AES-Montrose’s cultural resources staff has an in-depth working knowledge of cultural resources standards, guidance, and regulatory compliance at the federal, state, and local level including Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), the California Register of Historic Resources (CRHR), the California Public Resources Code (PRC), the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), and the Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Cultural resources services include:
- Background and archival research
- Cultural resource inventories
- Section 106 consultation and compliance
- Archaeological site testing and data recovery
- NRHP and local evaluations
- Consultation with Native American Tribes
- Development of mitigation measures
- Laboratory processing and artifact analysis
- Preparation of technical reports
- Preservation planning
- Construction monitoring and training
Project Examples
AES-Montrose prepared an EA for the BIA to assess the environmental effects of taking 61.7 acres in Marshall County, Oklahoma, into federal trust for the Chickasaw Nation. The project was located within Lake Texoma State Park on property that used to be the Lake Texoma Resort Park and Golf Course. AES-Montrose completed background research at the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey facility (OAS) and consulted with the Chickasaw Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. The survey required a combination of pedestrian transects and shovel testing. AES-Montrose again contracted with the Chickasaw Nation, this time in support of Fee-to-Trust projects in McClain and Love counties and completed a record search at the OAS facility. In McClain County, parcels required an archaeological survey of 35.2 acres that resulted in the identification of a historic earthen dam. In Love County, the archaeological survey included 554.05 acres of land, some of which has been developed as a golf course. The most significant find consisted of debris from the 1920s and 1930s.
Constructed as a large commercial wine processing, storage, and shipping facility, Winehaven was built beginning in 1907 and was the largest wine shipper in the world at one time, but closed in 1920 as a result of Prohibition. Winehaven was placed on the National Register in 1978, and includes 35 buildings that were constructed between 1907 and 1919 by the California Wine Association after their original facilities were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The isolated location required the construction of worker housing, entertainment facilities, schools, and a post office, forming an early “company town” that was preserved, in part, by conversion to a Navy fuel depot beginning in 1942. The project proposed to reuse and rehabilitate the Winehaven Historic District, requiring a revision of the original National Register of Historic Places nomination, archaeological testing and evaluation of several prehistoric shell midden sites along the edge of San Francisco Bay, and the preparation of a National Register nomination for a late-19th century Chinese Shrimp Camp.
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Charlane Gross, M.A., RPA
Senior Archaeologist
With 28 years of management, field, and research experience on a wide variety of projects, I am well versed in all aspects of historic-era and prehistoric resource investigations and the requirements for NEPA/CEQA compliance and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. I have considerable experience in the development and production of cultural resources recordation and management documents and large-scale project management experience with commensurate experience in agency, client, and Native American community coordination and consultation. Most recently, I have been working on a number of projects for the BIA, USACE, and BOR, coordinating with SHPO, local agencies, and private clients as well. My range of experience has been acquired by working in 15 states and U.S. territories, on both coasts and in the central Plains. This exposure has resulted in the widest possible range of experience in all forms of Cultural Resources work.
My Master’s Degree is in human osteology, and my body of work includes excavation, analysis, and supervision of numerous burial sites, both prehistoric and historic. My understanding of the complexities offered by the presence of human remains has been gained while working with a wide range of cultural groups, including representatives of the Native American and African American communities, sensitizing me to the needs of legacy populations, and enabling me to work with those communities as well as the agencies and contractors involved in projects to derive the best possible outcome for all involved …
Full Resume