The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service has a long and distinguished history of public service and stewardship for the nation’s national forests and grasslands. From its inception in 1905 with 60 million acres, today’s U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres and, as part of their interdisciplinary planning approach, cultural resources management plays a large role in their land management practices. As the Forest Service manages public lands in national forests and grasslands, it is therefore subject to federal laws and stipulations, including Section 106 and 110 regulations. Before logging can occur on a forest service parcel of land, cultural resources surveys need to be conducted.
New South Associates has the experience and the resources required to handle the various types of cultural resources services needed by the Forest Service. These services include: archaeological surveys, site testing, and mitigative archaeological data recoveries; historic architectural studies; and National Register of Historic Places nominations and eligibility determinations. In 1989, after Hurricane Hugo struck the South Carolina Coast, over 80 percent of the trees in Francis Marion National Forest were lost. Before these trees could be salvaged for lumber, New South Associates conducted rapid, intensive, Phase I Archaeological Survey of over 32,000 acres of the National Forest, writing the reports simultaneously with completing the fieldwork and labwork. Which allowed for clearance in two years. Some other examples of New South’s work with the Forest Service include:
Monongahela National Forest Historic Preservation Plan and Historic Resources Inventory, USDA Forest Service (West Virginia); Cultural Resources Survey of the Phase II Pulpwood Harvest in the Wando-I’on Analysis Area, Francis Marion National Forest, USDA Forest Service (South Carolina); Archaeological Survey of 7,000 acres in Ouachita Forest, USDA Forest Service (Arkansas); Cultural Resources Survey of the West Branch, Uwharrie National Forest, USDA Forest Service (North Carolina); Oconee River Olympic Venue EIS, USDA Forest Service (Tennessee); and Columbia River Rock Art Recording, USDA Forest Service (Oregon).
New South Associates has considerable experience working with the U.S. Forest Service and understands forest resource management and the quality of service the U.S. Forest Service requires.