Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is committed to the respectful and inclusive management of cultural resources. INL, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID), will maintain a partnership with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to protect and preserve cultural resources. 

Congress, the U.S. president and the American public have directed federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Energy to protect and preserve precontact and historic cultural resources on the lands the department administers. This mandate to preserve cultural resources in a spirit of stewardship for the future is outlined in various federal preservation laws, regulations and guidelines, such as the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  INL is home to a wide variety of important cultural resources representing 13,500 years of human use. 

There are special challenges associated with balancing the preservation of these sites with the management and operation of a National Laboratory. DOE-ID and Battelle Energy Alliance are committed to a cultural resource management program that supports lab operations while safeguarding the lab’s cultural heritage for future generations.  

INL’s Cultural Resource Management (CRMO) team is uniquely positioned to provide the services, products and expertise necessary to effectively integrate cultural resource considerations into proposed projects, land use planning and implementation for a wide variety of INL programs.