Statement of the Society for American Archaeology For Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations

These include, but are not limited to, surveys of land for historic and archaeological resources under Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA); review of undertakings on federal land under Section 106 of the NHPA; protection of archaeological materials under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act; preparation of nominations of historic properties to the National Register. [...] The losses are especially severe at the GS-12 level and above, where the archaeologists have the most experience and the highest levels of education, and thus are best able to oversee Section 106 reviews. [...] SAA endorses the recommendations put forward by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, and others: a total of $150 million for FY2022, which would be the first time in its history that the HPF is funded at its fully authorized level. [...] While the BLM is experiencing similar staffing shortages to those facing the NPS, perhaps of greatest concern is the longstanding disruption and dysfunction that occurred in the cultural resources program because of the reorganization of the BLM central office in Washington, DC, and the subsequent relocation of staff to Grand Junction, Colorado, and other offices in the West that resulted in the r. [...] In order to provide adequate management of these lands and the archaeological resources they contain, the SAA strongly supports an allocation of $65.1 million for the program, an increase of $19.5 million over FY2021.