Preservation and Stimulus

Today is our last work day before the students and team members get a three day holiday break to do their wash, rest from our hard work, and explore some more of beautiful southern Utah.  I will post a summary of the week's discoveries later today.

Someone emailed me today with some questions about preservation, archaeology, and economic development.  I have been talking to many people about how public archaeology can be an ally of economic development.  Here in Utah and most western states, archaeology and cultural resource management are often seen as obstructions to development.  While I don't expect that archaeologists and developers will agree on everything all the time, I believe  strongly that archaeology can be a key ally to economic development.  I've written about this before.

Today, the Society for Historical Archaeology and other similar organizations are making the case for historic preservation as part of economic stimulus funds. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has posted a set of articles that show the benefits that preservation have for economic development and growth.  You can find the links to these studies here.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation is collating information from many professional societies and organizations.  You can find it all organized here.