Mission
ACS is a cultural resource management (CRM) firm based in Connecticut. CRM includes the identification and assessment of culturally sensitive resources, such as historic structural remains and prehistoric archaeological sites. These resources are frequently in danger of impact by pending projects involving construction or development. Organizations are in many cases subject to federal, state, or municipal regulations requiring cultural resource studies to be performed prior to engaging in the transformation of a project property. CRM also involves the creation of contingency-based conservation plans and recommendations to appropriate review agencies should potentially significant sites be identified during cultural resource surveys. The review agencies ultimately dictate cultural resource conservation requirements, such as further excavation or alternative design planning, subsequent to the identification of significant sites. ACS offers a full range of CRM services in order to fulfill these requirements.
ACS prides itself on qualities of integrity, thoroughness, timeliness, professionalism, and cooperation. As represented by its progress reports, ACS always operates on open lines of communication between the client and review agency so that adjustments in research designs can be made to adequately address new developments during the course of a project. This open-communications and continuous-feedback working philosophy ensures that the needs of clients and preservation concerns of cultural resources are always being considered and addressed. If you have any further questions regarding the nature of our firm or how our services may be of help to you, feel free to call us or write to the address given below.
Specialties
The directors and core staff of ACS have received academic and professional training in archaeological theory, research design, and field methodology, as well as various analytical procedures such as statistical applications, lithic analysis, aboriginal ceramic analysis, faunal analysis, historic artifact analysis, and historic architecture evaluation. ACS maintains centralized facilities for field equipment, laboratory analysis, and report production. In addition, ACS has access to research libraries and laboratory facilities at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. On occasion, ACS finds certain research problems require the solicitation of expertise outside the firm on a subcontract basis. In the past, ACS has engaged the services of Beta Analytic, Inc. of Miami, Florida for radioisotopic dating, as well as various environmental specialists including geologists and paleoethnobotanists.
Qualities
ACS is conveniently located in Connecticut, making access to any location in the Northeast United States feasible and efficient. ACS strives towards a quick turnover rate of projects which helps the client control scheduling issues. ACS is also strongly committed to the preservation and conservation of valuable cultural resources, and to maintaining high standards of integrity when making recommendations to project review agencies. ACS has low overhead requirements and has devised field and labor techniques which allow us to operate with maximum cost-efficiency. These aspects of ACS help to ensure that projects are performed thoroughly, quickly, at competitive rates, and at a level of quality that prevents compliance problems with review agencies.
Structure
ACS is a privately owned and operated partnership firm. ACS maintains a core staff of professional archaeologists to fulfill most operational requirements, while actively maintaining and drawing upon a labor force database which includes up to 100 field technicians available on a temporary basis. The intermittent use of a qualified, consistently available pool of archaeologists on a project-by-project basis gives ACS extreme flexibility with respect to the fluctuating and often seasonal demand for archaeological services in the Northeast. The efficient and flexible structure of ACS ultimately results in low overhead requirements and the timely execution of projects at a competitive cost to the client.
Qualifications
ACS appears on individual State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) lists of qualified, professional archaeological firms available for conducting cultural resource management projects and surveys in the Northeast. While there are no official licensing procedures for archaeologists, ACS has received recognition for having qualifications that meet and exceed the United States Secretary of the Interior and National Park Service standards for cultural resource management firms (36 C.F.R. Part 61). The two directors of ACS, Gregory F. Walwer (Ph.D.) and Dorothy N. Walwer (M.A.), have over 50 years of combined experience in the full range of phases involved in the execution of cultural resource surveys, including research design, excavation, analysis, and report-writing. ACS is a fully insured partnership firm, with general liability, professional liability, and workers compensation policies. The resumes for the directors and key staff members are available upon request.
Free Estimates, Proposals and Expert Testimony
ACS offers free consultation services which include cursory strategies for the protection or incorporation of cultural resources into site development plans, identification of potentially sensitive areas for stated project areas, information regarding the regulatory compliance and review process, as well as free cost estimates, proposals incorporating detailed research designs, and preliminary expert testimony. Extensive projects which require long-distance or long-term testimonial availability result in added costs to the overall project, although at a rate charged for normal research activities. ACS recognizes the need to stay within projected budgetary limits, and strives to maintain good corporate relationships by providing value-added services at little to no extra cost to the client.
Equal Opportunity Employer
ACS strongly believes in providing equal opportunities for all members of its potential labor force. ACS therefore refuses to accept or reject employment opportunities on the basis of race, national origin, gender, sexual preference, or religious disposition. ACS hires its field crews on a first availability basis within this very specialized labor force. The diversity of our staff and field crews largely reflects the diversity found within graduate archaeology programs throughout the Northeast. The ACS work-force typically has about 50 percent women and a variety of ethnic backgrounds represented.
