 

than 20,000 visitors during the open season, and more 

than 13,000 of these people took the lighthouse tour. 

The tour fee generated more than $14,500 for future 

lighthouse maintenance. An additional $2,400 was 

received as donations. Renovation work was conducted 

to convert an existing U.S. Coast Guard garage into a 

new greeting center. The funds for this conversion were 

generated by profits from a bookstore operated by the

Friends of Cape Blanco.

Oregon, Coos Bay District Office. The O. Howard

Hinsdale property contains extensive historic plantings

of rhododendrons and is an important historical 

landscape. In FY 2013, the BLM, in partnership with

the Friends of Hinsdale Garden Reedsport, focused on

maintenance and improvements to the landscape. Drip 

irrigation systems were completed to provide effective 

watering of the fragile shrubs during the summer. In 

addition, the Northwest Youth Corps provided garden

maintenance. With assistance from the Friends of

Hinsdale Garden, the garden was open to the public

1 day, receiving more than 440 visitors. 

Wyoming, Lander Field Office. In FY 2013, the

Lander Field Office continued its efforts to enhance

visitor experiences and increase protection of world-class 

rock art at the Castle Gardens Petroglyph Site in central 

Wyoming. Visitors now have a gravel walking trail 

through the site and foot bridges to ease the crossing 

of deep drainages. Volunteers from Central Wyoming 

College excavated five hearths that were exposed near

the walking trail. Seven pieces of Shoshone-style pottery 

were found. Very little pottery has been found near 

Castle Gardens, so this discovery provided invaluable 

evidence about the prehistoric use of the site. Future

work at Castle Gardens will include a new parking area, 

segments of walking trail, and new interpretive panels. 

All of these improvements are designed to reduce the 

amount of vandalism by increasing public awareness of 

the site’s history and importance.

Climate Change and Adaptation

Arizona State Office. A University of Arizona 

paleoarchaeologist conducted geoarchaeological 

research and recovered Pleistocene soil cores at the 

south end of the Jornada del Muerto basin. The soil 

cores will be used to document soil stratigraphy and to 

sample for radiocardon dating and paleoenvironmental 

reconstruction.

New Mexico, Rio Puerco Field Office. As part of 

the Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Study 

Unit cooperative network, the Rio Puerco Field Office

again sponsored the University of Arizona Laboratory 

of Tree-Ring Research summer field school. Research

focused on a series of 20th century Anglo-American 

sawmills and one homestead in El Malpais National 

Conservation Area. Tree-ring dates will help establish 

a timeline and use of wood resources in the national 

conservation area. These dates will be examined in 

connection with research on tree clearing and arroyo 

formation in the national conservation area since 

1935. This effort builds on research the University of 
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 47

Arizona has conducted on the long-term impacts of 

homesteading on the soil, hydrology, and timber of 

El Malpais.

Oregon State Office. BLM Oregon continues 

to sponsor the Paleoprecipitation Climate Model 

Project with Oregon State University. To date, the 

university has sampled 109 mussel shells from various 

archaeological sites and from modern examples. 

Researchers have not yet incorporated new mussel 

shells collected during the 2013 excavations at Coopers 

Ferry. Radiocarbon dates will be obtained for selected

samples. Of these, researchers have collected 314 

prismatic shell carbonate samples for stable isotope 

analysis. Oxygen isotope analysis of shell carbonate is 

scheduled to occur at Oregon State University’s College

of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences’ Stable

Isotope Laboratory.

Oregon State Office. Two separate projects with 

the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and 

Cultural History—Clovis Quest and Paleoclimate

Reconstruction—were joined in 2013 to focus research 

efforts at Rimrock Draw Rockshelter, a significant

archaeological site in the northern Great Basin. The 

site is also an ideal catchment for volcanic ash and has 

preserved a record of the last 16,000 years. The BLM 

and the university museum held a 6-week archaeology 

field school and a 6-week geoarchaeology field school at

the site in 2013. Twenty seven students and volunteers 

expanded excavation units that were started in 2011 

and 2012. Two cross-creek trenches were excavated by 

backhoe, and stratigraphic profiles were documented

by geoarchaeology students. Paleoclimate research will 

focus on detailed ash identification, pollen analysis, and

local and regional geoarchaeology.

Utah, Grand Staircase-Escalante National

Monument. Fieldwork in the FY 2013 season was

dominated by projects run in cooperation with the 

Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, a nonprofit

organization dedicated to promoting archaeological 

conservation and research. In a continuation of 

the pollen core project begun the previous year, 

University of Utah student volunteers and monument 

archaeologists conducted a 640-acre, block inventory 

of the canyon bottom, cliff faces, and plateau top in 

the vicinity of Meadow Canyon. This is the location 

of the second pollen core collected in an effort to 

document past climatic conditions, vegetation trends, 

and human land use in the monument. This 640-

acre inventory was designed to collect information 

regarding the archaeology surrounding the pollen core 

and further characterize the monument archaeology. 

More than 50 sites were recorded, including historic 

signatures, pueblo-era occupation and storage sites, 

prehistoric rock art, and some of the earliest upland 

Anasazi sites yet documented in the monument. 

Paleoecologists and graduate students from Northern 

Arizona University made two field trips to the location

to collect pollen cores that will be the focus of graduate 

student research.
48 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Artifact collection at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Oregon
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 49

References

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2004a. BLM Handbook H-8120-1, Guidelines for

Conducting Tribal Consultation. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land 

Management. 

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2004b. BLM Manual Section 8100, The Foundations for

Managing Cultural Resources. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2004c. BLM Manual Section 8120, Tribal Consultation

Under Cultural Resource Authorities. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land 

Management.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2004d. BLM Manual Section 8130, Planning for Uses of

Cultural Resources. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2004e. BLM Manual Section 8140, Protecting Cultural

Resources. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2007. 2007-2012 BLM Operating Plan. Department of the

Interior, Bureau of Land Management.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2010. The BLM’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2011 Budget.

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2011a. Making a Difference: BLM’s 2011 Volunteer

Annual Report. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, 

DC. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/Volunteer/reports.html

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2011b. The BLM’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Budget.

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2012a. Making a Difference: BLM’s 2012 Volunteer

Annual Report. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, 

DC. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/Volunteer/reports.html.
50 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2012b. Programmatic Agreement Among the Bureau of

Land Management, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the National Conference of State

Historic Preservation Officers Regarding the Manner in which the BLM Will Meet Its Responsibilities

Under the National Historic Preservation Act. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management). 2012c. The BLM’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2013 Budget. Department of the

Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC.

BLM cultural resource management program. 2004. Preserve America Report. Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Land Management, Division of Cultural, Paleontological Resources, and Tribal Consultation, 

Washington, DC. www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/CRM/publications/preserve_america_report.html. 

BLM cultural resource management program. 2005. Preserve America Report. Department of the 

Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Division of Cultural, Paleontological Resources, and Tribal 

Consultation, Washington, DC. www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/CRM/publications/preserve_

america_report.html. 

BLM cultural resource management program. 2008. The Preserve America Report. Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Land Management, Division of Cultural, Paleontological Resources, and Tribal Consultation, 

Washington, DC. www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/CRM/publications/preserve_america_report.html.

BLM cultural resource management program. 2011. The 2011 Preserve America Progress Report. Department of 

the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Division of Cultural, Paleontological Resources, and Tribal 

Consultation, Washington, DC. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/CRM/publications/preserve_

america_report.html.

DOI (Department of the Interior). 1997. Department of the Interior Departmental Manual, Part 411.

Department of the Interior.

DOI (Department of the Interior). 2011. United States Department of the Interior Strategic Plan

for Fiscal Years 2011-2016. Department of the Interior, Office of Planning and Enforcement

Management, Washington, DC.
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 51

Appendicies

Appendix A

List of Acronyms

ACEC – area of critical environmental concern

ACHP – Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

ARPA – Archaeological Resources Protection Act

ARRA – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

BLM – Bureau of Land Management

CCS program – challenge cost share program

CRDSP – Cultural Resources Data Sharing Partnership

CRM program – cultural resource management program

DOI – Department of the Interior

FASAB – Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board

FBMS – Financial and Business Management System

FLPMA – Federal Land Policy and Management Act

FRPP – Federal Real Property Profile

FY – fiscal year

GIS – geographic information system

National Register – National Register of Historic Places

NCSHPO – National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers

NEPA – National Environmental Policy Act

NHPA – National Historic Preservation Act

NLCS – National Landscape Conservation System

RMP – resource management plan

SHPO – state historic preservation office

WO – Washington Office
52 2014 Preserve America Progress Report

Appendix B

BLM Cultural Resource Management Program

Fact Sheet (Fiscal Year 2011-2013 Data)

2011 2012 2013 To Date

Inventory and Evaluation

Acres intensively inventoried 678,360 797,622 802,623 25,357,622

Cultural properties recorded 9,009 11,109 10,086 358,515

Listings in National Register 9 4 0 430

Properties included in National Register listings 291 57 0 5,137

National Register eligible properties 3,572 3,436 4,020 49,734

Protection, Physical, and Administrative Measures

Total cultural properties under protection 

measures

4,632 7,355 4,177 --

Condition monitoring, stable properties 4,397 4,041 4,026 68,588

Condition monitoring, deteriorating properties 477 233 455 11,811

Sign projects 155 225 278 --

Fence/gate projects 95 113 84 --

Stabilization projects 141 115 385 --

Ongoing protection measures 266 203 188 --

Administrative measures 825 3,096 611 --

Avoidance, Mitigation, and/or Data Recovery

Properties to which adverse effects avoided 4,676 4,773 5,991 --

Completed Section 106, data recovery projects 423 192 98 --

Completed Section 106, mitigated properties 2,368 561 677 --

Properties damaged or destroyed without 

mitigation

1,099 1,239 1,365 --

Post-approval discoveries, undertakings 34 31 47 --

Post-approval discoveries, properties 138 233 117 --

Post-approval discoveries, undertakings requiring 

mitigation

89 24 27 --

Post-approval discoveries, properties 104 113 55 --

Completed non-Section 106, data recovery 

projects

51 38 46 - -

Completed non-Section 106, properties 194 107 72 - -
2014 Preserve America Progress Report 53

BLM Cultural Resource Management Program

Fact Sheet (Fiscal Year 2011-2013 Data) (continued)

2011 2012 2013 To Date

Utilization

Permits in effect 727 762 834 --

Permits worked 444 411 379 --

Permittees whose work field-checked 230 202 190 --

Applications received 262 252 262 --

ARPA notifications 94 71 122 --

Archaeological Enforcement

Incidents detected 68 99 241 --

Incidents with arrests 3 2 2 --

Individuals arrested 9 4 3 --

Incidents with convictions 14 2 9 --

Incidents with acquittals 0 2 0 --

Individual felony convictions 4 0 0 --

Individual misdemeanor convictions 9 2 6 --

Individual citations 4 4 5 --

Individual civil penalties 3 2 1 --

Fines to Treasury $18,155 $675 $925 --

Restitution to agency $689,936 $177,827 $105,408 --

Total forfeitures $2,500 $350 $1,180 --

Total rewards $275 $0 $750 --

Restoration and repair costs $109,133 $64,497 $32,791 --

Commercial or archaeological value damaged 

resources

$803,261 $54,654 $91,717 --

Enforcement costs $169,109 $97,460 $256,200 --

Public and Professional Outreach and Education

Public presentations 1,425 4,805 1,771 --

People contacted by public presentations 65,429 107,229 80,538 --

Professional presentations and articles 138 103 123 --

Heritage publications and products 39 114 35 --

American Indian Consultations

Consultations with federally recognized tribes 4,084 4,381 3,713 --

Consultations with nonfederally recognized 

tribes

495 302 181 --
Nuckolls Homestead and Ranch, Hulett, Wyoming
Ojito Wilderness Study Area, New Mexico

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by the federal government.