Moderator: Stephanie Damadio, National Curator, Bureau of Land Management,
    Sacramento, CA
 

Bobbie Ferguson, Senior Cultural Resources Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation, Technical
    Services Center, Lakewood, CO

Most collections from Federal lands are the property of the Federal government, but accountability for this property rests with the bureaus and agencies which manage the land, and these may change through time. To define accountability for collections from Interior and Indian lands or created by Federal action involving or affecting Interior, the Department of the Interior established a team of individuals representing land-managing bureaus on the Interior Museum Property Committee. The questions asked, the research approach, the results of the search, and the resulting policy statements were discussed.
 

Bobbie Ferguson and Myra Giesen, Bureau of Reclamation, Technical Services Center,
    Lakewood, CO

Federal agency responsibility for managing archaeological collections stems from two basic concepts; the intrinsic value of the resources and the need for public accountability. The mandates to manage federal collections are well defined; however, a great variation exists in accountability and significant diversity in the ways federal collections are managed. This paper explored the background and development of 36 CFR Part 79 (Curation of Federally Owned and Administered Archaeological Collections) and then discussed the status of federal agency/bureau accountability through an examination of curation policies and compliance reporting. Suggestions were provided about how federal collection management might become more uniform and more effective.