CRM Work

Ah, back in the field this week. My goal after all, is to be outstanding in the field.

Cultural Resource Management is the term given to the practice of managing historic, or potentially historic, sites and structures. Normally this is a term and process associated with government agencies and their management of property and permits. Any federal project or any project receiving federal funds or needing a federal permit must be evaluated for the project's impact to any historic building or archaeological site. There is a very detailed process for this. But...Basically, this means that any building fifty years old or older that is going to be affected by a government project has to be documented and evaluated. The same goes for archaeological sites.

When I talk about this, I say that the process is meant to insure that Lincoln's log cabin is not bulldozed for a new highway.

My first job after graduating with my architecture degree was working for a CRM company. All of the museum work I have done has had lots of components similar to CRM work. So, if you look at the blog, I have been doing CRM all month.

Anyway, this week I have been working on a large project evaluating 61 architectural sites which are mostly nineteenth century farmsteads. I like this work, but after about ten minutes out of the truck my hands get so cold that I can't sketch or write.

I have a goal, or a dream maybe. For the next ten years I want to work in an area that is a vacation destination. Then, everyday is like a vacation. Though there are hunting cabins and hunting stands everywhere we have been looking for historic structures this month, the woods of southern Ohio is not the recreational area that I am thinking about...