Tribal Consultation

On 27 October 1999, the DoD promulgated its annotated American Indian and Alaska Native Policy, which emphasizes the importance of respecting and consulting with tribal governments on a government-to-government basis. The policy requires an assessment, through consultation, of the effect of proposed DoD actions that may have the potential to impact protected American Indian tribal resources, American Indian tribal rights, and American Indian lands before decisions are made by the services. DoDI 4710.02 provides additional guidance for this policy.

Consultation takes on many forms. The ARNG may need to consult on a project basis for proposed actions that may affect cultural resources of interest to Tribes. If ARNG activities have the potential to affect tribal properties or resources, all interested Tribes will be consulted early in the planning process and their concerns will be addressed to the greatest extent possible.

Respect for the sovereign status of each Native American tribal government is key to the UTNG Tribal Consultation program area. The UTNG will work directly with federally recognized Tribes on a government to government basis, recognizing the sovereignty of each Tribe.

Building and maintaining positive and productive relationships with the Tribes is the cornerstone of effective consultation. Accordingly, the UTNG Cultural Resources Program Manager (CRM) is considered the primary liaison between the UTNG and Tribal governments. As the liaison, it is the responsibility of the CRM to foster meaningful relationships with tribal representatives. The CRM coordinates with Air Force and Army counterparts (Hill Air Force Base, Dugway Proving Ground and Tooele Army Depot) to meet with Tribal representatives on a quarterly basis. This effort culminates during the Annual American Indian Meeting each year.

It is the goal of the consultation process to identify both the resource management concerns and the strategies for addressing them through an interactive dialogue with appropriate American Indian communities.

Archaeology

The Utah National Guard (UTNG) manages a large number of archaeological sites on UTNG-managed lands throughout the state. These sites range from those representing the rich and varied Native American past as well as early settlement and agriculture to more contemporary sites related to the history of the Army and the Utah National Guard.

Generally, the UTNG can avoid impacting archaeological sites which are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In those rare instances where a UTNG project or training activities will impact an archaeological site, the UTNG consults with the Utah State Historic Preservation Office and Tribal governments to mitigate for those impacts. Usually this involves excavation of the site. Materials recovered during excavations are cleaned and analyzed and then curated in an approved facilities for the benefit of future scientists, educators, and museum specialists. Curation facilities include the Museum of Natural History of Utah, located near the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and the Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum in Price.

Historic Buildings and Structures

The Utah National Guard (UTNG) manages and maintains nearly 500 buildings and structures across the state. Most of these are located at Camp W. G. Williams, the primary training site for the UTNG, which is located approximately 20 miles south of Salt Lake City. Of approximately 300 buildings at Camp Williams, 17 are currently determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. One of these 17, the ca. 1934 Camp Williams Officer’s Club, was listed on the National Register in 1984. Most of the other eligible buildings were constructed during World War II as the post was expanding to provide training facilities for the growing number soldiers entering the army.

The UTNG manages three buildings at historic Fort Douglas on Salt Lake’s east bench. The buildings include two ca. 1876 barracks and a ca. 1942 Fire Station. The Fort Douglas military museum is currently housed within the masonry barracks buildings, while the fire station is utilized for storage and maintenance of some of the museums equipment and historic vehicles. For information on this historic Army Post and the Military Museum, see www.fortdouglas.org.

Three of Utah’s armories are currently eligible for listing in the National Register as well. These include the ca. 1938 Fillmore Armory, the ca. 1956 American Fork and Springville Armories, the ca. 1957 Price Armory, the ca. 1958 Lehi Armory and the ca. 1959 Ogden Armory.

The UTNG recently completed the renovation of Hangar 5 at the historic Wendover Airfield. The ca. 1944 metal hangar was constructed as a heavy bomber maintenance hangar for B-17 and B-24 squadrons that trained at the base. The hangar is part of the Wendover Air Force Base Historic District which is managed by Tooele County. For more information on the airfield and its history, see www.wendoverairbase.com/museum.