Scott Ashcraft has been trying to alert the U.S. Forest Service that their non-compliance with the Land Management Plan (the “plan”) for the Pisgah National Forest is irreparably harming cultural artifacts. In a November 14th letter to Congress, Ashcraft, who is a U.S. Forest Service archeologist, explained how the Forest Service is not complying with portions of the plan “by side stepping consultations with tribes … and suppressing scientific data.”

The plan includes a section on cultural resources that outlines the importance of protecting the archeological sites because “National Forests lands contain traditional cultural properties, sacred sites, traditional use areas, historic landscapes, and plant and animal species, with significant relevance to Native American cultural beliefs and lifeways.”

In particular, the lands “provide the only and/or best-preserved record of their former inhabitants … ways of life.” The plan requires the Forest Service to consult, communicate, and compromise with tribes in the area and to “protect cultural resources by completing cultural resource inventories, including field surveys and historic research, prior to ground disturbance.” (emphasis added)

Ashcraft claims that artifacts are willfully ignored and damaged by the Forest Service because the planning documentation does not recognize, despite evidence to the contrary, that there are artifacts in sloping landscapes. He further claims that communication with tribal leaders in the area has declined and violates the plan.

Ashcraft invites us to question how we can ensure that the Forest Service protects cultural artifacts and to reevaluate the current Forest Service’s enforcement procedures.