Script for Webinar #7
WORKING TOGETHER TO PRESERVE HISTORY THROUGH MITIGATION 
What is mitigation and how can TxDOT projects benefit public history?

I. INTRODUCTION TO WEBINAR
Slide 1
Welcome back to TxDOT’s Historic Preservation webinar series! This webinar is all about mitigation – when TxDOT must make up for impacts to cultural resources.  
Slide 2
This is the seventh and final webinar about our commitments to Historic Preservation at TxDOT. The goal with this webinar series is to provide you with all the information you need to become an informed participant in the Section 106 process. If this webinar is the first you’ve tuned into, we recommend you pause and watch Webinar 3 before moving on. The previous webinars provide a great foundation for understanding the overall historic preservation process. Be sure to download the handouts for links to other helpful resources and a glossary of terms we use throughout the series. 
Slide 3
In this webinar, we define mitigation and explain when and how TxDOT works with the community to mitigate for the loss of cultural resources during the Section 106 process.  By the end of the webinar you’ll know how you can be involved in developing meaningful public history projects.   

II. WHAT IS MITIGATION?
Slide 4
The National Historic Preservation Act describes mitigation as a way for agencies to make up for unavoidable negative impacts that projects can have on cultural resources. 
Mitigation happens at the end of the Section 106 process, after TxDOT selects the best option that allows a project to move forward.  Mitigation helps us preserve the history of the place, even if the place itself cannot be preserved.
Every project, and historic resource, is unique so mitigation strategies will differ for each project. However, it will always relate to the impacted cultural resource. We might dig up, study, and display archeology artifacts; photograph and research historic bridges or buildings; or develop interactive web pages, or videos… all to benefit the public. 
Slide 5
Mitigation can be a creative and collaborative process. At TxDOT we work with consulting parties, interested parties, and resource agencies. We want our outcomes to benefit the communities who care about the historic property, and to educate the greater public and future generations.  
During the mitigation process, TxDOT wants to hear from you: Think creatively and ask yourself:
* What stories are important to share about this resource? 
* What tools, educational products or activities would contribute to an effective public history project?
* Who else should TxDOT partner with for this project? 
Slide 6
TxDOT constructs hundreds of projects each year but only about 1 percent of them require mitigation. You can learn about many of these stories through our educational campaign called Beyond The Road.  We have websites, videos, brochures, podcasts, and other educational activities that discuss TxDOT’s environmental achievements and discoveries that go beyond road construction. We provided you with links in your handout and in the video description. 
Now let’s look at a few examples!  

III.  MITIGATING ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPACTS
Slide 7
First, let’s look at archeology. An important means of mitigating the impacts of our projects on sites is to excavate and study them, a process termed “data recovery”. In the past 20 years, TxDOT has mitigated more than 30 archeological sites through excavation.  TxDOT archeologists oversee the recovery and study of the traces of past human activities at National Register-eligible sites that will be impacted by construction, and synthesize and present the results in technical reports and through a variety of popular channels, such as our “Beyond the Road” campaign. In that way, we move beyond “stones and bones” to tell stories about the lives of people who once lived at these sites.
Slide 8
In northeast Texas, TxDOT proposed a roadway project that would damage a thousand-year-old farm site from the early Caddo Indian culture. TxDOT committed to data recovery, and archeologists found and studied more than 11,000 artifacts left behind by a Caddo family. TxDOT published a website about data recovery projects and what they found at this site. We also created YouTube videos that show how archeologists clean, treat, and store the artifacts.
Slide 9
While planning for the new SH 45 highway project in south Travis County, TxDOT determined that the road would impact an historic farm site that once belonged to Ransom and Sarah Williams, African Americans who were freed from slavery after news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Texas. The TxDOT archeology program excavated the site and partnered with the University of Texas to do community outreach. Archeologists uncovered more than 26,000 artifacts and we documented more than 39 hours of interviews with Williams family descendants and members of Austin’s African American community. You can find interviews, online exhibits, lesson plans, and a podcast on the Texas Beyond History website. 
Slide 10
During a bridge replacement project in downtown Houston, TxDOT discovered traces of Frost Town, one of the earliest settlements in the Houston area, now largely forgotten. Located just south of the Buffalo Bayou, the eight city blocks of Frost Town date back to the 1830s, and were  a vibrant community through the early decades of the 20th century. To mitigate project impacts, TxDOT partnered with the Texas Archeological Society on data recovery and interviews with Frost Town descendants and former residents. For this project, archeologists opened the site so people from the community could be archeologists for a day! The Houston Chronicle published several stories on the excavation, reaching millions of readers. 
IV. MITIGATING HISTORIC PROPERTY IMPACTS
Slide 11
Next, let’s look at examples of projects involving above ground historic places. To mitigate impacts to buildings or structures, we find ways to preserve and share their stories. We call this documentation and interpretation. Remember, mitigation strategies vary based on the type of impact and size of the historic property. TxDOT researches the property, records photographs and videos, and documents its history. In many cases, TxDOT develops museum exhibits, posters, websites, videos or other products through the Beyond The Road campaign. 
Slide 12
TxDOT planned to build an elevated expressway in south El Paso just outside of the historic Chihuahuita neighborhood. The new expressway towered several stories over the original Mexican-style houses, and residents told us that would change the character of their community. TxDOT historians worked with neighborhood residents and historians to document and tell the story of how their community remained strong in the face of change, including the new highway. TxDOT published the story of this more than 150-year-old neighborhood along the Rio Grande in a brochure and made it available in both English and Spanish. Local libraries, museums, and schools distribute the publication.
Slide 13
Texas has more than 500 historic bridges. TxDOT created a website to document some of the historic bridges impacted by our projects. It is a collection of untold or forgotten stories of historic bridges throughout Texas. For instance, did you know old bridges were ordered by mail and carried in on trains? The featured stories explain how bridges are much more than just structures that connect two sides of a divide; they connect us to the people, places, and events of our past. The bridges featured in the collection were all mitigated by TxDOT for different reasons - they were replaced, relocated, or altered. 
Slide 14
Sometimes, TxDOT removes a bridge that can still be used for another purpose. TxDOT makes them available for “adoption” through the Historic Bridge Legacy Program. This program offers opportunities to local governments and organizations to adopt vintage bridges for new use in their communities, such as along hike-and-bike trails or in public parks. 
Hamilton County took advantage of this program with their Leon River Bridge. The county built the bridge in 1906 and it connected rural residents to the markets, schools, and churches in the city of Hamilton. Residents knew the bridge was an important part of their history, and when TxDOT needed to close it in 2012 they worked together to save the bridge. Through the Historic Bridge Legacy Program, TxDOT relocated the Leon River Bridge from its original location northeast of Hamilton to the grounds of the Hamilton County museum. TxDOT also created museum panels and a video about the move! 

V. HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN MITIGATION
Slide 15
Successful mitigation projects happen when TxDOT and interested members of the community work together. So, how can you participate in mitigation efforts at TxDOT? Stay engaged as a consulting or interested party during the Section 106 process. Brainstorm creative ways to preserve history through mitigation. Be a local resource by giving us information and access to your community. Be a partner by hosting an event, connecting us with others, and distributing information. Be sure to use the mitigation products, share the stories we create, and subscribe to our Beyond the Road newsletter.

VI. KEY TAKEAWAYS
Slide 16
Okay quick recap:
Mitigation isn’t always the ideal outcome, but it allows TxDOT and communities to work together on balancing preservation and progress. It occurs at the end of the Section 106 process when there are negative impacts to historic properties. Mitigation projects are creative solutions that make up for these impacts. They include projects like websites, videos, podcasts, and other educational products. Mitigation projects help us learn more about our past and engage the community in Texas history. 

VII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Slide 17
Thanks for listening to this webinar about mitigation. This is the seventh, and final webinar in a series of videos about TxDOT’s commitments to Section 106 and historic preservation. We hope you tuned into the other webinars in this series to learn more. Be sure to check out the video description below for links to helpful online resources and handouts. Head to TxDOT’s Beyond The Road website for videos, podcasts, and story maps about the interesting resources we’ve uncovered during our projects. Sign up for our newsletter and reach out to us when you are ready to get involved with historic preservation at TxDOT.


Links for video description:
For links to the mitigation projects we present here:
* TxDOT’s Beyond the Road website: https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/beyond-the-road.html)
* TxDOT’s Archaeology and History page (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/archaeology-history.html)
* TxDOT’s Historic Bridge Legacy Program page: (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/adopt-historic-bridge.html)
* TxDOT’s Historic Bridges page: (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/historic-bridge.html)
* THC’s Historic Bridges in Texas page: (https://www.thc.texas.gov/preserve/historic-bridges-texas)
* Historic Bridge Foundation website: (https://historicbridgefoundation.com/)
For more specific guidance on TxDOT’s Section 106 process, refer to TxDOT’s toolkits. 
* Archaeological Sites and Cemeteries Toolkit: (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/compliance-toolkits/toolkit.html)
* Historic Resources Toolkit (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/compliance-toolkits/historic-resources.html) 
For information about TxDOT projects and how to get involved visit:
* Getting Involved in Historic Preservation at TxDOT: (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/historic-preservation.html)
* TxDOT’s public involvement page (which lists public meeting schedule) (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved.html)
* TxDOT’s project tracker (https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/project-tracker.html
Contact us: (https://www.txdot.gov/contact-us/form.html?id=env-asc-email)