Subject: Pinson agreement signed
From:    "Nick Fielder" 
Date:    Fri, May 19, 2006 10:56 am

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To all

On May 18, TDEC Commissioner Fyke and Dept of Agriculture Commissioner
Givens signed a memorandum of agreement on Pinson.  A final copy is
attached.

This agreement was intensely negotiated among State Parks, Archaeology,
Forestry and our respective legal counsels.  It represents the best
compromise we could get between the competing interests and missions of
the respective agencies.

As in all compromises, there are interests on both sides that wish
their views could have prevailed.  I think this is a positive step in
the management of Pinson Mounds National Historic Landmark.

Nick Fielder
State Archaeologist 


PINSON MOA Final 5-17-06.doc
Pinson final map 5.17.06.pdf
Pinson Plat Map 1947.pdf

Nashville Scene: Political Notes, June 1, 2006 Bittersweet surrender It has been hailed as a "win-win" situation by state officials, but not everyone is thrilled with the recent agreement between two state agencies to cede control of an ancient Indian burial site to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The agreement will transfer about half of a 300-acre tree farm from the Division of Forestry to TDEC immediately. Forestry will have access to about 130 acres through the year 2035, at which point all Forestry operations will cease. The agreement should also return some of Pinson Mounds, a 1,000-acre archaeological park near Jackson that is being mentioned among the world's wonders, to its original state by demolishing nine Forestry buildings situated near Ozier Mound, one of the site's more significant burial sites. Earlier this year, Forestry officials took a hard-line stance against moving its seedling operation, saying they had too much science and money invested at Pinson ("Mounds for the Trees," April 13). Advocates say Gov. Phil Bredesen contacted both agencies to criticize the stalled negotiations, but state officials, including the governor's office, Forestry and TDEC, won't verify whether Bredesen was involved. While state officials walked away mostly happy with the agreement, Pinson advocates are concerned Forestry will still be able to plant trees on the site. The trees' roots could not only damage ancient artifacts, which pre-date Christ, but they could also block the view of several mounds. "The agreement is better than where we were," says Mack Prichard, the state's naturalist who, in the early 1970s, was the first head of Tennessee's archaeological division. "But we can do better. The trees will make the entrance to Pinson pretty opaque. We'll need to put up a sign that says, 'Turn right. There's an Indian mound down here.' " Advocates are also suspicious that Forestry officials might have a secret agenda. They point out that Forestry was reluctant to quickly resolve the land control issue and are concerned that TDEC and Forestry are able to modify the agreement at any time. "Forestry hasn't been dealing in good faith with this stuff," says William Anderson, a member of the Ancient Sites Conservancy. "They still want to plant trees at Pinson. Those trees will be a lot bigger in 25 years."

Nashville Scene: Love-Hate Mail, April 27, 2006 Round mounds of red tape

a letter to the editor of the Nashville Scene that they didn't print ... ====== Forwarded Message ====== Date: 4/26/06 16:58 From: tom kunesh To: Editor (editor{a}nashvillescene.com) CC: Mark Tolley Editor Nashville Scene While your article on Pinson Mounds (13 April 2006, William Dean Hinton, "Mounds for the Trees") detailed the politics between three state agencies wanting control of a Native American sacred site, it completely ignored the actions of Native Americans in Tennessee and their alienation from the park and cultural resources management. Tennessee has three primary parks specifically related to Native American history and culture - Red Clay, Old Stone Fort and Pinson Mounds, but there's no place in the parks' Cultural Resource Management Plans or "Strategic Planning" for Native American participation. Shouldn't Tennessee's Native American cultural parks and sacred sites have _some_ Native American direction and control? The Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs unanimously approved two resolutions at its december 2005 meeting in Memphis: one calling for Native American participation in Tennessee State Park planning and management, and one calling for legislative action to protect the integrity of the Pinson site. These resolutions need to pushed forward in the state legislature. Another issue that needs to be addressed are the trees on the mounds that are disrespectful of the site and should themselves be removed. Mounds are sacred places, created for ceremonial and burial use, planned to be respected with their own height. Remove Agriculture's Division of Forestry from Pinson Mounds, yes, but also Remove the trees from the mounds so that they can be viewed and respected as they were originally intended. tom kunesh Chattanooga 423.624.3380 _______________________________________________________ The concentration of ownership of Native American cultural heritage by non-Native Americans is one of the greatest cultural preservation problems; monopoly of Native cultural resources by non-Natives is only slightly less dangerous to cultural preservation than their actual destruction. __________________________________________________________________ Mounds are the single most enduring physical legacy of Native American people who lived in what we now call Tennessee. When they were created the people were reminded daily of their passed relatives and leaders and their relationship to the earth and sun. In the past they were kept clean and visited. Now new gods, both foreign and domestic, have replaced the old ones, and the mounds are covered in trees, testimony to their religious and cultural insignificance, proof of the atheism of their descendants. ====== End Forwarded Message ======

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aerial view of Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Area/State Park, West Tennessee

At least 3 mounds (Ozier & Twin) are in the seed orchard, Forestry part.
The state had the tree nursery there (1947?) before the park was purchased.

-------------------------------------------- Pinson Mounds Reforest Station 731-988-5221 Jackson Tree Seedling Nursery 420 Ozier Rd Pinson, TN 38366-9626 (731) 988-5221 West Tennessee Nursery Tennessee Division of Forestry Dept. of Agriculture, Pinson Nursery P0 Box 120 Pinson TN 38366 Tel: 877/868-7337 Fax: 901/988-5221 Email: nursery@state.tn.us Please visit our website for more information: tennessee.gov/agriculture/forestry/landowners/catalog.pdf --------------------------------------------

(state department harvesting trees/saplings from designated National Historic Register site and state archaeological site, Pinson Mounds) www.state.tn.us/agriculture/forestry/tfc/ -------- Original Message -------- Subject: May 10th Forestry Commission Sunshine Notice April 29, 2005 MEDIA ADVISORY: Editors: Public Chapter 442 ("the Sunshine Law") enacted by the 88th General Assembly requires public notice of meetings of all government bodies whose actions can affect public policy. The following notice is hereby given: Re: TENNESSEE FORESTRY COMMISSION MEETING The Tennessee Forestry Commission will meet Tuesday, May 10, 2005. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. CDT at the Pinson Reforestation Complex Office, 420 Ozier Road, Pinson, Tennessee. Items on the agenda will include a report from the forester credential/licensure committee, and discussion on the future use and management of the Pinson Reforestation Complex.

Tennessee Encyclopedia {connection refused 19oct05} __________________________________________________________________ In accordance with US Code Title 17, Section 107, this material is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the material for research, non-profit news and educational purposes. PINSON MOUNDS STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK The largest Middle Woodland Period (ca. 200 B.C.-A.D. 400) archaeological site in the Southeast, Pinson Mounds is located about ten miles south of Jackson on the South Fork of the Forked Deer River. Within an area of approximately four hundred acres, the site includes at least twelve mounds, a geometric earthen enclosure, and associated ritual activity areas. While the site's large size and immense volume of earth fill are very impressive, the presence of five large rectangular platform mounds (ranging in height from 7 to 72 feet) of Middle Woodland age underscores the unique nature of the Pinson Mounds site. Archaeological excavations conducted on Ozier Mound (Mound 5) in 1981 provided the first unequivocal evidence in eastern North America for the construction of rectangular platform mounds during the Middle Woodland period. Prior to this, mounds of this type were thought to be confined to the later Mississippian Period (post-A.D. 1000). Approximately 33 feet tall with a ramp on one side, Ozier Mound was constructed in at least six stages. Each successive summit was covered with a thin layer of pale yellow sand. Copper, mica, and microblades of nonlocal chert were found in association with the uppermost mound summit. These materials have been recovered from ritual activity areas elsewhere within the site, thus providing clues about the use of Ozier Mound for rituals. Few earthworks at Pinson Mounds were constructed specifically for burial of the dead. In fact, only three burial mounds have been identified at the site. The largest of these, the Twin Mounds (Mound 6), consists of a pair of large, intersecting conical mounds, each about 23 feet tall and 80 feet in diameter. Partial excavation of the northern Twin Mound provided a rare view of a large, undisturbed Middle Woodland burial mound. At the base of the earthwork, four log- and/or fabric-covered tombs containing the remains of sixteen adults were excavated. Several of the individuals wore fiber headdresses decorated with copper ornaments as well as necklaces of freshwater pearls. A pair of engraved rattles cut from portions of two human skulls and decorated with a bird motif in the Hopewellian style were found at the knees of an elderly man. Each rattle contained a number of small quartzite river pebbles to produce sound. Also recovered from the burials were a small mica mirror, a schist pendant, and a finely crafted boatstone of green speckled schist. Radiocarbon dated to ca. A.D. 100, the northern Twin Mound exhibits unusually complex stratigraphy reflecting the following construction sequence. First, a layer of puddled clay (moistened to thick liquid consistency) was placed over the tombs and associated ritual features. Then, over the area in which the tombs were located, a circular, flat-topped primary mound, covered with alternating bands of multicolored earth and sand, was constructed. Numerous sharpened wooden poles were driven into the surface of the primary mound at intervals of approximately 1.7 feet. Separated from this mound by a narrow walkway was a low, sand-covered platform that supported a number of large, outslanting posts. Finally, the primary mound, the walkway, and the circular platform were covered with several distinctive layers of fill dirt, bringing the northern Twin Mound to a height of approximately 23 feet. Like most large Middle Woodland ceremonial sites, Pinson Mounds was not built by a single small village or group of villages. Based on a variety of distinctive pottery types found at the site, it appears that individuals from as far away as southern Georgia and Louisiana participated in rituals at Pinson Mounds. For example, numerous sherds of nonlocal pottery were found at the Duck's Nest Sector, a ritual activity area dating to approximately A.D. 300. These include limestone-tempered wares (characteristic of the Tennessee River valley), Swift Creek Complicated Stamped (a southern Georgia type), McLeod Simple Stamped (commonly found in the Mobile Bay area), and several other types of pottery with no known local counterparts. Other interesting features at Pinson Mounds include the second-tallest mound in the United States (Sauls Mound, at 72 feet) and a circular earthen enclosure similar to earthworks found in the Ohio Valley. Pinson Mounds has been designated a National Historic Landmark [1964] and is managed by the State of Tennessee as an archaeological park. Robert C. Mainfort Jr. and Mary L. Kwas, Arkansas Archeological Survey Suggested Reading(s): Robert C. Mainfort Jr., "Middle Woodland Ceremonialism at Pinson Mounds, Tennessee," American Antiquity 53.1 (1988): 158-73; Robert C. Mainfort Jr. and Richard Walling, "1989 Excavations at Pinson Mounds: Ozier Mound," Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 17.1 (1992): 112-36. See Also: MADISON COUNTY; OLD STONE FORT STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK; WOODLAND PERIOD

from the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks database ... Pinson Mounds Pinson, Tennessee County of Madison. National Register Number: 66000727 Resource type: Site. Congressional District: TN-8 Certified Local Government: NO Statement of Significance (as of designation - January 29, 1964): The site, which includes two large temple mounds, an effigy mound, and earthworks, was occupied during several archeological periods, beginning as early as 5000 BC. http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/mgtplans.php: Natchez Trace State Park Management Plan - 0 Old Stone Fort State Historic Park Management Plan - 0 Pinson Mounds State Park Management Plan - 0 Red Clay State Park Management Plan - 0 ref. "Purpose of Management Direction Statement Management Direction Statements provide strategic management direction for all state parks that do not have an updated full management plan. MDS do not negate the need for future, more detailed management plans. Management Direction Statements also describe protected area values, management issues and concerns; management strategy focused on immediate priority objectives and strategies; and directional statements from other planning processes." - State Park Management Plan, Management Direction Statement, Bledsoe Creek State Park, July 2004, p 4 This document provides strategic direction to assure that parks will be properly preserved, protected and improved. - Tennessee State Parks Strategic Direction, August 2005, p 3 Question: How can Native American "cultural resources" at state parks be "properly preserved, protected and improved" without the direct participation of Native Americans? Answer: Presumably in the best way non-Native-Americans can think of that doesn't conflict with their non-Native-American way of thinking. --- E. Park Use Classification Based on the criteria described in the Tennessee State Parks Use Classification plan, Cordell Hull Birthplace State Historic Area is classified as a State Historic Area. The description of this and other classifications can be found in Appendix A. A Use Classification system for Tennessee State Parks provides a meaningful framework to strategic planning. This is an essential tool for planning a system of parks, whether for planning acquisition and development of new areas or for actions affecting existing parklands and facilities. A Use Classification system defines the individual areas of the park system in terms of: 1. The reason for acquiring and developing an area. 2. The characteristics of the area, including the size of the area, present land uses, and the presence of natural or cultural resources. 3. The areas' existing impressions and facilities. The Tennessee State Parks Use Classification system can be broken down into three general categories: Natural Resource Areas, Cultural Areas and Recreation Areas. - TN State Parks Management Plan, December 2002 Cordell Hull Birthplace State Historic Area Section E - Park Use Classification, p 11 USE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM Cultural Areas   State Historic Areas     Hiwassee Scenic River Fort Marr - Nancy Ward Gravesite     Red Clay   Archaeological Areas     Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park     Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park     Montgomery Bell State Park - Mound Bottom State Archaeological Area     Cedars of Lebanon State Park - Sellers Farm State Archaeological Area