Press Release
☷Fort Polk honors the past prepares for the future
U.S. Army ( By Press Release office)
Apr 28,2022
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In FY17 , a Memorandum of Understanding between the Center for Military History and installation transferred responsibility of the Fort Polk Museum to the Garrison . In FY20 , the installation broadened the scope of the museum to include both heritage family and military history . Cultural Resources staff helped implement a volunteer program to assist with cataloging , scanning , and organizing historic documents . Fort Polk personnel demonstrate atlatl - throwing techniques as part of a comprehensive outreach and training plan . Multiple environmental training courses provide Soldiers and civilians with an overview of installation cultural resources . Students learn the reporting process for inadvertent discoveries of cultural resources as well as how to identify and protect sites . Commanding General David S . Doyle and heritage families hold Fort Polk’s 80th Anniversary banner as they prepare to embark on cemetery tours at the Spring Heritage Tour , 27 March 2021 . The installation mitigated for COVID - 19 and partially repaired historic cemeteries from natural disaster damages to make them safe for the event . The installation hosts two heritage events per year , but due to COVID - 19 restrictions , this was the first heritage event since the fall of 2019 . In FY21 , Fort Polk Cultural Resources staff repaired a grave at Fullerton East Cemetery after Hurricane Laura uprooted a tree and exposed the burial shaft . Two additional trees fell on top of the grave and knocked the headstone off the base . The team removed the root ball and added dirt without disturbing any human remains . In FY20 , a drone collected imagery of Fort Polk training area damages after Hurricane Laura . Felled trees and debris from the hurricane damaged 14 of 23 historic cemeteries . The Louisiana State University AgCenter estimates Hurricane Laura caused $1 . 1 billion dollars in damage to the Louisiana timber industry , more than Hurricanes Katrina and Rita combined ( over 750 , 000 acres ) . At 241 , 126 acres , the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk , a premier U . S . Army training center , makes up about 1% of the land area of its home state of Louisiana . In this space , however , the installation maintains an archaeological inventory that encompasses approximately 20% of all recorded sites in the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office database . Fort Polk alone has 4 , 135 sites with 180 sites eligible for the National Register of Historic Places . “The cultural resources management team supports the training mission by preserving the past in order to secure the installation’s future , ” said Bradley Laffitte , installation archaeologist . “The challenges we’ve faced have led us to refocus our energies , create innovative outreach methods to engage and increase communications with stakeholders and partners . ” In the 1940s , then Camp Polk was established through eminent domain , resulting in the displacement of hundreds of families . The CRM team preserves and protects the historic resources from that time , through a comprehensive management approach that uses customized data collection methods , emerging technology and proactive cultural awareness outreach involving 10 federally recognized tribes , nearby universities , and local , state and federal agencies . Managing that responsibility has come with additional challenges brought on by weather - related disasters . Major weather events that tested the installation over the last few years include a 2019 tornado , two hurricanes in 2020 ( including Laura , a category 4 major storm ) and winter storm Uri in 2021 – making the preservation of sites and materials even more challenging . Hurricane Laura damaged 14 of the 23 historic cemeteries managed by the installation . Hurricane Delta and winter storm Uri further damaged the cemeteries by destroying already compromised trees and branches . The total damage to historic cemeteries included more than 300 linear feet of fence , one brick gate and archway , eight grave markers , more than 100 uprooted trees , dozens of hazardous trees , and a variety of erosion issues . The impacts resulted in an estimated $750 , 000 in repair costs . In the wake of each disaster , CRM staff deployed to the affected regions of the installation to record the most severely impacted areas and map damage to sites , structures and cemeteries . The damages included uprooted trees that left holes up to 12 feet wide and drove tree limbs up to four feet deep into the ground at archaeological sites and cemeteries . U . S . Forest Service - permitted training land sustained the most severe damage . CRM staff brought chainsaws to the field for clearing paths into archaeological sites . The team also inspected root balls for artifacts . Fort Polk and the Forest Service used collected data to guide restoration and management activities in consultation with the SHPO , Native American tribes , Fort Polk game enforcement , and other stakeholders and partners . One notable and delicate operation involved team members restoring a grave at Fullerton East Cemetery after hurricane Laura uprooted a tree and exposed the burial site . Two more trees fell on top of the burial , knocking the headstone loose from its base . The CRM crew removed the root ball and replaced it with dirt , taking care not to disturb any human remains . In 2021 , Folk Polk celebrated 80 years of training soldiers . Brig . Gen . David S . Doyle , JRTC and Fort Polk commanding general was the speaker at the anniversary celebration . Doyle said Fort Polk soldiers were proud to serve at an installation with such a rich history . It is the CRM team whose mission is to preserve and protect that history .
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