Quarterly Meeting Minutes

Monday, January 7, 2002, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Arizona State Museum, room 309

The University of Arizona

A.  CALL TO ORDER:  Michael Barton called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m.

B.       INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS AND GUESTS:  See attached list

C.  OLD BUSINESS

            1.  Review of minutes of last meeting:  No minutes exist for the October, 2001, meeting.

2.      Status report on grants & ISA’s:  Rick Karl reported that he is submitting a grant to NCPTT to establish a training program for AZSITE users.  It would be directed at CRM and government users.

3.      Standing committees

§        Database committee:  ASM has been beta testing the ASU GIS lab’s new version of the website, it works well and is in the process of being migrated to ARI where it will be hosted.  It allows users to zoom in at various levels and to overlay various land use, milepost markers, and transportation maps.  It allows users to select the area of concern and provides lists of sites or projects for that area.  It will be linked to the current website at http://azsite.asu.edu.  There is a self-subscribing function that allows users, with SHPO approval, to create their own accounts which will then be activated by ASM staff.  This spring users will need to apply for new accounts and existing accounts will be terminated in March.

§        Management committee:  AZSITE has begun collecting fees in accordance with the policy established last year and has established the following priorities for use of fees:

§         Keeping the ASM data administrator position funded.

§         Some amount of funding for CES and ARI for hosting the web sites.

§         Use BLM funds for the ASU GIS lab for continued improvement of the web site.

§         Carol Griffith mentioned that the policy for users access is in line with federal standards for access to archaeological data.

§        Tribal concerns committee:  Beth Grindell updated the group on the meeting between AZSITE personnel and several staff at the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the desire of both groups to develop a collaborative project by which WMAT data can be put into electronic form and made available through a link on the AZSITE website, although with access permission granted by WMAT personnel, not through the AZSITE permissions list.

4. NEW BUSINESS

5. PUBLIC COMMENT:  Jon Shumaker asked about charges to tribes wishing access to AZSITE.  Michael Barton said that tribes requesting a fee waiver should submit a letter of request to the Consortium.  Carol Griffith noted that there are currently 200 users, including 2 researchers and 2 students.  The primary use is for §106 compliance.  Peter Steere requested that tribal data not be deleted from the database without consulting the tribes first and that there are some Pasqua Yaqui land sites in the database.  Carol Griffith commented that this may be the result of either bad location data for the sites or ALRIS maps that do not adequately reflect tribal holdings.  Michael Barton noted that it might be possible to archive tribal data to CD’s and send it to tribes requesting it.  Carol Heathington noted that Luke Air Force Base cultural resource staff is considering options for best controlling cultural data on its lands.  Since the previous LAFB archaeologist, Bruce Masse, was in the habit of getting ASM site numbers, much LAFB data is in AZSITE.  ARPA directs that cultural resource information be made available for research, public education, and to proactively combat vandalism.  LAFB continues to develop its ideas about how best to deal with all concerns.  Chad Smith circulated a copy of a letter from himself to Col. J.R. Uken with respect to concerns about sites and data on the Barry M. Goldwater Range.  Smith mentioned that Nellis AFB has a presidential order restricting all archaeological information to the AFB.  Smith continues to be concerned about “non-standard” archaeological sites like trails, intaglios and traditional cultural places.  He feels that control of such data at a local level and refusal to release it may not be “such a great loss” to researchers.  Smith further contends that SHPO does not have the authority to require participation in AZSITE.  Carol Griffith asserts that it does have exactly such authority for all federal, state, and tribal lands, except for tribes that have established Tribal Historic Preservation Offices.

G.      ADJOURNMENT:  The meeting adjourned at 2:50 p.m. after setting a date of April 18 for the next meeting, in Tempe.

Participants:

Michael Barton, ASU, Chair

Beth Grindell, ASM, recording

David R. Wilcox, Museum of Northern Arizona

Carol Griffith, SHPO

Steve Savage, SHPO

Chad Smith, Ft Mohave Tribe

Rick Karl, ASM

Carol Heathington, Luke AFB

Jon Shumaker, Ak-Chin Indian Community

Peter Steere, TON Cultural Affairs