PROJECT EVALUATION: 



The most valuable aspects of this project lie in collecting and 

 reviewing existing sources of information on Montana's cultural 

 resources. The maps provide a quick measure of the certainty that 

 a stream reach contains National Register eligible properties. 

 However, it should be noted that most Federal or State assisted 

 undertakings will still involve consultation with the State Historic 

 Preservation Officer. This consultation will undoubtedly provide 

 more useful information in the latter stages of project planning. 



Montana properties are evaluated for National Register qualities 

 on an almost daily basis. This suggests that for this study to 

 remain useful, it must be periodically updated. Because updating 

 is keyed to Montana State Historic Preservation Office reviews and 

 activities and all relevant information is compiled and stored at 

 the University of Montana, Department of Anthropology, we believe 

 that updating can be accomplished by either agency. The system as 

 modified in the second year and presented here is relatively simple 

 and straightforward. This implies that updating should be relatively 

 quick and inexpensive. We estimate that a regular annual update 

 should involve a total of 80 work hours a year. If student work-study 

 labor is used, the total costs will be reduced even further. 



One final suggestion is that the cultural resources information in 

 other files maintained by the Department of Anthropology, University 

 of Montana be studied for incorporation into the Rivers Assessment 

 program. For example, a second classification system could be 

 used to summarize whether a stream reach of interest was ever 

 surveyed by professional archaeologists for cultural resources; or, 

 given a series of legal descriptions a subfile search could detail the 

 kinds of cultural resources found within a specific area of interest. 



