Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Environmental Review (Page 13 of 14)

Ceramic figurine uncovered along I-95 in Fishtown. Courtesy of PennDOT.

Digging Deep: Pennsylvania and the Making Archaeology Public Initiative

May 20, 2015 / / 2 Comments

by Joe Baker, PennDOT Cultural Resources Program

Dr. Frank Vento along the banks of the Susquehanna River. Photo by Joe Baker.

Dr. Frank Vento along the banks of the Susquehanna River. Photo by Joe Baker.

On a lovely morning in early autumn, I arrive at an old farm along the Susquehanna River to find Dr Frank Vento in his natural element. That is to say, he is squatting down at the bottom of backhoe trench some eight feet deep, carefully examining the many layers of flood-deposited sediment left behind by the great river. Frank is a geomorphologist: a geologist and archaeologist whose specialty is the formation of floodplains, terraces, and other kinds of landforms created by the interaction of climate, gravity, water, wind, and sometimes, humans. Frank is down there looking for something, and as I walk up to the edge of the trench, he finds it.

“Hah! I knew it!” Continue reading

Mt. Carmel Borough, Northumberland County. Photo by Dave Maher.

Preservation in a Changing Economic Climate

January 21, 2015 / / 5 Comments

Many of Pennsylvania’s communities face the challenging task of adapting to a vastly different economic climate than the one that led to their historic growth and development.  This new economic reality of dramatically reduced population, deindustrialization and loss of tax base has resulted in historic downtowns and residential neighborhoods pockmarked by disinvestment and vacant properties.  Abandoned, demolished or marginally repurposed historic churches, schools and factories are especially vivid reminders of changing times and the large social and economic forces at work. Continue reading

Emma during a recent visit to Building 543, the former Pipe and Copppersmith Shop, of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

New Faces and Places in Environmental Review

December 24, 2014 / / 1 Comment
Emma outside the East Shore YMCA (1932) on North Front Street in Harrisburg.

Emma outside the East Shore YMCA (1932) on North Front Street in Harrisburg.

As we are poised to ring in a new year, we wanted to make you aware of new developments in the review of state and federal projects that have occurred within our office over the past several months. In August, we said a fond farewell to Ann Safley who retired after 23 years of service. Ann most recently served as the above ground reviewer for projects in the western region of the state. Ann’s knowledge and expertise of state and federal projects and western Pennsylvania will be missed!

In October, we brought on our newest staff member, Emma Diehl, to serve as an above ground reviewer. Barbara Frederick subsequently shifted review responsibilities to the west, and Emma assumed review of projects affecting above ground resources in the eastern region. This map reflects the current regional environmental review assignments.

We are excited to add Emma as the newest member of our staff! To get to know her better, we asked Emma to share a bit about her past experience and personal interests as well as her perspective on her new job. Continue reading

We still want your bound reports, and now we'd like them in .pdf, too.

Digital Underground: Seeking Electronic Versions of Archaeological Reports

December 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments

CRGIS LogoAs many of you will have noticed in your recent correspondence with our office, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), we have made a change in number and media requested for archaeological report copies. We are now requesting just one hard copy for the permanent archive file here at the SHPO office in Harrisburg, as well as three electronic copies on disks. This recent change is an attempt to plan for a future time when archaeological reports will be available on the Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS) to qualified users, in their entirety. Continue reading

Updated Forms and Guidance from the SHPO

November 26, 2014 / / 1 Comment

StaffRegionsBite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it.
– Anonymous

It’s that time of the year for excess chewing, and it’s also timely for the Bureau to take a mid-plan stretch (after a turkey-induced slumber) and to regain focus on evaluating the accomplishments of Pennsylvania’s Statewide Historic Preservation Plan, Building Better Communities: The Preservation of Place, 2012-2017.  The Plan includes an ambitious Action Agenda that was developed with the direct intent of being highly responsive to public needs and desires.   While the Plan was created for all Pennsylvanians and depends on assistance and full participation for it to be successful, Goal 5’s objectives and strategies resulted from some internal soul-searching.  Continue reading

Looking Down The Road: The PHMC’s Role in Regional Transportation Planning

October 1, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Over the past several years the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has developed an innovative partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to provide regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs) with free technical assistance to help them develop their Long Range Transportation Plans (LRTP). Supported by funding from FHWA, the goal is to encourage these planning organizations to integrate cultural resources and historic preservation issues into their transportation planning.  Continue reading

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commision Logo

Unscripted: an archaeologist’s journey into the world of film production

September 17, 2014 / / 0 Comments

In my position here at BHP, I am involved in a wide variety of activities, in addition to my primary job duty, review of compliance projects in the Western Region for archaeology. Most of these activities center on keeping all the internal bits and parts of BHP moving, including processing archaeological reports for final storage in our archive, collaborating on updating our Guidelines for Archaeological Investigation, or chairing the committee on addressing our bureau storage and archive issues. All of these activities keep me entirely within my Historic Preservation, Cultural Resource Management comfort zone. Like all comfort zones, though, it can sometimes get, well, a little too comfortable. Back in the summer of 2011, looking for a change of pace, I volunteered to manage a PennDOT/Federal Highways (FHWA) mitigation project: a short film about historic bridges aimed at inspiring public interest in bridge advocacy. Did I know anything about historic bridges? Nope. Did I know anything about producing films? Nope. Did I know a great deal about public advocacy? Nope. Piece of cake, right? Continue reading

Pennsylvania Railroad: Schuylkill Valley Branch Bridge No. 83.40 (Auburn); Bartram Trail, West Brunswick and South Manheim Townships, Schuylkill County

The Past, Present and Future of the Transportation Enhancement Programs, MAP-21 and Transportation Alternatives Program.

July 9, 2014 / / 0 Comments

On July 17, 2014, at the Forum 2014 Statewide Conference on Heritage Byways to the Past in Philadelphia, the Bureau for Historic Preservation (BHP) will be part of the panel for the session “The Past, Present and Future of the Transportation Enhancement Programs, MAP-21 and Transportation Alternatives Program.”  Continue reading

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commision Logo

Archaeological Sites and the National Register

March 19, 2014 / / 1 Comment

The U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, describes the National Register of Historic Places as “the official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture.  National Register properties have significance to the prehistory or history of their community, State, or the Nation (NPS 1990, revised 1997). Continue reading

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commision Logo

Section 106 Consultation: 5 Steps to Meaningful Mitigation Outcomes

December 25, 2013 / / 1 Comment

Last month we discussed Section 106 consultation and how the outcome of the process is not predetermined but rather a result of the interaction among the participants, with the Federal agency making the final decision about how a project will proceed. Agencies in coordination with consulting parties are required to consider project design options that avoid or minimize effects to historic properties. However, it is not always possible to meet the needs of the project and simultaneously preserve a historic property. Continue reading

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

Wordpress Social Share Plugin powered by Ultimatelysocial