Cultural Resources Management

Cultural resources are defined by Army and Department of Defense policy as:

• Historic properties, as defined in the National Historic Preservation Act
• Cultural Items, as defined in the Native American Graves Protection and Repartriation Act
• Archeological resources, as defined in the Archeological Resources Protection Act
• Sacred sites, as defined in Executive Order 13007
• Archeological collections, as defined in 36 CFR Part 79, Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archaeological Collections

Management of Army cultural resources is guided by Chapter 6 of Army Regulation (AR) 200-1, Environmental Protection and Enhancement.

The Army is a leader in federal cultural resources management. It administers more than 100,000 cultural resources on some 15 million acres of land. The Cultural Resources Management Program at the U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC) assists installations in meeting their compliance needs with respect to these resources by developing programmatic compliance solutions and technical documents, and providing technical support to installations. The Cultural Resources Program seeks to support the mission by improving sustainability within the Army and developing cost-effective tools to improve compliance practices.

The Army plans to continue developing “Communities of Practice.” USAEC is developing and managing forums through which installations can work together and share experiences and lessons learned to further protect Army cultural resources and minimize restrictions to Army operations and training due to cultural resources compliance requirements.

Army cultural resources include:

• 14,000 historic buildings listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places
• 54,000 archeological sites
• 17 National Historic Landmarks containing over 2,500 buildings
• Native American Sacred Sites on 31 installations
• 22,400 cubic feet of archeological artifact collections

• Technical Documents
• Integrated Cultural Resource Management Practices (ICRMPs)
• Army Alternate Procedures
• Native American Cultural Resources
• Historic Buildings and Landscapes
• Cultural Resources Management Partnerships
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended (16 USC 470-470w)
• Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (25 USC 3001-3013)
• Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 USC 470aa-470mm)
• Executive Order 13007, Indian Sacred Sites
• 36 CFR Part 79, Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archaeological Collections
• AR 200-1, Environmental Protection and Enhancement