VAFB-2026-10: RE: Annual Curation Repositories Inspections Letter Report

This document is a letter report that provides the results of the annual inspection that takes place at the University of California Santa Barbara Repository for Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections (RAEC) and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (DEPS) at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). The RAEC at UCSB curates precontact and historic archaeological collections from Vandenberg SFB lands. The DEPS at SBCC curates paleontological specimens collected from Vandenberg SFB property. Inspections were conducted by Æ Associate Archaeologist Arianna Zalud and Vandenberg SFB Cultural Resources (CR) Managers Eric Nocerino and Roscoe Loetzerich on February 27, 2026. The report includes detailed information regarding the condition of the facilities and the collections. The report explains numerous updates that were made to the accessions including corrections to site trinomials, identifying and removing accessions that were not collected from VSFB lands, and collections that have been either repatriated or were never delivered to the RAEC for curation. The report also provides three recommendations for the RAEC: 1. Unsorted bulk samples may have significant research value. They also present compliance challenges if they contain NAGPRA items. Identification of such materials and their appropriate disposition is an ongoing concern for RAEC. Likewise, appropriate assessment and treatment is of interest to Vandenberg SFB, for compliance with both 36 CFR 79 and NAGPRA. Continued coordination between the two entities will remain essential. 2. Samples described as unsorted should be reviewed to distinguish between samples that are truly unsorted versus use of the unsorted term to catalog parent bags that contain sorted sub-bagged materials of various material types. Review of catalogs may assist in discriminating among these and other conditions. Identification and review of samples tagged as unsorted should be documented for the accession records. 3. Accessions identified for alternate mitigation include Accessions 453 and 735. These accessions should be reviewed to assess and identify alternative mitigation options that may be of value to Vandenberg SFB CR managers. Assess opportunities for historic materials in active storage at the RAEC to be de-accessioned and repatriated during future endeavors. The recommendations for the DEPS remain unchanged from the 2025 inspection and are as follows: Specimens 1. Temporary labels and hand-marked items should be acid free. Non-museum quality adhesives can attract dirt and unwanted pests, and the adhesives deteriorate over time, leaving residues on sensitive materials and risking data loss if the label falls off. Digital Catalog 2. Populate unpopulated fields in the digital catalog as data are available. 3. Standardize digital catalog field contents. 4. Add count and condition fields to the catalog; update accordingly. 5. Consider adding a weight field to the digital catalog. Security and Housekeeping 9. Lock Vandenberg SFB property when not in use or when displayed in cabinets. 10. Label cabinets and trays for all Vandenberg SFB paleontological specimens. 11. Identify Vandenberg SFB as origin of corresponding display fossils. 12. Evaluate whether limiting light exposure and dust accumulation is needed for the large assemblage of jacketed fossils when not actively being worked on. 13. Consider using a fossil preparation notebook log if it is not already implemented. 14. Clean working space and add a designated space for tools and cleaning supplies.