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State of California's Golden Trowel Award

History and Purpose of the Golden Trowel Award

In 1989, CAL FIRE and the California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) established a state award to recognize superior accomplishments in archaeological site stewardship. Designated the Golden Trowel Award, recipients are given an engraved plaque with a mounted Marshalltown Trowel in recognition of outstanding achievements in the identification, documentation, and protection of California's archaeological resources. A perpetual plaque bearing the name of all previous award recipients is permanently displayed at the Board office in Sacramento. This award symbolizes the effective integration of archaeological site identification and management into the practice of professional forestry within California and informs the public about the remarkable success of an archaeological training program for resource professionals working on privately-owned timberland and rangelands throughout our state. This program has become recognized as one of the most successful archaeological training programs of its type in the nation.

Archaeological sites are public-trust resources that are particularly vulnerable to damaging effects from logging, fire-fighting, dozer line construction and other forestry related land management activities CAL FIRE oversees because these resources are both fragile and easily overlooked during project environmental planning. Unlike wildlife habitat, timber stands, or other important natural resources (which CAL FIRE also protects), archaeological sites are NOT renewable and damage to them is irreversible. The typical kinds of archaeological resources CAL FIRE and the Board are mandated to protect include Native American Indian villages, campsites, quarries, petroglyphs, hunting blinds, trails, ceremonial locations, sacred sites, and food-processing stations. They also include historic-era sites such as old homesteads, wagon roads, emigrant trails, mining features, cemeteries, or old logging camps. One of the problems in implementing a successful protection program is that archaeological sites can be easily missed during resource inventories. Most sites and features can only be identified, or, their significance only recognized, after the completion of a number of tasks including records checks, ethnographic, archaeological, and historical research, consultations with knowledge individuals (such as local Native Americans, neighbors, historical societies, or previous landowners), and careful surveys and inspections made be RPFs, archaeologists, and other resource professionals that have received training to locate and identify such resources.

In the early 1980's only a few dozen archaeological sites were being found each year during the review of CAL FIRE projects but many of these discoveries took place after receiving impacts from logging or other project activities. This situation has changed. Typically, several hundred sites are identified each year on the same number of CAL FIRE projects and these are almost always found, recorded, and protected prior to project approval. This remarkable improvement in the level of protection given to the state's archaeological resources is a result of a comprehensive set of regulations, passed by the Board in 1991 and revised in 1994 and 2003, that require THP applicants to complete a number of tasks to ensure archaeological resource identification and protection. The Archaeological Training Program, codified through these regulations, requires RPFs, their supervised designees, CAL FIRE Foresters, and other Resource Professionals to complete an intensive, five-day training course and periodic refresher courses. This training program has noticeably improved the quality and reliability of archaeological surveys, project reviews, and inspections made by key personnel. Over 1700 students have been trained since the formal CAL FIRE archaeological training program was initiated in 1982. The remarkable accomplishments of the graduates of these training courses demonstrates the success and value of this unique state government program which enhances the identification and protection of California's heritage resources.

In most cases, these discoveries are made, recorded and protected without undue cost to landowners or significant change in harvest volume, harvesting systems, or overall project objective. Since its creation in 1989, the Golden Trowel Award has been given to dozens of individuals and teams in recognition of outstanding efforts to identify and protect the state's archaeological resources. Most award recipients have come from the private sector, either consulting or industrial RPFs that were recognized for superior archaeological surveys and protection efforts. The contribution of several outstanding CAL FIRE Foresters has also been recognized for the role they play in ensuring site protection and adequacy of surveys. Not all of the sites are initially discovered during plan preparation - many are found during CAL FIRE's inspections. These surveys by state RPFs provide CAL FIRE with an opportunity to spot-check selected areas, evaluate adequacy of archaeological survey coverage and review proposed protection measures, prior to project approval. CAL FIRE staff archaeologists also play an important role. They review every CAL FIRE project, across 31 million acres of CAL FIRE's jurisdiction, to make field inspections, and advise CAL FIRE on the professional adequacy of archaeological work products, conformance with state regulations, and adequacy of protection given to archaeological resources.

 

Award Recipients

Persons eligible to receive the CAL FIRE-Board Golden Trowel Award include timberland owners, foresters, biologists, soils scientists, fire fighters, timber operators, and other forestry personnel. The following list identifies all award recipients and the year the award was given. Click on the person's name to review their accomplishments.

1990 - Bill Johnson

1991 - Dan Ward

1992 - Leonard Gwinn

1993 - Brian Bishop, Larrie Mason

1994 - Dave Drennan

1995 - D. Steven Heckman, Lee Susan, Thomas Shorey, Becky Robertson

1996 - Dave Dulitz

1997 - David Levy Forestry, Mark Stewart, Jim Gamble

1998 - Gordon Ponting, Nicholas Kent

1999 - Tom Francis

2000 - Ted James

2001 - Jim Purcell

2002 - Jack Ringer

2003 - Rich Wade

2004 - San Diego Unit - CAL FIRE

2005 - Chuck Schoendienst

These individuals deserve the recognition that comes with the Golden Trowel Award, and through their work CAL FIRE can demonstrate how significant archaeological and historical sites are being found and protected during forestry projects in California, in most cases, without undue cost to landowners or major changes to project activities

 

Procedure to Nominate a Candidate

Timing: The State of California's Golden Trowel Award is given once each calendar year. Nominations are considered during September and October. The selection is made in November, and the award is presented to the recipient during a scheduled award ceremony at a Board of Forestry and Fire Protection meeting. It is usually scheduled for the January or February meeting, depending on the preference of the Board and the availability of the recipient.

Eligibility: The recipient may come from the private sector, CAL FIRE, or other public agency and must not be a professional archaeologist. This award is intended to recognize outstanding contributions made by non-archaeologists leading to the identification and protection of cultural resources located on CAL FIRE projects or other areas under CAL FIRE's jurisdiction.

Nomination Procedure: A person may submit the name of a candidate by doing so in an email message sent to the CAL FIRE Archaeology Program Manager (currently Bill Snyder bill.snyder@fire.ca.gov ) and to the Board of Forestry's Executive Officer for Licensing (currently Eric Huff eric.huff@fire.ca.gov ). Those nominations may be submitted any time of the year. They should include:

* The name, email address, and phone number of the person making the nomination
* The name, email address, and phone number of the person being nominated
* A brief discussion indicating why the nominee deserves the award

These nominations will be evaluated by a committee established by CAL FIRE and the Board. Certain additional information may be requested from the person making the nomination.