As you know, the National Park Service has invited public comment on troubling proposed regulations that have a direct impact on your work as a CRM professional. Earlier this month we asked you to submit comments on these regulations - if you have not done so yet, we need to you act NOW.

The regulations would give federal agencies power to block National Register listings and eligibility determinations of federally owned properties, and also give large landowners the ability to block historic district and property listings. Not only does this undermine the power of state and tribal historic preservation officers to nominate historic properties on federal land, but the changes also appear to be designed to limit the input of local communities in the National Register listing process while giving more power to large developers.

The deadline to submit comments is this Tuesday, April 30. It is imperative that officials at the Department of the Interior hear from as many of us as possible. ACRA has made it easy for you to do so - by using the template below, you can personalize and send your own comments in just a few minutes.

You are the subject matter expert on issues like this - show that to NPS! Your comments can help improve this proposal and will also be read by courts in future litigation, if necessary. Please join your fellow CRM professionals and act NOW.

Accounting is the language of the business world. Whether you own your small business or are an employee of a larger CRM company, you need to understand basic accounting principles to succeed.

ACRA's latest webinar Accounting Basics will go over not just basic accounting skills needed to successfully run a business, but will also explore more mid-level concepts to help improve your bottom line.

With a combined over 50 years experience in business management and development, expert providers Marcy Maslov and Tom Fulcher will be available to answer your questions in real time. Whether you are part of a small firm or a large company, this team has the expertise for you:

Ms. Maslov's is a national speaker, game inventor and executive coach devoted to building strong ethical leaders and entrepreneurs. Her experience includes 25 years as an international accounting professional with Pepsi, 20th Century Fox and Motorola, as well as more than 15 years as an entrepreneur and national speaker.

Mr. Fulcher, a Certified Small Business Counselor, is the founder and President of The Idea Gardener® LLC, a business development, strategy and leadership/management consulting organization. He has over 25 years of professional experience. Tom has led projects and divisions for start-up, small and large firms including Colgate-Palmolive and Heinz. He served as CEO of an internet firm leading up to its eventual sale. Tom’s firm is also actively engaged with the Arizona and New Mexico Departments of Transportation leading small business educational, development and networking programs for small businesses.

Even if you think that you have a good handle on the accounting practices necessary to bid projects and maintain your budget, you may be missing key concepts - and so could other employees. We recommend that you view this presentation with others on staff. If you have an accountant, even better - have them on hand to help apply the knowledge gained in this webinar directly to your firm.

It is recommended that everyone take at least one accounting class in their lifetime. Why not take one that is geared towards your industry?

This webinar will only be given live, and spaces are limited: sign up today to reserve your spot.

Register Now

Today we are unveiling an exciting new benefit specifically for ACRA's student members - new student pricing for our ACRA webinars!

Students can now attend our online learning opportunities for just $19 per webinar. This is a significant discount to the normal webinar price. Students can now better prepare for a career in CRM for less than what most spend on coffee for the week! 

ACRA webinars focus on the business aspects of CRM that students may not be exposed to in academic programs. Attending will net you skills that could ultimately make you a better employee and more attractive for CRM firms to hire. For example, our upcoming webinar on May 9, Accounting Basics, will go over basic accounting principles that will help you understand how CRM firms set budgets, bid projects, and more. Note: This webinar will only be given live and spaces are limited, so register today to reserve your spot.

You must be a Student member of ACRA to get the student webinar pricing, so if you aren't a member, join here. Becoming a student member of ACRA also gets you access to networking with the leadership of CRM firms that may eventually employ you, insights into the inner workings of the industry, and more.

We hope that these new student prices will allow more students to take advantage of the engaging content in our full webinar slate. Register to reserve your spot today!

The Utah State Historic Preservation Office (UT-SHPO) has gone all-digital! Chris Merritt, Deputy UT-SHPO, provided the following document excerpt to the Commonwealth Heritage Group, Inc. Ogden office to share on the ACRAsphere:

The UT-SHPO is one of only a handful of SHPOs around the country that have converted to an all-digital work flow. Digitizing this consultation workflow has been a priority of the Utah SHPO since 2014, with concerted efforts to build a system starting in spring of 2016. The project was termed as “e106”, as Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is the specific part of the law that requires consultation of federal agencies, and is the common professional reference point. The estimated cost savings in Utah for the switch from a paper to a digital workflow for Section 106 and 404 consultation is $283,344.80 with an additional 8,000 days (~21 years) saved in transit time for correspondence.

To ease the transition of agencies and consultants into the world of e106 using Salesforce, UT-SHPO created a training program using GoToMeeting and conference phone call-ins. Over 50 individuals representing two dozen agencies took advantage of that personalized orientation with UT-SHPO staff, easing the final implementation of the system.

The following are unsolicited testimonials of the newly launched e106 that have been received by UT-SHPO staff during the first week of its public launch.

“The newly implemented electronic Section 106 submission system is extremely worthwhile and long over-due. It reduces the inefficiencies in the consultation process tremendously. Official, routine correspondence that previously took days through the mail to be delivered is now available in moments and will not be lost in the mail. The e106 system will save the Bureau of Reclamation months on consultation timelines and fosters goodwill within my organization for working with the State Historic Preservation Office. Definitely worth it!”—Bureau of Reclamation

“The E106 process is a game changer. And change is not something that goes over well with many people. I was impressed with the straight forward simplicity and consultation time frame. Your staff have gone out their way to clarify any questions I have had and worked the kinks out of the system. I never thought this day would come. 20 something years of pushing paper.” – Division of Wildlife Resources.

Have you worked in Utah and had the chance to utilize e106? Do you have experience with digital workflows for Section 106 consultation in other states? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!

Do you have a public or private sector client that has gone above and beyond what the law requires for cultural resource management? Now is the time to recognize their commitment - submit them for a 2019 ACRA Industry Award before next week's deadline!

Recent past winners of our industry awards include Calpine Corporation and the Dayton Power and Light Company for the private sector, and the City of Wilmington and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the public sector. You can see the full list of previous awards recipients here.

One thing you may notice on that list is that the ACRA Awards don't always focus on industry projects. The ACRA Public Service Award allows you to recognize friends and colleagues who are making important contributions to CRM or their community outside of specific projects.

The award is presented to an ACRA company, or current employee thereof, who has made a long-term contribution to the study, management, and/or preservation of cultural resources, or who has contributed volunteer efforts and resources for the betterment of their immediate community, county, state, etc. Contributions may include, but are not limited to, training students for CRM careers, internships, and the development and delivery of environmental, preservation, and interpretive programs.

The deadline for receipt of nominations is fast approaching: FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2019, at 5:00 PM EDT. Awards will be presented during the ACRA Conference October 24-27, 2019, in Spokane, Washington. For more details on each of these awards and how to submit your nominations, click here.

Earlier today ACRA submitted comments regarding proposed changes to the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The new definitions aim to restrict the US Army Corps of Engineers’ jurisdiction by removing seasonal and ephemeral water courses from federal regulation. our response focuses on the lack of adequate public comment time, the elimination of well-developed legal concept of “significant nexus,” and lack of incorporating or using scientific data in making jurisdictional decisions. The rule inappropriately excludes major season streams from environmental review, a change that has serious potential implications on ACRA member firms.

Read ACRA's full comments here, and let us know how the proposed changes could affect your firm in the comments below.

ACRA is thrilled to announce that registration for our 25th annual conference is now open! Click here to sign up to attend our industry's premier informational and networking event. Come to Spokane from October 24-27, 2019 to hear exciting updates on preservation legislation in DC, be a part of interactive panels on CRM's most critical issues, and meet new business partners. A full schedule of events and sessions will be posted to the ACRA webpage in the coming weeks. Register before July 15th to get the Early Bird rate; ACRA members and firms who register multiple attendees get an even bigger discount. Sign up today!

While registering, you can also add on our incredible pre-conference workshop to be held on Thursday, October 24 from 1-5pm. Water Over the Dam: “WERC-shop” on Federal Hydroelectric Project Relicensing will introduce attendees to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) hydroelectric relicensing projects. The WERCshop will feature an expert panel composed of Industry Project Managers, Tribal representatives, CRM practitioners, and the Washington DC FERC archaeologist. Following the hydro relicensing roundtable, we will visit the beautiful Spokane Falls for a tour of Avista’s historic Post Street Substation in downtown Spokane. 

Questions on the conference? Ask Committee Chair Kerri Barile or Executive Director Amanda Stratton. Hope to see you in Spokane!

Are you attending the SAAs in Albuquerque? Come visit the ACRA booth in the exhibition hall! You can meet our Executive Director and members of the Board of Directors, get more information on upcoming ACRA initiatives, and even give us your feedback on benefits and events you would like to see. You can also pick up some free ACRA swag!

We also hope you can join us for the CRM Expo on Saturday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Jointly hosted by both SAA and ACRA, many member firms will be exhibiting at this event showcasing CRM practitioners from around the country. Hint: if you are a student, this is a particularly great event for you to attend!

ACRA offers the ONLY online continuing education opportunities specifically tailored to cultural resource management professionals - and the full 2019 slate is now available!

This year's webinar schedule has been carefully crafted with ACRA members in mind. Some sessions focus specifically on meeting the federal requirements on which our industry is based, such as Planning for Section 106 Agreements on June 20. Others are meant to help your firm run more efficiently - for example, Accounting Basics on May 9 is essential for all employees to attend (and could save you money in the long term!).

Check out our full slate of sessions for 2019 below, and remember that ACRA members always receive a reduced rate. Several of these sessions are only going to be offered live, so you won't be able to view the recording after. Space is limited - make sure to reserve your spot today!

This post is authored by Terry H. Klein, Executive Director of the SRI Foundation and Paul Graham, Senior Program Manager at Louis Berger U.S., Inc. 

We know how busy ACRA members are, but we really need your assistance and expertise in conducting this new National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 25-25 project. This project, Task 116, is “Potential Section 106 Exempted Categories or Program Comments for Federal Highway Administration Projects: National Streamlining Opportunities.” (Please refer to the project webpage for more information.)

Task 116 examines how the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have used program alternatives (pursuant to 36 CFR 800.14) to streamline and enhance their Section 106 programs and project delivery efforts. Another goal of this NCHRP study is to identify additional national-level program alternatives that FHWA, state DOTs, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) might be able to use to improve and expedite Section 106 compliance associated with transportation project delivery. These include, but are not limited to, Exempted Categories (36 CFR 800.14(c)) and Program Comments (36 CFR 800.14(e)). For more information on program alternatives, see https://www.achp.gov/program_alternatives.

We have developed a questionnaire that will help us document your experience in using current national program alternatives (access the questionnaire here). We are also interested in your views on possible additional national program alternatives that would streamline Section 106 reviews for transportation projects. If you want, you can insert your answers after each question, and then email us your responses. Or, we can set up a time to go through these questions over the phone in an interview. Whatever works best for you. If you want to submit a completed questionnaire or set up a time to go through the questions over the phone, please contact either project Principal Investigator: Paul Graham at pgraham@louisberger.com, or Terry Klein at tklein@srifoundation.org. If possible, we would like to receive a completed questionnaire by April 19, 2019. If you want to discuss the questionnaire over the phone in an interview, please let us know by April 12, 2019, and then we will set up a time to call you.

If you have any questions about this project or the questionnaire, do not hesitate to contact us. We greatly appreciate your assistance in this NCHRP study!