Cultural Resources
Cultural resources help define human history, remind us of our interdependence with the land, and show how cultures change over time. Structures, artifacts, objects and other cultural resources are found throughout Washington in locations where people have lived and thrived. These resources are evidence of how people lived, where important events occurred, and where traditional, religious and ceremonial activities took place. In 2005, the Washington Forest Practices Board adopted watershed analysis cultural resources rules* to help preserve human tradition, culture, and history.A Cultural Resource Protection and Management Plan was developed by the Timber Fish and Wildlife Cultural Resources Committee, a multi-caucus group that includes tribes, forest landowners, and state agencies. The plan was developed at the request of the Forest Practices Board to fulfill a commitment in the 1999 Forests and Fish Report, which led up to the current Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan.
The cultural resources rules:
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Are designed for anyone to use, even outside of DNR's watershed analysis process, to identify, protect, and manage cultural resources,
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Include the participation of affected tribe(s), and
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Use voluntary management strategies, rather than regulatory prescriptions, agreed to by participating affected landowner, land manager, tribe, and, in some cases, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
Note: The most recent paper copy of the watershed analysis manual does not include the Forest Practices Watershed Analysis Manual Appendix J - Cultural Resources.
The Timber/Fish/Wildlife (TFW) Cultural Resources Roundtable was established by the Forest Practices Board. The Roundtable fosters cooperative protection and management of cultural resources as envisioned in the Cultural Resource Protection and Management Plan. The Roundtable is currently on hiatus.
