Nicholas Burlakoff <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I hope that I have not violated Fair Use standards, but I believe that the topic is of utmost importance to Preservationists.New York Times November 12, 2003

The Road to Preserving History

Tucked inside federal transportation law is a small phrase that has done a fairly heroic job of protecting some of the nation's most important historic areas for almost 40 years. These few words in the 1966 Department of Transportation Act say that a federal highway project cannot destroy any historic area if there is a "prudent and feasible alternative."

Here's the Kansas State Archaeologist's take:

"What the article discusses is Section 4(f) of the 1966 Transportation
Act.  It's my understanding that this act and the National Historic
Preservation Act came up for the vote at the same time and the idea was
for one or the other to pass.  Both did.  In the article, it sounds like
the elimination of Section 4(f), which requires that engineers design
alternate routes around historic properties and create cost estimates
for the alternates, would eliminate any consideration of the historic
property.  Not so -- [Section] 106 [of the NHPA] still applies.  It's also worth noting that Section 4(f) is typically reserved for above ground stuff, like
buildings, and rarely if ever applies to your standard archeological
site.  The article implies that DOTs could be given freer reign to plow
through sites like the Ocmulgee Old Fields burial mounds if Section
4(f), but in my experience Section 106, state unmarked burial laws, and
American Indian concerns have a much stronger role in these situations
than Section 4(f).

"Section 4(f) does offer greater protection for historic properties in
that it mandates serious considerations of alternates, but consultation
with the SHPO [State Historic Preservation Office] should and often can serve the same purpose."

Lynn Johnson

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