ILLINOIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY

I left the 52nd Conference held at SIUE and Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site on a very positive note and filled with optimism regarding the Survey's future. I offer just a quick overview of some of the events that have transpired during the ensuing year.

1. In January the IAS was asked to submit a letter of support for the nomination of the New Philadelphia site for inclusion on the National Park Service's list of National Historic Landmarks. The Board was pleased to do so. The NPS Advisory Committee has approved the listing by a unanimous vote. Fellows Chris Fennell, Terry Martin, Anna Agbe-Davies, et al. have created a new standard for exposing a relatively unknown site to great public visibility using mass media and the Internet.

2. The IAS Presidential Committee on Public Policy (Public Policy Committee) was constituted in January of 2008 in response to a request by our members for the IAS to submit comment to the National Park Service on proposed changes to the National NAGPRA Program. This year's major focus has been on the proposed Prairie du Pont and Fish Lake Flood Protection Project, in St. Clair and Monroe Counties, Illinois. Letters were drafted to the St. Louis District Corps of Engineers by the committee (Chair Tim Pauketat) requesting a project review and to the Advisory Council of Historic Places expressing IAS concerns about preserving the large and Cahokia-related Lunsford-Pulcher site, which sits squarely in the middle of the 16 square-mile project area. The letters also expressed unease with the secondary development impact to the bottomland project area and requested "consulting party status" for the Illinois Archaeological Survey. While the situation remains a little unclear, we believe that such status has been granted. However, the situation is fluid and will necessitate continued monitoring.

3. Our WEB Committee has now obtained a distinct Internet domain and associated server space for the IAS. Our new address is: . Since completing the move in November of 2008, the IAS web has received 38,000 visits. We average 104 visits to our WEB per day.

4. Two major achievements for the practice of archaeology within the State of Illinois must be noted. The first is that the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois State Museum, and the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program have developed a web-based version of the Illinois Inventory of Archaeological Sites (IIAS). Registered archaeologists (the vast majority of IAS members are eligible for this certification) now enjoy the ability to access all archaeological sites contained within the state site file system from their personal computers. The individual sites can be manipulated in relation to their proper spatial association to a wealth of geo-physical and cultural data. This technological capability is a vanguard breakthrough as we look around the nation. Thanks go to Fellows Mike Wiant, Joe Phillippe, and all others that helped make this possible to include two GIS gurus (Scott Fowler and Dean Spindler) that will be receiving awards at tomorrow evening's banquet.

This incredible development in information access was quickly followed by yet another equally incredible advance. Fellows John Walthall, Tom Emerson, and the crew of ITARP have now made the treasury of Illinois' "gray literature" Internet accessible. Sixteen thousand documents (site reports and ancillary literature) are now also available from your office computer!

Our thanks are extended to all those that have contributed to these remarkable accomplishments.

5. Our ranks continue to expand with ten new members and many others that have reinstated their membership in the IAS.

6. Since initiating the service a few months before assuming the office of President, I have posted some 67 News Flashes or approximately one every two to three weeks. They represent an important element in my goal of enhancing professional awareness through communication. I hope that they have been of interest to the members and of functional significance to the Survey. The News Flashes are currently sent to 195 members and friends of the IAS.

7. After 50-some years of organizational growth and change, the IAS began operating under a new set of foundation articles in 2008-2009 with the implementation of our new Constitution and By-Laws. While a few issues have emerged, the structural and procedural specifications seem amazingly well crafted. Thanks are again extended to Fellow Rochelle Lurie and her committee.

8. We have been invited by the Board of the Society for American Archaeology to organize and coordinate their Council of Councils assembly at the SAA's 75th Anniversary meeting to be held in St. Louis (April, 2010). The Society's 75th meeting will feature that jewel in the crown of American archaeology, Cahokia Mounds. If you are not familiar with the C of C, it is the annual gathering of professional, state-level societies sponsored by the SAA. I think that it is important for us to provide national leadership in this matter by honoring the SAA's request and I encourage the new President and Board to follow through with our preliminary commitment. The C in C has become an important vehicle for expressing professional needs and interests at the national/international level.

9. Our financial situation continues to remain stable under the sound fiscal leadership of our Treasurer, Mark Esarey. We once again close the year in the black. This condition was achieved in spite of the economic woes of the larger economy. The goal has been for us to live within our budget by dispersing slightly less than what we receive. Given our conservative investment strategy, the Board will need to keep a sharp eye on the impact of a potential decline in our projected revenues.

10. Our journal, Illinois Archaeology, is both current and of high quality thanks to the ongoing effort of our Editor, Tom Emerson, and his ITARP staff. This year witnessed the striking and significant addition of color images to the pages of IA. Keep in mind that while, for instance, American Antiquity will incorporate color in journal articles, it is at the personal expense of the author. Not so in the archaeology of Illinois. I would ask that we help Tom by continuing the flow of timely, quality submissions. We encourage everyone to please consider IA as you explore pathways for publication.

11. Illinois Archaeological Awareness Month enjoyed another successful year under the leadership of Fellow Eve Hargrave. We want to thank Eve and her committee for all of their hard work and creativity. Taking the concerns and interests of the profession to the broader community is a most vital function for an organization such as ours.

12. I am pleased to report that for 2009 the IAS will confer awards and recognition to 13 individuals and organizations for their important and noteworthy contributions to the archaeology of Illinois. Included are six individuals from our own ranks and seven from outside.

I believe that it is very important for the IAS to provide acknowledgement of contribution whenever it is warranted and that it is ever so easy to defer expressions of gratitude to a later time. Our committee, with the leadership of Chair Clare Tolme, has done an excellent job and are, themselves, to be congratulated.

13. Lastly, year's end brings us to this most interesting and varied conference. While I thought that Julie and Mark did an outstanding job last year, I think that the bar has been raised once again. There are so many papers planned for tomorrow that it certainly raises the possibility of simultaneous venues on Saturday or the possibility of Friday morning activities for next year.

Of course none of our achievements would have been possible without the cooperation and effort of a very long list of Fellows. From all of us, I extend our thanks to all of you that have contributed to yet another year of noteworthy success.

And with this thought I bring to a close my tenure as President.

Respectfully Submitted,
Lenville J. Stelle, President