›› Texas: USIBWC partnered with the NPS to provide archaeological monitoring and looting protection during the reconstruction of the levee system surrounding Fort Brown NHL. Current plans are for the NHL to eventually be transferred to the NPS and incorporated into the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park. ›› Mississippi: USACE Mobile District partnered with the Department of Justice, FWS, and the United States Marshal Service to form a task force for protection of historic properties on Mobile District land. This led to a sharp decrease in looting and resulted in 13 successful ARPA convictions.
The NPS Volunteers-in-Parks (VIP) program is authorized by the Volunteers-in-Parks Act of 1969.The purpose is to provide a means through which the NPS can accept voluntary help from interested citizens and international visitors in a way that is mutually beneficial to the NPS and to the volunteer. In 2016, more than 339,000 volunteers donated 8.06 million hours of service to national parks, including more than 351,000 hours toward cultural resources management.There are more than 390 volunteer programs throughout the National Park System, and the numbers of volunteers and hours has grown an average of 5-7 percent annually since 1990.
The USACE partners with various cooperating associations to provide resources and volunteers in the protection and interpretation of historic properties. In 2016, 174 USACE operating projects conducted interpretive programs for 30,037 visitors on-site, and 13,500 contacts at off-site programs at schools and other community venues.
Highlights of federal agency and state and local governments’ partnerships: These partnerships are important because they vest the community in the preservation of the historic properties and highlight the significance of the local connection. ›› Tennessee River Valley: TVA’s ARPA Investigations Team and Enforcement Program (commissioned federal investigators and specially trained archaeologists) focuses on patrolling and monitoring historic properties to reduce the destruction and removal of archaeological artifacts from TVA land through the criminal prosecution process outlined in ARPA. (Archaeological sites on TVA land, as well as on BLM and Reclamation’s lands, have continually been vulnerable to looting activity given their often close proximity to the water and remote location.) ›› South Carolina: Through a 2015 GSA loan agreement, the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology led the recovery of cannons from a sunken Confederate gunboat (C.S.S. Pee Dee ) found in the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The recovery is documented in an online video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBhPa3sAV0M) made prior to conservation of the cannons that will be displayed at a local VA facility. ›› Maryland: At the NPS Antietam National Battlefield, 1,878 volunteers donated 28,761 hours of their time during FY 2016. In terms of estimated dollar value, these volunteers provided more than $677,600 of service to the park. While much of the total volunteer hours benefited major events such as the Battle Anniversary weekend when the park received more than 5,000 visitors, the park also received 722 hours of volunteer time in its museum and library.
IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A REPORT ON FEDERAL HISTORIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 2018 | 31
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