The objective of this topic area was to demonstrate and validate advanced cultural resources management efficiencies for DoD properties and project management to ensure DoD mission is met in a timely manner. This included minimally invasive survey and modeling technologies; emerging and maturing remote sensing platforms; techniques for historic property rehabilitation or deconstruction; program and project tracking systems; data management solutions; and advanced analytical processing algorithms that improve the pace and scale of cultural resources compliance. Where feasible, project proposals should have addressed the ways in which efficient cultural resources management strengthens DoD’s regional security in the Pacific region, including in Alaska and the Pacific Islands.

Proposals responding could focus on any of the following objectives:

• Data management systems and analysis for project tracking and management at installation, regional, or national scales.
• Implementation of new and emerging methods and procedures to mitigate or adapt cultural resources that are vulnerable to environmental change.
• Advanced remote sensing technologies or machine learning algorithms that have shown the ability to identify and evaluate cultural resources with increased spatial scale or efficiency from current methods, particularly those with subsurface and underwater application.
• Techniques to identify and manage sunken military craft that meet cultural compliance criteria.
• Utilize new and emerging technologies, techniques, or materials (including substitute materials) for historic property rehabilitation and maintenance to decrease costs to characterize or retrofit National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligible or listed properties.
• Pilot projects to support sustainable dismantling and deconstruction, and reuse and recycling of historic building materials to maximize diversion of DoD’s waste stream.
• Increase cultural resources compliance efficiencies to ensure regional security missions are met in the Pacific region (Alaska, Hawai’i, Guam, and Pacific Island protectorates), including systems that improve communication and consultations with indigenous or rural communities.

Proposals had to consider cultural resources management needs relevant to DoD installations and be able to measure project success by demonstrating quantitative performance metrics. Performance metrics to consider included, but were not limited to, time and cost savings for NHPA and NEPA actions, percentage of training and range land made available for mission activities based on emerging technology use, increased energy efficiency in retrofitting historic-age buildings, volume of waste diversion from deconstruction and reuse/recycling, or measures of community engagement.

Proposals with field components were encouraged to partner with Indigenous and descendant communities during project entirety, such as assisting with project scope development, advising on project results, or acting as co-principal investigators. Projects that will partner with DoD installations should provide a summary of the installation’s current relationship with Indigenous and descendant communities¹ culturally affiliated with installation-managed lands. 

¹ The term 'descendant communities' speaks to those with direct ancestral, racial, or cultural ties to the people and/or land in an area.

Consultation and Cultural Resource Management are often on the critical path for NEPA actions due to requirements under NHPA. This work can be severely delayed due to lack of known cultural properties, requiring cumbersome survey and long consultations with local, state, and community partners. DoD needs complete project tracking for NEPA and NHPA actions, advanced survey and data recovery technologies to speed up cultural resource surveys, and efficiencies that allow for streamlined National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) review. Without this, cultural resources requirements will significantly prolong environmental assessments of planned mission activities, delay tribal consultation, and limit access to training lands.

Fulfilling its obligations of identification and evaluation of historic properties is critical for DoD to meet its compliance requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and government-to-government tribal consultations. These compliance requirements take significantly longer without a complete understanding of historic properties, cultural landscapes, and archaeological sites on DoD lands or underwater cultural resources. This work prolongs environmental assessments of planned mission activities, slows tribal consultation, and limits access to training and range lands.

Recent advances of remote sensing technology and analytical algorithms have revolutionized the ability to identify and map cultural resources at landscape scales. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are a key part of scaling observations from lidar, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and sensors affixed to uncrewed aerial systems. Increasing the pace and accuracy of cultural resource surveys and site mapping is a priority for DoD cultural resource managers, installation environmental staff, and command.

This work will improve DoD compliance with cultural resource statutes, regulations, and executive orders including:

• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (54 U.S.C. §3001010), including Section 106 (54 U.S.C. § 306108) and Section 110 (54 U.S.C. § 306102(b)(1)) its implementing regulation Protection of Historic Properties Regulation (NHPA) (36 CFR Part 800), National Register of Historic Places (36 CFR 60) and Determinations of Eligibility for Inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (36 CFR 60)
• Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004 (10 U.S.C. §§ 113 et seq.)
• Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa—470mm), its implementing regulation Protection of Archaeological Resources: Uniform Regulations (32 CFR 229)
• Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archeological Collections (36 CFR 79)
• Executive Order 13007 Indian Sacred Sites (1996)
• Executive Order 13175 Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments (2000)
• Executive Order 13287 Preserve America (2003)