Petroglyphs and Lithic Scatters: Management Prescriptions For Historical, Cultural, and Archaeological Resources

This article examines the key statutes and regulations which impose cultural resources management requirements on public land development projects.8 Cultural resources management first emerged as a public lands issue with passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906.9 Since then, Congress enacted a number of statutes designed to increase the protection afforded historic and cultural resources, culminating in the enactment, and subsequent amendment, of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).10

This article discusses the National Historic Preservation Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the First Amendment to the Constitution and related statutes concerning Native American religious freedom, and the other key statutory and regulatory schemes affecting or implementing cultural resources management schemes on the public lands.11 Through this discussion this article seeks to provide a practical analysis of the planning requirements and cultural resources management obligations imposed on federal agencies and project proponents.