Sorry for the delay in getting this out to everyone- busy with work and Christmas & no
time to ck e-mail. Hope everyone had a great holiday.
It seems there is little understanding out there for what we do, and the fact that it
often involves probing and digging.We've got to keep working on this. Thanks to
everyone who has responded to the survey. Keep the info coming.
Theresa
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Ms. Berghoff:
Thank you for contacting me about my legislation to protect burial
grounds and update the state's archaeology laws. I apologize for the delay
in responding to your question.
First, I want you to know that I am an avid Genealogist and have spent
a lot of time in cemeteries around the world looking for gravesites of
my ancestors. I have seen everything from restored and well-maintained
cemeteries in vermont to burial grounds in Poland where the communists
destroyed all of the tombstones to eradicate any evidence of the german
population that once lived there and turned the land into a grazing lot
for farm animals.
I strongly support preservation of our cemeteries and want to be
helpful to you in your work.
I have not heard any discussions about combining HB 1441 and HB 1097
into a single bill for the upcoming session. The legislation I have been
working on was recommended for passage by the Natural Resources Study
Committee and differs significantly from last year's HB 1097. To
maintain that stamp of approval from the study committee, I cannot change the
wording from what they approved in the introduced version of the bill.
However, I would not be surprised if the bill is amended once it begins
moving through the process.
As to your concern about archaeological plan approval for cemetery
restoriation projects, I do not believe the proposed legislation will
significantly change current law in this area. I spoke with the State
Archaeologist, Rick Jones, and he agrees the bill would have little impact
on cemetery improvements. Plans are only required for activities that
involve digging in the ground. Re-setting tilted tombstones or stones
only partially visible above ground would not require any approvals. A
project to locate gravesites without markers that involves digging in
the ground could require plan approval.
I hope you would agree that its important to make sure anyone digging
in a cemetery in search of graves will do it in a way that does not
disturb remains or destroy valuable clues about who is buried there.
Finally, you should be aware that since the Republicans are now the
majority party in the House, I will likely have a Republican member of the
House serve as the lead author on the bill.
Thank you for your continued interest in cemetery preservation. I am
sure we can work together to achieve our goals during the upcoming
legislative session.
Matt Pierce
State Representative
District 61
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