Photo By Staff Sgt. Ashley Tsoi | A contractor sifts through dirt to isolate an artifact found in the soil during an...... read more read more
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Contractors with the New South Associates, Inc. began an eight to 10 week archaeological survey on the eastern portion of MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, Aug. 16, 2017.
The dig, formally known as the Cultural Resources Assessment Survey, is intended to better manage the base’s cultural resources. This will enhance the 6th Civil Engineer Squadron’s ability to plan for future developments on base, and help foster partnerships with the two Native American tribes, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, who are associated with MacDill.
“Completing the base-wide survey will give us a better understanding of the overall quality of archaeological resources on MacDill, and identify any archaeological hot spots, if they exist, where construction and development activities would be limited,” said Jason Kirkpatrick, an environmental flight manager with the 6th CES.
Upon any findings during the survey, the 6th CES will be able to provide a more accurate understanding of the cultural presence of the land.
“Cultural resources are anything that is considered prehistoric, or has any historic resemblance, that might be located in the soil,” said Eric Vichich, the natural and cultural resources program manager with the 6th CES.
There is a current emphasis for the Air Force to place more importance on working with tribes associated with the base, so any findings during the survey will be critical. As a result, the associated tribes will play a significant role in the decision-making process.
“We interact with the tribes by informing them when we find something,” said Vichich. “If we find anything significant, we can document it and adjust our projects to avoid disturbing the land.”
According to Kirkpatrick, the goal is to use this survey to identify large areas as archaeologically resource-free which eliminates the amount of required consultations with the State Historic Preservation Office and the associated tribes. This will help speed up completion of the environmental impact analysis process.
Kirkpatrick felt there had to be an easier way to manage the process of surveying. He decided to reach out to the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and initiate the idea of the base-wide survey.
“After doing a few individual project surveys, requested by the Seminole Tribe of Florida back in 2015, I found that this took a while to complete and was somewhat expensive,” said Kirkpatrick.
He broached his concerns to the cultural resources subject matter expert, Heidi Mowry with the Patrick Installation Support Section at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.
From there, Kirkpatrick learned other bases around the eastern part of the U.S. were already implementing base-wide archaeological surveys.
“If other bases were getting funding for these large scale surveys, why shouldn’t we be able to as well?” asked Kirkpatrick, who went on to submit a cost estimate to conduct an archaeological survey of the entire installation.
“The project request was submitted to the AFCEC, who programmed the project,” added Kirkpatrick. “The cost for the project was around $700,000, which was way too high to accomplish in one year. For this reason, the project was broken up into two phases, fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2018.”
Prior to completion of the survey, the 6th CES will know the location of all the resources they have found. They can plan ahead for future projects, and move them if they conflict with the location of resources.
“It’ll save time and money for future projects,” concluded Vichich. “Also, the results will provide a better understanding of the cultural presence on the land, which dates back 5,000 years or more.”
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2017 10:16 |
| Story ID: | 245226 |
| Location: | TAMPA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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