Cultural resources are tangible remains of past human activity. They are important to our communities because they tell the stories of our past and can provide solutions to modern problems.
The Governor’s Executive Order 21-02 requires most RCO-funded projects to be reviewed for their potential harm to cultural resources.
Grant applicants should request funding to do this work in their applications.
RCO leads the review process for most projects from local governments, tribes, and nonprofits. State and federal agencies are responsible for cultural resources review and compliance for their own projects and projects that take place on their owned and managed lands.
The Governor’s Executive Order 21-02 directs agencies such as RCO to consult with the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and affected tribes on the potential effects of the agency’s state-funded projects on cultural resources.
RCO reviews projects for potential effects to cultural resources using publicly available and protected cultural resources information, produces Area of Potential Effects shapefiles, consults with the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and tribes, starts projects in the Washington Information System for Architectural and Archaeological Records Data (WISAARD) system, produces inadvertent discovery plans, and provides cultural resource management assistance to project sponsors throughout their RCO projects.
Process Details
Cultural Resources for Applicants and Sponsors
Cultural Resources for Consultants
Types of Cultural Resources
Cultural resources encompass all the physical evidence of past human activity. They include the following:
- Built resources older than fifty years, including buildings and structures, transmission lines, bulkheads, and levees
- Traditional cultural places and sacred sites
- Sites of significant events
- Locations of past activities, such as trails, petroglyphs, village sites, or battlefields
- Modified landscapes, earthworks, and canals more than fifty years old
- Precontact or historic age sites
- Precontact or historic age objects or collections
Protected Archaeological Information
In Washington State, archaeological sites and Native American graves are protected by a variety of state and federal laws. Federal law applies to all federal and Native American lands and Washington State law applies to all other lands. Knowingly disturbing an archaeological site in Washington is a felony.
Information that identifies the location of archaeological sites or the sites of traditional religious ceremonial use is sensitive and exempt from public disclosure. This may include archaeological investigation reports, archaeological site forms, site maps, and photographs. Keeping this information private may prevent looting or disturbance and may help ensure continued use of the area by traditional religious practitioners.
For more information on laws protecting sensitive cultural resources, refer to the Public Records Act or the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106.
Resources
The Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s guide for hiring a preservation consultant.
The Association for Washington Archaeology’s list of consultants.
Questions?
E-mail cultural resources specialists
Sarah Johnson Humphries, Cultural Resources Unit manager, 360-764-3072
Photography by Chris Popek