Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 1, 1 January 2014 — SHPD administrator [ARTICLE]

SHPD administrator

Alan S. Downer, a special advisor to the executive director for the Navajo Nahon Division of Natural Resources who previously served as that agency's director for 27 years, has been appointed administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division. "With extensive experience as director for one of the nation's largest historic preservation agencies, Downer brings tremendous experienee in leadership to the Hawai'i State Historic Preservation Division," state Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairman William Aila said in a news release. Downer succeeds Pua Aiu, who resigned in July following the release of a National Parks Service report critical of the division's efforts under a two-year corrective action plan to address operational problems that jeopardize continued federal funding. Aiu had served as administrator for five years. Downer was hired by the Navajo Nation department in Window Rock, Arizona, in 1986 to establish the first tribal historic preservation agency in the United States. The NNHPD, a multi-agency resource management organization, is among the largest puhlie historic preservation agencies in the country. "I believe Downer brings tremendous knowledge of historic preservation program management blended with experience working with tribal communities, including Native Hawaiians, to guide SHPD along a new path, strengthening the division as well as advancing the state's economy," said Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, screening committee member and Ka Pouhana, ehief exeeutive offieer of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Prior to working for the Navajo Nation, Downer worked three years as senior archeologist for the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, overseeing the western United States. His responsibilities included reviewing many cases for Hawai'i, whieh required a working knowledge of the fundamentals of Hawaiian history and Native Hawaiian culture. Downer received his bachelor of science in geology from Allegheny

College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and his master's in anthropological areheology and his Ph.D. in applied anthropology from University of Missouri-Columbia.

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