Submitted by Catherine Long (diggergirl77@gmail.com)
Welcome to the year 2011—one filled with many plans to celebrate and educate about Georgia Archaeology. It is my pleasure to report good news at SGA.
In January, a group of dedicated Board Members and Officers met at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center for a Winter Board Meeting and introduced new exciting ideas. Drum roll please—SGA now has its own Facebook page! For those of you who communicate this way please check us out. Matt Newberry, Inger Wood and Kelly Woodard are working on this initiative together to bring a younger generation into contact with Georgia archaeology.
During the meeting we were pleased to have Allison Duncan of the Atlanta Regional Commission provide an overview of the Plan 2040 and the Regional Resource Plan. Plan 2040 is Metro Atlanta area’s plan to accommodate economic and population growth over the next 30 years. The Regional Resource Plan consists of three components that are required by the Department of Community Affairs: 1) Regionally Important Resources Map, 2) Guidance for Appropriate Development Practices, and 3) General Policies and Protection Measures.
These two plans will be used to provide planning for how archaeological resources will be impacted by development, enhance the focus of protection of these historic and cultural resources and how to coordinate planning and coordination among local, regional, and state organizations and groups to manage these important resources. The Board is collaborating with the Georgia Council for Professional Archaeologists to develop recommendations for submission to the ARC.
Early Georgia is also experiencing a transitional period. SGA has been pleased to have Tom Pluckhahn as Editor over the past few years and is excited to announce that he has been chosen as Editor of Southeastern Archaeology in 2012. Congratulations on your new position Tom and thank you for providing leadership for a scholarly journal! The Editor-Elect is Jared Wood, who proposes the inclusion of a Student Paper (with oversight of a professional mentor) to encourage student participation and assist in the development of the next generation of professional archaeologists. We look forward to learning more.
Plans are in the final stages for the Spring Meeting scheduled for May 13–15 in McDonough to celebrate the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. This year’s theme is Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War through Archaeology and Tammy Herron, SGA Vice President and Chair of Archaeology Month, has put together a engaging and fun weekend. We do hope you will join us for great research papers and field trips to Nash Farm and Heritage Park. Please click here for hotel and meeting registration information.
On behalf of SGA we thank you for the generous donations to the Endowment Fund at the close of last year—we truly appreciate your financial contribution to support SGA’s mission to promote archaeological preservation, research and public education. We also invite you to renew your annual membership and we look forward to seeing you in 2011!
Posted online on Friday, February 4th, 2011