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2005
NCSHPO Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation
The Arizona Site Steward Program
in the category of Stewardship for their
exemplary stewardship efforts on behalf of a significant historic
resource.
The Arizona Site Steward Program is
a program of the Arizona SHPO. Developed in 1986, the program
is volunteer-based and is designed to assist in the protection
of archaeological sites and historic places. The program is sponsored
by the state and federal public land managers, many of the states’
county and municipal agencies, the Arizona SHPO, and the Governor’s
Archaeology Advisory Commission.
Arizona Site Stewards are volunteers
that are recruited, trained and certified by the SHPO and the
Advisory Commission. Their goal is to monitor archaeological sites
and report evidence of destruction or vandalism to municipal,
county, state and federal land managers. In addition, they are
also active in public education and outreach activities. There
are currently over 800 volunteers serving in 27 communities across
the state and in 2004, they donated 2,500 hours of public outreach,
made over 9,000 site visits, and spent over 22,000 hours in site
monitoring.
The program has partnered with several
organizations to conduct training for local law enforcement officials
regarding the state antiquity law, how to investigate and crime
scene, and how to successfully prosecute and case relating to
site vandalism. The Arizona Site Steward Program has also worked
to train those who use public lands – jeep tour guides and
4-wheel drive clubs for example – aware of appropriate behavior
on or near archaeological sites.
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