PHOTO: Trevor Iliff of the Natural Resources Conservation Service
The Ouachita Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society will host a talk by Trevor Iliff of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service on “The USDA and Archaeology.” The talk will take place on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 7 p.m. in the Rainey Room in the new CIC Building at Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, 200 Whittington Ave., Hot Springs. The event is free and open to the public.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency of the US Department of Agriculture, has archaeologists who work with Arkansas farmers to protect archaeological sites while improving farmland. In this talk, Trevor Iliff will present an overview of relevant legislation, including laws protecting private landowner rights, and how the NRCS approaches compliance. He will discuss several projects in southwestern Arkansas to show how the agency’s archaeologists mitigate damage to sites.
Highlighting the overarching goals of the NRCS, he will discuss how each department within the organization works together to improve farmland, benefitting the farmer, the local/heritage community, and the environment.
Iliff graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2012, having studied Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology, History, and Geology. In the past 13 years he has worked in Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Hawaii, Turkey, and the Central Northern Marianas Islands. When it comes to archaeology, he loves being in the field. When not at work, he loves cooking, caring for his dogs, officiating girls’ softball, and playing bike polo.
The Arkansas Archeological Survey’s research station at Henderson State University holds regular Archaeology Lab Days. Students and members of the public are invited to come by the research station on Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to learn more about archaeology in Arkansas. For more information, contact Mary Beth Trubitt at 870-230-5510.
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