CRM National Wildlife Refuge Regulations
- A cultural resource is a significant physical expression of the prehistory and history of the United States.Dinosaur Skeleton image by Ritu Jethani from Fotolia.com
The U.S. Congress requires the National Park Service, the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Refuge System to implement a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) system. This requirement affects all federal lands with designated wildlife preserves and refuges. - According to the National Park Service, a cultural resource is a physical substance or place having historical, cultural, scientific or technological associations that relate to ideas, events and relationships in the prehistory and history of the United States. A cultural resource could be an archaeological site, a cultural landscape, a structure or an object.
Numerous acts of Congress---including the Antiquities Act of 1906, the National Park Service Act of 1916, and the Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1974---authorize Interior Department land managers to adopt rules for preserving and protecting cultural resources, as do several Executive Orders. - Title 36 CFR 800 requires protection of all historical and cultural property. Title 43 CFR 3 establishes methods and procedures for excavation of historic and prehistoric objects on federal land. Disruptive activities on land deemed to contain cultural resource materials require permits and an extensive review process.
The Interior Department has supplemental rules for the protection of archaeological resources, as set forth in Title 43 CFR 7, Subparts A and B. These rules apply to wildlife refuges and land administered by the National Park Service, the National Wildlife Refuge System and the Bureau of Reclamation. - Congress has passed several laws to protect Native American cultural resources---including artifacts, religious objects and burial grounds---on federal land. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 and Executive Order 13007 require all Interior Department land managers to return Native American and Hawaiian American artifacts to their lineal descendants, and to allow religious observances at the cultural resource site whenever possible.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the agency in charge of the National Wildlife Refuge System. This system provides for the protection of cultural resources, including Native American artifacts and religious services, in the same manner as its Interior Department counterpart. Specific regulations appear on its website.
- Federal regulations allow states and locales to develop and promulgate rules that comport with Interior Department standards. Title 36 CFR 61 provides states with a procedural method to develop a cultural resource plan for wildlife refuge areas in compliance with federal guidelines, so that states and federal agencies can work together to perform surveys and enforce cultural resource rules.
