2005 News

Changes to Rules 1A-31 and 1A-32

Additions to rules 1A-31 (exploration & salvage of historic shipwrecks) and 1A-32 archaeological research on state lands) have been made. In the last legislative session language was added to Chapter 267.13-a very old part of the statute that gives us the authority to levy administrative fines. The pertinent section is below:

(2)(a) The division may institute an administrative proceeding to impose an administrative fine of not more than $500 a day on any person or business organization that, without written permission of the division, explores for, salvages, or excavates treasure trove, artifacts, sunken or abandoned ships, or other objects having historical or archaeological value located on state-owned or state-controlled lands, including state sovereignty submerged lands.

(b) The division shall institute an administrative proceeding by serving written notice of a violation by certified mail upon the alleged violator. The notice shall specify the law or rule allegedly violated and the facts upon which the allegation is based. The notice shall also specify the amount of the administrative fine sought by the division. The fine shall not become due until after service of notice and an administrative hearing. However, the alleged violator shall have 20 days from service of notice to request an administrative hearing. Failure to respond within that time shall constitute a waiver, and the fine shall become due without a hearing.

(c) The division may enter its judgment for the amount of the administrative penalty imposed in a court of competent jurisdiction, pursuant to s. 120.69. The judgment may be enforced as any other judgment.

(d) The division may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief against any person or business organization that explores for, salvages, or excavates treasure trove, artifacts, sunken or abandoned ships, or other objects having historical or archaeological value located on state-owned or state-controlled land, including state sovereignty submerged land, without the written permission of the division.

(e) The division shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536 (1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this section.

We were contacted last month by the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee and advised that we needed to begin development of the rules. In order to comply we developed draft rule text, which will be added to both 1A-31 and 1A-32. The text can be viewed at: http://faw.dos.state.fl.us/fawframes.html where it was published in the Nov 10 2005 issue of the Florida Administrative Weekly. The new rule language says we can do what the statute has always said.

Contact Ryan Wheeler for any questions

19 November 2005

FAC Membership Secretary

The FAC has a new membership secretary.

Donna Ruhl
Florida Museum of Natural History
P.O. Box 117800
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800

email: ruhl@flmnh.ufl.edu

6 November 2005

Proposals for the Charter Regional Centers of the Florida Public Archaeology Network

The Request for Proposal for the Charter Regional Centers of the Florida Public Archaeology Network is now posted on the FPAN Web site (www.flpublicarchaeology.org). Proposals are due on November 18, 2005.

20 October 2005

Call for Papers for 2006 Florida Anthropology Society meetings

The deadline for submitting abstracts for the 2006 FAS meetings is February 6, 2006.

See the Annual Meeting page for more information.

19 October 2005

Griffin Student Grant

Applications for 2006 are now being accepted and can be sent to: Greg C. Smith, FAC Griffin Student Grant, 804-C Anastasia Blvd., St. Augustine, FL 32080. The deadline for applications is January 20, 2006. See the grant page for more information.

15 October 2005

September Newsletter

The September newsletter is available in the members section.

3 October 2005

Fall Board meeting

The August board meeting that was postponed because of Hurricane Katrina has been rescheduled for Saturday October 15, 12pm at the Jonesville (Gainesville) SEARCH office.

3 October 2005

New Site File Access Policies

The Site File will be implementing new security procedures for the paper records beginning on Monday, September 26.

The most important of these changes are:

  1. Site File Staff will pull all documents for users of the Site File.
  2. Unmonitored file areas, rooms 424 and 426, will be locked at all times. The File Use Area, room 425, will be locked between 5pm and 8am on weekdays, on weekends and holidays, and in times of emergency if not monitored by FMSF Staff.
  3. Under no circumstances may non-DHR users remove Site File documents from the File Use Area.
  4. Site File users may request files to be pulled in person, by telephone (850-245-6440) or by e-mail (FMSFile@dos.state.fl.us). The Site File encourages all users to identify files to be pulled in advance whenever possible.

24 September 2005

Florida Master Site File

Dr. Marion Smith, who is credited with the transformation of the Site File from a paper-based repository to a modern electronic database, resigned his position effective September 22nd.

Vince "Chip" Birdsong will serve as Acting Site File Administrator.

24 September 2005

Florida Public Archaeology Network

The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) will be issuing Request for Proposal (RFP) to host a Charter Regional Center of the Network. They will be conducting two phases of Regional Center development. The initial call for proposals will be to identify three Charter Regional Centers to begin operations within the first two quarters of 2006. The second phase will be to identify other Regional Centers to come on line during the last two quarters of 2006 and the first two quarters of 2007. This announcement is for the charter phase of Regional Center development. The RFP will be announced and posted on the FPAN Web site in October, 2005.

24 September 2005

Administrative offices of the Bureau of Archaeological Research move

The Division of Historical Resources announce that the administrative offices of the Bureau of Archaeological Research are moving to the historic Martin House, located at the De Soto Winter Encampment site here in Tallahassee.

Staff of the C.A.R.L. Archaeological Program, Underwater Archaeology Program, the Education and Training/Archaeological Research Section, and Bureau Chief's Office will be housed at the Martin House; the Collections and Conservation Lab will remain in the R.A. Gray Building.

The new physical address will be: 1001 DeSoto Park Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32301

7 September 2005

Cemetery website

A new website for information on abandoned and historic cemeteries.

http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/cemeteries/

FAC Newsletters

All past newsletters are now available in pdf format on the Newsletter page. Newsletters for the past year are in the members section.

15 August 2005

FAC Newsletter

The June newsletter is now availiable in the members section.

6 August 2005

Updates

A job announcement at SEARCH has been added to the jobs page.

28 July 2005

August Board Meeting

August 27
1pm
SEARCH office, Jonesville (west of Gainesville)

If you have any items for the agenda, please contact Jim Miller. If you cannot attend, please be sure to let Jim Miller, or another board member, know of any items you want presented.

9 July 2005

Updates

A job announcement at CARL has been added to the jobs page.

FAC support letter for Original Florida Tourism Task Force has been added to the documents page.

01 July 2005

Isolated Finds Program Discontinued

Information concerning the discontinuation of the Isolated Finds Program can be found in a letter from BAR on the documents page.

10 June 2005

FAC position on the Isolated Finds Program

At the May 13, 2005 General meeting the FAC membership revised its position on the Isolated Finds Program. Two documents concerning the FAC position can be found on the documents page.

24 May 2005

FAS 2005 meetings Paper schedule

The schedule for papers was published in the April FAS Newsletter and can also be downloaded as a pdf file.

4 May 2005

Request for comments concerning the Miami Circle.

The National Park Service is requesting comments concerning the inclusion of the Miami Circle in Biscayne National Park. More information can be found at the NPS website and the Miami Circle newsletter.

30 April 2005

Florida’s Isolated Finds Program

At the April 7, 2005 meeting of the Florida Historical Commission, the Bureau of Archaeological Research, Division of Historical Resources made recommendations concerning the Isolated Finds Program which were accepted by the Commission. These options will be presented for the Commission’s consideration at their next meeting, May 21, 2005, 9:00am until 5:00pm at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables.

BAR Recommendations concerning the Isolated Finds Program

Written comments may be submitted to the Bureau before May 11 by writing to Dr. Ryan Wheeler, State Archaeologist, at rjwheeler@dos.state.fl.us or at Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, 500 S Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250. Representatives of interested groups are invited to speak at the FHC meeting in Coral Gables.

If you are interested in speaking at the meeting, please contact Ryan Wheeler at the above address.

Added: 30 April 2005

Annual FAC Business Meeting

The annual business meeting will be held Friday, May 13 from 2-4pm in the Powell Hall, FLMNH, classroom.

Added: 16 April 2005

Florida Anthropological Society meetings

The preliminary schedule for the FAS meetings May 13-15 is available at the FAS website on the news page.

Added: 16 April 2005