Description
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) was enacted to support the preservation of historic properties that are significant to the collective heritage of the United States. This legislation provided for the creation of State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO), entities that are responsible for collecting, storing, and disseminating all data related to historic properties in a given State. The SHPO of a particular state is also mandated to facilitate the implementation of heritage preservation policies in all federal, state, and local government, and private actions which may impact historic properties. Specifically, as per NHPA Section 101(b)(1)(3), the Oregon SHPO is mandated to A) in cooperation with Federal and State agencies, local governments, and private organizations and individuals, direct and conduct a comprehensive statewide survey of historic properties and maintain inventories of such properties; B) identify and nominate eligible properties to the National Register and otherwise administer applications for listing historic properties on the National Register; C) prepare and implement a comprehensive statewide historic preservation plan; D) administer the State programs of Federal assistance for historic preservation within the State; E) advise and assist as appropriate, Federal and State agencies and local governments in carrying out their historic preservation responsibilities; F) cooperate with the Secretary, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other Federal and State agencies, local governments, and organizations and individuals to ensure that historic properties are taken into consideration at all levels of planning and development; G) provide public information, education, training, and technical assistance in historic preservation; H) cooperate with local governments in the development of local historic preservation programs and assist local governments⿦; I) consult with the appropriate Federal agencies in accordance with this Act⿦; J) advice and assist in the evaluation of proposals for rehabilitation projects that may qualify for federal assistance.Cultural resources specialists create mass amounts of data when inventorying and evaluating historic properties and conducting heritage policy compliance on development projects throughout Oregon. The SHPO is mandated to manage all data created during these activities and provide access to all cultural resources specialists working in Oregon, as well as disseminate aspects of this data to share information on national history with the public. To support Oregon SHPO⿿s mandate, the BLM is looking to support the development and implementation of innovative and efficient data management strategies, which considers technological developments and methodology such as digital data management systems. The BLM supports formats, processes, platforms, policies, and practices that promote streamlining, standardizing, validating, and digital sharing of cultural resources data on a regional scale.The objective of this project is to develop and/or implement efficient and cost-effective best practice methodologies to manage all cultural resources data within the State of Oregon. These methodologies may include, but not be limited to, a management platform, policies, and procedures. This program will support development of streamlined procedures to enhance innovative data sharing between federal, state, and private cultural resource specialists, particularly digital sharing. This program also includes facilitating data entry for new and legacy formats, validating new and legacy data, transferring paper files to digital formats, and creating comprehensive and reliable records.