Archeology and the Federal Government

The Federal government's concern for preservation of important archeological properties began during the nineteenth century in response to the destruction and looting of Indian ruins in the American Southwest. Since then, the breadth of this concern has grown to include the consideration of impacts to archeological properties, as well as other kinds of cultural resources by most Federal activities. As this issue of the CRM Bulletin illustrates, a very wide range of agencies and activities at the national, state, and local levels are involved in Federal archeology. All of the archeological work that this encompasses is referred to as the Federal Archeology Program. It is part of the larger National Historic Preservation Program which operates by authority of various statutes, central among them the National Historic Preservation Act. The Federal Archeology Program involves several additional statutes that are specific to archeological properties and activities: the Antiquities Act of 1906, the Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974, and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. The articles and program summaries in this special issue of CRM describe the archaeological activities undertaken or required by over a dozen federal agencies.