Western Cultural was formed in 1998 and since that time we have conducted cultural resource investigations in Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and across Montana for federal and state agencies as well as non-profit organizations. Our investigations involving Travelers Rest National Historic Landmark, a Lewis and Clark campsite on the banks of Lolo Creek, historic mining resources in Marysville, the Fort Missoula Historic District, historic urban surveys, historic landscapes, visual impact analyses, and prehistoric resources in a number of projects demonstrate the broad range and strengths of our organization.
We provide cultural resource services for a variety of projects, including highway and road construction, power line transmission construction, cellular communications equipment installation, timber management, mining activities, land exchanges, site documentation, environmental impact statements, visual impact analysis, and more.
The range of services that we offer include:
- National Register of Historic Places Determinations and Nominations
- Geophysical Investigations which include magnetometer, electromagnetic resistivity, electromagnetic conductivity, ground penetrating radar, aerial infra red photography, and metal detectors for historic and prehistoric resources
- Historic Preservation Plans
- Cultural resource Surveys for Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance
- Cultural resource surveys for compliance with various state and local historic preservation laws
- Historic Urban Surveys
- Prehistoric and Historical archaeological excavations and evaluations
- Artifact analysis for prehistoric and historic resources, including complete identification, cataloging, and preparation for archiving of materials
- Cultural resource surveys for watershed restoration projects, including linear survey for road, trail, or culvert decomissioning, as well as parcel survey for fuels management and species diversifacation
- Cultural resource survey for grazing allotments, range, and vegetation improvement projects
- Cultural resource survey for fiber optic cable installation
For more information on the services we provide, please contact us.
The Staff of Western Cultural
Daniel S. Hall
Daniel S. Hall, MA, has been involved with historic preservation and the study of Western history and prehistory for over twenty three years. During this time he has authored numerous reports on the prehistory and history of the Rocky Mountain West, the Colombia Plateau and the Great Plains. He has worked on a number of projects involving resources associated with Lewis and Clark, military expeditions and military forts, homesteading, agriculture, mining, as well as a wide variety of prehistoric resources. He has supervised and conducted cultural resource surveys across Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Utah, and Washington. Past projects include visual impact analysis for cellular communication equipment installation, power line transmission surveys, historic mining surveys, historic urban surveys, and environmental impact statements and environmental assessments. Mr. Hall has served as principal investigator for a wide range of corporate and government clients, including Tetra Tech, Inc., Maxim Technologies, CDM, Inc. and government agencies such as the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Missoula County, and the City of Missoula. Mr. Hall has extensive experience with remote sensing applications including investigations at Travelers Rest, Marysville, Fort Missoula, Lou Lou’s grave site, and Fort Benton, Montana, utilizing magnetometers, electromagnetic conductivity, electromagnetic resistivity, ground penetrating radar, metal detectors, and geochemical analysis.
Kelli Casias
Kelli Casias, MA, University of Montana, joined Western Cultural, Inc. in May of 2016. Ms. Casias is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Montana Anthropology Department. Her doctoral dissertation is an exploration of a moonshine site in Glacier National Park that dates to the Prohibition era. Kelli has participated in cultural resource surveys using pedestrian transects which included filling out site forms in the field, mapping sites, keeping daily field notes and photograph logs, utilizing GPS units, digital cameras, two-way radios, a compass, and topographic maps. She is experienced in subsurface investigations which included excavating by arbitrary levels and/or by following and pedalstalling resources, filling out excavation unit forms, creating soil profiles, mapping units, recording, bagging and tagging artifacts, and screening excavated soils. Project experiences include editing/production of prehistoric site forms and isolated find forms and report administration. Her experience includes site location map editing/production, GIS mapping, sketch map editing/production, artifact photo logs, photo editing, transcription and artifact analysis and cataloging. Computer skills include Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Photoshop elements 2.0, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft Excel.
Jay Vest
Jay Vest, BA, University of Central Florida, joined Western Cultural, Inc. in May of 2016. He is currently completing his Masters of Antropology/Cultural Heritage at the University of Montana. His thesis focuses on the overlooked data potential and cultural significance of historic inscriptions in the Northwestern United States. Mr. Vest has worked on multiple Class I, II, and III cultural resources surveys throughout Montana, as well as professional monitoring and data recovery excavations. Mr. Vest has also participated in mulitple field schools in Belize, Florida, and The Bahamas, conducting controlled exavations and artifact analysis. He has experience in performing pedestrian transects, historic structure assessments, mapping sites, producing and editing of archaeological and isolated find field forms, draft cultural resource reports, and complete condition assessments for archaeological resources.
Eric Fredlund
Eric Fredlund, BA, University of Montana, Anthropology, has been working as a professional archaeologist for nearly 30 years. Eric has been with Western Cultural from the start in 1998. He has served in a variety of capacities for projects across North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and across Montana. Mr. Fredlund has directed field crews for cultural resource surveys for the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. He has participated in cultural resource inventories, archaeological testing, data recovery excavations, remote sensing and historical archaeological excavations. Eric has extensive experience in documenting prehistoric and historic resources in the field, preparing the proper site forms for complete documentation of sites and fully mapping and describing sites.
Patience Woodill
Patience Woodill, BA, Organizational Communication and Media Arts. Patience was raised in an Air Force/Navy family, and grew up traveling. Formerly a Regional Manager in audio-visual services for several destination hotels in Washington, D.C. Patience enjoyed the opportunity to work with government agencies, political officials, and representatives along with several national and international companies on a daily basis while managing the audio visual services to hotels in Washington, Virginia and Maryland. In 1983, she moved to San Diego to manage a meeting production company. After twelve years in production and traveling in the meeting industry, the family moved to Missoula. In 2006, a new opportunity to work in the construction industry presented itself. Patience served as the Construction Site Manager for the 75K sq. ft. DirecTV Call Center in Missoula, and was requested to work on another call center just south of Dallas, TX for Alliance Data Systems where she spent almost a year. Following the call center build in Texas, she managed the rehabilitation of the Bonner Company houses and worked with Western Cultural on the historical nomination for the Historical District and Bonner houses in 2007 and 2008. Ms. Woodill’s experience in program management, coordination, marketing, graphic art/design and layout were utilized with the University of Montana School of Law for three years when she accepted her current position with Western Cultural, Inc.