Wildlife, Historic offices to mix?

Should achaeologists be taking orders from wildlife managers?

Kevin Jones, the state archaeologist, says that would cause a lot of problems and solve nothing. Rep. Bradley T. Johnson, sponsor of a bill that would make that change, says it would save money and improve cooperation among agencies.

HB308, introduced by Johnson, R-Aurora, would move "the functions of the state historic preservation officer from the Division of State History to the Division of Wildlife Resources," according to the bill's official description. Included in the change are the State Antiquities Section and the Cultural Sites Review Committee.

Jones said he and his staff in the Antiquities Section, six people, would be transferred, along with data and historic preservation material. That includes people who deal with listing important buildings on the National Register, and experts on tax credits for such properties, Jones added.

The organizations are charged with protecting prehistoric and historic sites and for advising other state agencies about their legal duties to protect them.

On Friday HB308 was approved by the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee. It was among 20 bills sent to the House floor for a vote, possibly today.

Johnson cited two reasons for the change: the state's recent acquisition of property in the Range Creek vicinity, "which is a tremendous treasure" where both Wildlife Resources and the antiquities people should work closely together; and "communication has not been good" between the two agencies.

"There's some conflict," he said in a telephone interview.

"Everybody wants to protect the archaeological treasures that we have. But it's been kind of overdone. And it's costing the citizens of the state a lot of time and money," and has threatened to derail projects from being developed.

"There's kind of a conflict and we want to make this a smoother administration of the archaeological reviews."

Asked for an example, he said Wildlife Resources may want to improve wildlife habitat in an area that has little archaeology. "They still had to make, I guess you would say, an extreme archaeological survey," he said.

Asked if the move is payback, he replied, "No, no, we just want to make it work better. We just want to make it so there's more uniform decisions."

Miles Moretti, acting head of Wildlife Resources, says the change would ensure fair treatment by the archaeologist's office — something he claims is lacking today.

He wouldn't fire the state archaeologist or staff. "But I would sit them down" and tell them to be more customer-friendly.