Each year archaeological sites and historic buildings and structures are lost to erosion caused by rising seas and intensified storm systems. Other heritage resources are buried by expanding dunes, eroded by high winds, or damaged by pests (insects and rodents) that move into new areas as local environmental conditions change.  Recognizing that irreplaceable heritage resources were being lost, the World Heritage Center and UNESCO, in 2006, initiated multiple programs to investigate the impacts of climate change on World Heritage sites (http://whc.unesco.org/en/climatechange).

Since 2001, the SRI Foundation has been dedicated to the preservation of heritage resources. Recognizing that climate change is one of the greatest threats to historic buildings and structures, archaeological sites, and traditional communities in many regions of the world, the Foundation developed a program dedicated to conducting research on heritage resource preservation and climate change. Dr. Diane L. Douglas, a climatologist and specialist in heritage resource preservation, will lead the program by:

•	Investigating the impacts of climate change on locally, nationally and internationally significant heritage resources,
•	Developing partnerships with other organizations worldwide to identify best practices that address these impacts, and
•	Developing partnerships with other organizations to identify and implement pre-disaster mitigation measures that will help protect significant heritage resources threatened by climate change,
•	Assisting federal land-managing agencies in the United States to develop programs that consider climate change impacts as part of their compliance with Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

If you would like more information on the SRI Foundation’s Climate Change and Heritage Resource Preservation program, please contact Dr. Douglas at ddouglas@srifoundation.org

Effective Practices for Considering Historic Preservation in Transportation Planning and Early Project Delivery. NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 49

By Terry Klein, David Cushman, Danny Kwan, and Elizabeth Stepp. August 2009
 
http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2374

 

Historic Bridges Community of Practice, Center for Environmental Excellence, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The Center for Environmental Excellence by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Historic Bridge Alliance, has established a web-based Historic Bridges Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP’s purpose is to provide an on-line forum for invited participants to identify and discuss emerging issues associated with the identification, evaluation, and management of our nation’s historic bridges.

http://environment.transportation.org/cop/groups/historic_bridges/default.aspx

Carla R. Van West, Director of Preservation Research, is one of 15 nationally recognized scholars chosen to participate in an advanced seminar at the Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona in the autumn of 2009.  The seminar, Native and Imperial Morphogenesis: Comparing 16th Century Entradas in the American Southwest and Southwest, will result in a peer-reviewed book published by the University of Arizona for the Amerind Foundation as part of a new series entitled, Amerind Studies in Archaeology.

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Terry H. Klein, Executive Director of the SRI Foundation, was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) in May 2008.   FPAN is a state-funded public outreach program that promotes Florida archaeology. FPAN assists local governments and other organizations with archaeological/heritage education and tourism, and supports efforts to preserve and protect the state’s archaeological resources. Information on the Florida Public Archaeology Network can be found at www.flpublicarchaeology.org.

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