Should achaeologists be taking orders from wildlife managers?
Kevin Jones, the state archaeologist, says that would cause a lot of problems and solve nothing. Rep. Bradley T. Johnson, sponsor of a bill that would make that change, says it would save money and improve cooperation among agencies.
HB308, introduced by Johnson, R-Aurora, would move "the functions of the state historic preservation officer from the Division of State History to the Division of Wildlife Resources," according to the bill's official description. Included in the change are the State Antiquities Section and the Cultural Sites Review Committee.
Jones said he and his staff in the Antiquities Section, six people, would be transferred, along with data and historic preservation material. That includes people who deal with listing important buildings on the National Register, and experts on tax credits for such properties, Jones added.
The organizations are charged with protecting prehistoric and historic sites and for advising other state agencies about their legal duties to protect them.
On Friday HB308 was approved by the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee. It was among 20 bills sent to the House floor for a vote, possibly today.
Johnson cited two reasons for the change: the state's recent acquisition of property in the Range Creek vicinity, "which is a tremendous treasure" where both Wildlife Resources and the antiquities people should work closely together; and "communication has not been good" between the two agencies.
"There's some conflict," he said in a telephone interview.
"Everybody wants to protect the archaeological treasures that we have. But it's been kind of overdone. And it's costing the citizens of the state a lot of time and money," and has threatened to derail projects from being developed.
"There's kind of a conflict and we want to make this a smoother administration of the archaeological reviews."
Asked for an example, he said Wildlife Resources may want to improve wildlife habitat in an area that has little archaeology. "They still had to make, I guess you would say, an extreme archaeological survey," he said.
Asked if the move is payback, he replied, "No, no, we just want to make it work better. We just want to make it so there's more uniform decisions."
Miles Moretti, acting head of Wildlife Resources, says the change would ensure fair treatment by the archaeologist's office — something he claims is lacking today.
He wouldn't fire the state archaeologist or staff. "But I would sit them down" and tell them to be more customer-friendly.
"I would . . . say you cannot treat people the way you treat them. There's some personalities that need to be fixed," Moretti said.
Issues have arisen between the agencies, he said. "Mostly, we're trying to work with them and we continue to just get a bureaucracy . . . that just grinds everything to a halt. And after a while, you begin to take it personally."
Moretti cited the archaeological survey carried out before a land trade involving the Jensen property, part of the state's acquisition of the Range Creek site in eastern Utah. Wildlife Resources sent the state archaeologist's office a letter saying it wanted to survey 25 percent of the property to get the matter settled before the snow flies, he said.
"You just wouldn't believe" how upset the archaeologists were, he said.
In drafts of letters, the archaeologist's office accused Wildlife Resources of being unprofessional, Moretti said. Then both agencies decided to pull all their letters and work out a solution, he added. Hunt Oil, which was acquiring the Jensen property in a three-way trade, agreed to put up money to carry out an excavation, he added.
"That's just one of many incidents," Moretti said. "A lot of people are frustrated with them, not just us."
The state archaeologist takes umbrage at that.
"He said there's a problem. He said we were obstructionists in the way we deal with cultural resources, and we were inconsiderate of their employees. He said something about nasty e-mails. I really don't know what he's talking about," Jones said.
The Division of State History opposes the change, he said.
His office is independent and "dedicated completely to state history, to understanding it and educating our citizens, protecting historic sites," he said. "And we advise state agencies."
Other agencies are legally required to check with his office before they undertake a project that might have an impact on archaeological or historic sites, he said. "Our motives are to act in the best interests of the state, to protect our important heritage."
To move this watchdog office as proposed by Johnson would put it in a secondary role within an agency "whose purpose is to protect wildlife," he said.
When Wildlife Resources prioritizes its budget, will it place archaeology and history high on its list? "I don't think so. They have other priorities."
His take on the dispute over the Jensen property is that archaeologists worked hard with Wildlife Resources "to help them meet their statutory responsibilities."
Wildlife Resources only wanted to carry out an archaeological survey on a quarter of the land, he said. They consulted with the state archaeologist's office, but "they actually had their crews in the field the day after they submitted the plan to us, so clearly they had no intention of considering what our comments were."
His office told Wildlife Resources it should survey the entire tract and do a better sampling program, Jones said.
The Antiquities Section must advise the other agencies about legal requirements vis-a-vis cultural resources, he said.
"Our role isn't regulatory," Jones added. "They don't have to listen to us."
But if agencies fail to carry out their responsibilities, he added, they face the possibility of lawsuits from citizens.
"We're not trying to advise any agency to break the bank" in archaeological surveys, Jones said. "But we also want to help them avoid getting into trouble and getting into court because of inadequate compliance with cultural resources laws."
E-mail: bau@desnews.com